Final Christian Zionism webinar centers on Christian nationalism and its political ramifications

Advice offered for congregations wishing to explore more deeply

by Scott O’Neill | Presbyterian News Service

Photo by Nour Tayeh via Unsplash

LOUISVILLE — The PC(USA)’s Christian Zionism working group presented its third and final scheduled webinar focused on Confronting Christian Zionism Thursday afternoon via Zoom.

More than 200 participants joined online to hear more about “Discipleship, Christian Nationalism, and Settler Colonialism: Faithful preparation for the U.S. Election.” Presenters on the topic included the Rev. Jermaine Ross-Allam, director of the PC(USA)’s Center for the Repair of Historic Harms; the Rev. Dr. Laurie Lyter Bright, executive director of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship; and the Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, founder and president of the Dar Al-Kalima University in Bethlehem and a Lutheran pastor. The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Holder Rich, a pastor at Corinth Presbyterian Church in Dayton, Ohio and editor of Christian Zionism in Africa, moderated the event.

Raheb was the first speaker, and he focused his presentation on many of the same themes he’s advocated in previous events, including recently during a New York Avenue Presbyterian Church speech in which he attempts to redefine Christian Zionism and states Palestine is victim to a settler colonialism mentality shared by  Israel and the U.S.

“We need to redefine Christian Zionism as a Christian lobby that supports the Jewish settler colonialism of Palestinian land. It is a lobby that supports settler colonialism of Palestinian land by using biblical theological constructs,” said Raheb. “This definition is less focused on the biblical discourse of Christian Zionists, which can vary from conservative to liberal. It is really important to see the danger today is not only from the crazy evangelical Christian Zionist but also the liberal Christian Zionist.”

The Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb

Referencing his new book “Decolonizing Palestine” (which will be the subject of a four-session book study beginning in October), Raheb noted what he terms “subtle” Christian Zionism.

“People are liberal on everything except Palestine. That is our problem now and why I’m seeing we need to rethink what Christian Zionism is,” Raheb said. “Christian Zionism really mushroomed after 1967 when the U.S. was losing the war in Vietnam and admiringly turned to Israel who won the 1967 war and reclaimed itself as a Jewish state. Their support of Israel grew from that time on; now when they look at Israel, they see America.”

Raheb supported this by referencing Vice President Mike Pence’s speech to the Knesset in 2018, when Pence likened the story of the Jews to the story of America — a story of exodus and a journey from persecution to freedom that shows the power of faith and promise of hope.

“So, the story of America is the story of Israel. This is why I think there is a subconscious American mind that keeps supporting Israel because America finds itself being the chosen people to bring democracy to the world and they project this onto Israel,” said Raheb. “Irrespective whether Trump or Biden is in power, there is blind support for the settler colonization of Palestine. And I think this has to do with this subtle understanding of America’s role in the world as the “chosen” nation.”

Ross-Allam began his segment establishing the notion that Christian Zionism was an aspect of Protestant Christian superstition, and that U.S. foreign policy is inspired and sustained by the superstition of evangelical Christians in the U.S.

The Rev. Jermaine Ross-Allam

“For our consideration of Christian Zionism, I refer to one simple dictionary definition of superstition as a ‘belief of practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, a false conception of causation or how one thing relates to another,’” said Ross-Allam.

After providing a brief history of the mid-20^th century connecting the idea of superstition and political theology and Christian Zionism, Ross-Allam noted that non-Christian Zionists and Christian Zionists began to move in the same direction for greater influence over U.S. policy. Quoting several authors and their interpretation of historical events, including the return of European Jews to Palestine and Israeli state occupation of Jerusalem being a precondition for the return of Jesus to Earth, he named three main problems for Christians:

• Superstition — Christian Zionists believe that Israel must occupy Palestine and rebuild the ancient temple in Jerusalem for the second coming of Jesus to take place.
• Taking responsibility for the use of and production of Christian teaching — specifically referencing pastor and televangelist John Hagee, who sought reconciliation of Jews and Christians following centuries of Christian antisemitism.

“(Hagee) set the stage for Christian and non-Christian forms of antisemitism expression which culminated in the unprecedented extermination of European Jews by the Nazis,” said Ross-Allam. “His notion of reconciliation involves blind American support and offers that Christians and Jews have separate but parallel covenants with God. The effect of this is global support for the displacement of the Palestinian people.”

• Christians on the left of the political spectrum have grafted onto the Christian Zionist tree.

“You have an increasing number of Americans who have become supporters for the activities that Christian Zionists are up to, not because they are Christian Zionists but simply because ‘blue no matter who’ people are eager to vote for the blue party in November,” said Ross-Allam. “It’s very important for Christians to have the courage to tell the truth about the impact of U.S. foreign policy.”

His statement around courage was a smooth transition to Bright’s presentation, whose message to the participants started out with “stop pretending to be helpless” in the context of her role as a teaching elder and knowing the relative cost for speaking up on behalf of our Palestinian siblings while serving in centrist contexts and purple churches.

“We have to stop pretending to be helpless. When I say ‘we’ I am speaking primarily to folks who occupy similar positions to my own, those of us in predominantly white spaces, white churches, communities that are middle-class to affluent and those of us who identify as mainline Christians.”

Bright continued, “We have come dangerously close to succumbing to the illusion that knowing the world’s pain, reading and studying about it is as far as we are able to go when it comes to having an impact in the cause of justice. We’ve allowed ourselves to believe we are far enough removed that we are not required to speak up, act or change.”

While acknowledging the Presbyterian penchant for maximizing learning and study opportunities, Bright continued to emphasize the need to do more than just show up for webinars.

The Rev. Dr. Laurie Lyter Bright

“I say with much love to my fellow Presbyterians who do love educational opportunities, no more webinars after this one. Learning is great; keep learning and reflecting but enough with studies that don’t spur us into action to change our lives. If nothing changes about your church or community or your life because of one more study into pain of the world, why are we doing it?”

Bright reflected that one of the reasons we avoid conversation about Christian Zionism is because it forces us to look into the mirror.

“We conveniently skip over the clarity with which Jesus said in no uncertain terms that we were to care for the poor and the outcast, the imprisoned and the sick, the oppressed and to love our enemy,” noted Bright. “We may not lean into the apocalyptic stories in scripture that engender Christian Zionism and other expressions of Christianity, but we certainly don’t provide any active counterpoint to those readings either.”

She concluded by encouraging congregation members to realize how important it is to speak up and “act” up for the liberation of the Palestinian people.

“Give your pastor courage and give them cover,” she said. “What you say and do about this matters.”

In that context, Bright offered advice for congregations wishing to take actionable steps, even if they are small ones.

“One small, practical step I would encourage is take a long, careful look at your liturgy and hymns and really listen to the words you are saying and singing. How often is Christ portrayed as the conquering hero called upon to go into battle on our behalf, positioned as a bastion of strength and might? Onward Christian soldiers might be catchy, but it’s 2024, so let’s do better.”

A recording of this webinar, along with both previous webinars, will be available on the PC(USA) Israel-Palestine resource page here.

While this concludes the webinar series Confronting Christian Zionism, its sponsors, which include the World Mission’s Middle East and Europe office, the Office of Public Witness, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, and members of the IPMN are offering a four-session book study series to discuss Raheb’s new book, “Decolonizing Palestine.” The first session begins at noon Eastern Time on Thursday, Oct. 24, and will feature Raheb, with subsequent sessions scheduled for Oct. 31, Nov. 7 and Nov. 14. To register for the book study, click here.

The recent 226^th General Assembly of the PC(USA) approved overtures dealing with Christian Zionism, including INT-06 which recommended two resources for seeking ways to end Israeli apartheid, and INT-05, “On Confessing Our Complicity in Christian Zionism.”