Why evangelical support israel

Second, this younger generation is more troubled by injustice than they are inspired by biblical prophecy. Their parents were shaped in the s and s by an evangelicalism that was tone-deaf to cries of injustice, such as the apartheid struggles in South Africa or the civil rights movement in the United States.

This new generation finds such ethical disengagement incomprehensible. Younger generations also believe that the Israel-Palestine conflict has theological dimensions. Religion Judaism, Islam, and Christianity has actually exacerbated this conflict. Progressive evangelicals also believe that the over seven million Palestinians in Israel , the occupied West Bank, and besieged Gaza Strip deserve a secure and hopeful future.

The father of Israeli Zionism, Theodor Herzl, was an avowed atheist with marginal respect for Arabs; his vision of a Jewish state contributed to the founding of Israel today. This issue is further complicated when some evangelicals conflate biblical Israel with modern Israel. The former was a theocracy centered on temple worship, and the latter is an intentionally secular state. But the confusion is understandable because the early Zionists tried to exploit the Bible for political aims.

Nor are they convinced that Israel is entitled to divine privileges other nations may not claim. Israel is morally obligated just as all people are to promote justice and fairness for all people under its rule, as the Old Testament prophets made perfectly clear.

All believe that the world is messy and complicated and that it is time to fix it and refrain from supporting ideologies that have inflamed prejudice and conflict. All want to bring the mercy of God to the world. It is easy to hear the shrill voices defending religious exceptionalism and nationalism among Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

Some evangelical bloggers sing in this choir regularly, but perhaps they should pause and consider if what they are doing genuinely contributes to peace in the Middle East. As the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. The sanitized narrative that has been heard about Israel for a generation is wearing thin. Some say that it is time to be pro-Israel, pro-Palestine, and pro-Jesus, a heartfelt belief of a rising new generation of evangelicals.

Evangelicals, Trump, Netanyahu, and Bennett American evangelical support for Israel is so well established that it is commonplace today. In addition, Mosaic suggests: The second factor could be a more positive and enduring one.

Gary M. Motti Inbari and Kirill Bumin, a pair of political science professors at the University of North Carolina — Pembroke, recently released a new survey of younger evangelicals that showed major changes afoot in how the evangelical community perceives Israel. The survey found nearly 45 percent of younger evangelical Christians are supportive of the establishment of a Palestinian state and a plurality of 42 percent support neither side in the conflict.

Instead, if a young evangelical respondent believes Israel treats Palestinians unfairly , they are significantly less likely to express support for Israel.

For young evangelicals, the more exposed they are to discussions about the importance of Israel to the evangelical community, the least favourably they view Israel. It had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3. President — and fellow Southern Baptist — Harry Truman for being the first foreign leader to recognize the Jewish state.

This seems shocking today, after years of seemingly unanimous evangelical support for Israel. During this era, the Southern Baptist Convention published books, pamphlets and other materials reflecting both sides. The influential Baptist leader J. Frank Norris of Fort Worth, Texas, who broke away from the mainstream Southern Baptist Convention in the s, argued in the s and s that Christians had a duty to God and civilization to support the Zionists.

But there was no widespread sense that being a Baptist — or an evangelical Protestant — entailed support for Zionism.

John R. The professors, therefore, chose to ask young evangelicals if their views regarding Israel are based on their religious beliefs. When it comes to the issue of Jerusalem, only Nearly half of respondents admitted to having very limited or no knowledge of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

However, the results of the UNCP survey indicated starkly different feelings among young evangelical Christians. There are mixed opinions on Israel. Young evangelicals are more likely to consider themselves centrist or moderate