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that is the paradox...the southern bible belt has few actual Jews within its ranks and they individually are prone to antisemitic..yet their pastors support Israel so they like the good little authoritarian led sheep they are support Israel
the party of individual freedoms is VERY authoritarian and not allowed to express a different opinion
You say evangelicals listen to the state department. I say they listen to their pastor.
Why does the state department side with Israel? Fifty years ago it was because of sympathy for what happened in WWII. Now I think support for Israel is mostly an organic ground-up policy by American Jews, who are the second largest Jewish group in the world. I don't think there's much of a nexus between officialdom and what gets preached nowadays. There was in the past but that link has mostly been broken.
During the Moral Majority days evangelicalism was the closest the US ever had to a state religion. But the state was in the driver's seat. The theology was adapted to meet the needs of the politics, not vice versa. One aspect to this was WASPs agreeing to share power with Jews at elite levels after WWII, and also general sympathy for what happened to Jews in that war. Jewish inclusion in elite policymaking demanded American support for Israel and a general tamping down of anti-Semitism domestically. To the extent preaching was dictated by politics, this came down from on high and as you point out anti-Semitism was strong before this rapprochement started.
However while changing attitudes towards Jews at elite levels may have been the genesis of evangelical changes, it was a seed that fell on fertile ground. I think generally when it comes to religious beliefs they should be taken at face value for rank and file believers. And although it sounds fantastical to outsiders, there are millions of evangelicals who believe that the existence of the state of Israel is a harbinger of the end of the world. Reformed Christian interpetations of the bible have been more tolerant of Jews than Catholic or Lutheran interpretations. This sympathy for Jews does not necessarily flow from Reformed believers being more empathetic, but rather flows from a stronger belief in covenant theology, wherein Jews are still a people of god under a different covenant.
I'd say the durability of evangelical support for Israel is mostly due to this covenant theology substrate, which has outlasted the immediate postwar rapprochement between Jews and the American establishment.
However, I would not say evangelicals consider themselves patsies. They believe Jews will convert to Christianity at the end of the world.
Israel represents the beginning of the Christian faith. Most consider it holy ground. Now we are to pray for them, but not sure about the politics. I don’t care for the present PM
Don't they understand they are being stooges for the government?
Evangelicals like to pretend opposition to the federal government, but their views always coincidentally align perfectly with the geo-political goals of the state.
edit: back in the 1950s it was very different, they just adjust their opinions to fit the view of the state department.
Now they hate Muslims because we are at war with jihadists. So much for these anti-government rednecks, all they do is support the federal government. They are not individualists or free thinkers, just patsies.
They don't. They love someone who does to Brown people what they've been wanting to do to Brown people for years. It's like they're watching the 2A arguments playout on a global scale.
They don't. They love someone who does to Brown people what they've been wanting to do to Brown people for years. It's like they're watching the 2A arguments playout on a global scale.
I'd say that these days, the evangelists are more aware and willing to side with the group that emanated the Messiah (you know that Jesus guy) who was after all a Jew. sadly a near majority of those in Israel are not even observant Jews. Just Jews in name. When the end comes if prophecy is accurate (and I have no reason to think it won't be) America will also turn against Israel and they will be all alone. But fear not. After all, THE ONE who gave us all life will be making all the decisions in the end, and after all, Israel is HIS I certainly see places like Iran becoming a empty parking lot that's for sure.
Which part? The part where I call a nation that our European allies are accusing of human rights violations racist or the part where I call the same party who justified banning Brown people from this country bc of their religion racist? Use your big boy words to tell me which part was racist...
Which part? The part where I call a nation that our European allies are accusing of human rights violations racist or the part where I call the same party who justified banning Brown people from this country bc of their religion racist? Use your big boy words to tell me which part was racist...
Your obsession with race is your downfall. And nobody is making you do that.
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I certainly see places like Iran becoming a empty parking lot that's for sure.
