Someone asked me this question in discussion recently when I thoughtlessly assumed we had a common understanding that American, right-wing Christians tend to support Israel. I didn't really have an answer that was 100% satisfactory.

Having family that believes some version of the Christian narrative surrounding this subject, my understanding is that Christians believe Jewish people are "God's chosen people", and that God will bless those who help/support/defend Israel. Many Christians also believe that, in the "end times", God will divinely intervene and assist Israel (and, presumably, its allies).

11/27/2013 12:20:23 AM

I think a lot of it has to do with the team mentality. You support Israel if you're a Republican, you support the Palestinians if you're a Democratic. Like many Southerners, I grew up without much exposure to the Jewish faith and/or Jewish people, so I never quite understood the automatic support for Israel in the Republican circles I travel in.

There are obviously spiritual and theological reasons why the evangelicals defend Israel as well, but I'm not qualified to speak to those.

11/27/2013 5:51:47 AM

I was always under the impression that the Repubs were pro-Israel because they see it as a Democratic, western stronghold in the Middle East. I've never understood the hard-on for Israel myself...not that I'm against it, I just think we should mind our own business. Also, I'm pretty sure they can hold their own with any medium scale conflict they get involved with.

11/27/2013 7:16:14 AM

Always thought it was two-fold...


For hyper christian die-hard republicans having a country overrun with JEWS was better than one with a bunch of turrists/A-Rabs.

For the Neo-Cons Israel represents an outlet to sell arms, planes, and tech to keep your industro-defense buddies happy.

11/27/2013 8:18:43 AM

the second coming of christ can not occur until the third temple is built in israel. Since this requires that a red heifer is born in israel, some americans are literally breeding red heifers and sending them to israel so a red heifer can be born.

we have to support israel so that christ can come back to earth

11/27/2013 8:36:34 AM

^ Been watching Southpark recently?

11/27/2013 8:50:52 AM

no, what? Edit: I found the Southpark episode but hadn't seen it. I actually learned that years ago from PBS.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/apocalypse/readings/forcing.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Institute
http://www.thingsmagazine.net/?p=8919


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeFbm837xNA

[Edited on November 27, 2013 at 9:04 AM. Reason : .]

11/27/2013 9:01:01 AM

^

speaking as a Christian, as I understand it people do see Israel as God's "chosen people". I think this is an old testament-borne thing. I'd point out two things, though:
1: Israel then isn't necessarily what we know Israel to be now
2: Generally Israel implies Judaism, which isn't Christianity - the fundamental difference is a belief in Jesus being more than a prophet
To be honest I'm not totally sure where I stand with Israel. Strategically you want to keep powerful allies if you can. Unfortunately their hands appear to be about as clean as ours so it makes the deal a little harder to accept.

11/27/2013 9:03:35 AM

Jesus was a Jew

11/27/2013 10:16:44 AM

That's correct

11/27/2013 10:35:50 AM

if evangelicals believed Jews were God's chosen people, why would they not then convert to Judaism?

This makes no sense to me.

Then again, evangelicals aren't exactly the brightest people out there.

11/27/2013 10:39:33 AM

^ Because they see "real" Jews as a separate race altogether.

At least that's what I'd assume. It's the only thing I can think of that actually makes sense.

[Edited on November 27, 2013 at 11:29 AM. Reason : ]

11/27/2013 11:27:37 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Land

Quote :

"For Christians, the Land of Israel is considered holy because of its association with the birth, ministry, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, whom Christians regard as the Savior or Messiah, and because it is the land of his people, the Jews (according to the Bible). Christian books, including editions of the Bible, often had maps of the Holy Land (considered to be Galilee, Samaria, Judea. For instance, the Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae (Travel book through Holy Scripture) of Heinrich Bünting (1545-1606), a German Protestant pastor, featured such a map.[5] His book was very popular, and it provided "the most complete available summary of biblical geography and described the geography of the Holy Land by tracing the travels of major figures from the Old and New testaments."[5] As a distinct geographic area, the description "Holy Land" encompasses modern-day Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and sometimes Syria."

11/27/2013 11:43:55 AM

Quote :

"if evangelicals believed Jews were God's chosen people, why would they not then convert to Judaism?"

two different things. an Arab isn't necessarily a Muslim either. terms are thrown around to imply these thoughts but they're technically incorrect. semantics aside, old-school Judaism fails the fundamental basis of Christianity, which is belief in Jesus being the Son of God and the route to forgiveness of sin. Jesus was raised a Jew, yes, but he was also technically the first Christian (he knew and believed in himself being God's Son). there's also a significant divide in current day Jews -- some believe in Jesus (and they're technically more/less the same as Christians in that regard) and some don't.

Quote :

"Then again, evangelicals aren't exactly the brightest people out there."

that's unnecessary and pretty broad. people of all religions (and no religion, too) can be brilliant, and they can also be pretty stupid.

as a note though, I personally think blind support for Israel is irrational at best and more likely very dangerous.

[Edited on November 27, 2013 at 11:53 AM. Reason : ]

11/27/2013 11:51:57 AM

Straight from the horse's crazy-ass mouth:

Quote :

"Ladies and Gentleman, evangelical Christians support Israel because we believe that the words of Moses and the ancient prophets of Israel were inspired by God. We believe that the emergence of a Jewish state in the land promised by God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was ordained by God. We believe that God has a plan for this nation which He intends to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth. Of course, we, like all right-thinking people, support Israel because Israel is an island of democracy, an island of individual freedom, an island of the rule of law, and an island of modernity in the midst of a sea of dictatorial regimes, the suppression of individual liberty, and a fanatical religion intent on returning to the feudalism of 8th Century Arabia. "

http://www.patrobertson.com/Speeches/IsraelLauder.asp

12/1/2013 2:41:29 PM

Quote :

"Israel is an island of democracy, an island of individual freedom, an island of the rule of law"

He doesn't know what the fuck he is talking about.

12/1/2013 3:42:46 PM

Quote :

"It should be noted that today Christianity, with well over two billion adherents, is by far the fastest growing religion in the world. "

When the hell was this written because that's not even close.

[Edited on December 1, 2013 at 4:20 PM. Reason : ]

12/1/2013 4:19:24 PM

Quote :

"evangelical conservatives"

Seems redundant.

Quote :

"my understanding is that Christians believe Jewish people are "God's chosen people", and that God will bless those who help/support/defend Israel"

I doubt most Christians believe this.

Quote :

"You support Israel if you're a Republican, you support the Palestinians if you're a Democratic"

You must be on the dope.

12/1/2013 9:32:39 PM

Jews are just Christians who haven't yet embraced their loving lord and savior.

12/1/2013 10:14:09 PM

Quote :

"Seems redundant."

it's not, a lot of christians are not evangelical. many denominations believe that their responsibility at spreading the gospel is literally making sure that its known about, some denominations believe that at this point it is the responsibility of the holy spirit to take over. some don't evangelize or proselytize.

12/1/2013 10:49:24 PM

Quote :

"it's not, a lot of christians are not evangelical"

those aren't the two things being compared.

12/2/2013 8:29:41 AM