Christians Against Christian Zionism
On Saturday, September 18 at 1 p.m. PDT, I invite you to join me virtually at Christians Against Christian Zionism, a zoom program I am moderating for the Alliance of Baptists on the evils of Christian Zionism and the call to Christians to confront this corrupt theology.
REGISTER HERE
When I was in Bethlehem in December 2019, Palestinian Christians offered a clarion call to the international church to challenge Christian Zionism, which they described as the driving force behind the intensification of their oppression.
Christian Zionism is a political and theological ideology that uses Christian texts to support the modern nation-state of Israel out of the belief that Israel has a biblical purpose to bring about the ‘End Times’ . . . Christian Zionist theology holds that Israel must gather all the Jews of the world, enlarge its territory, destroy Muslim holy places, and ethnically cleanse “the holy land” of all non-Jews. Theologically, it argues that God is dependent upon modern day Israel’s expansion in order to usher in the “end times.” Politically, Christian Zionism galvanizes Christian support to pressure the U.S. government to endorse Israel’s military occupation, apartheid practices, and the increasing oppression of the Palestinian people. To learn more about Christian Zionism, check out Progressives Can’t Ignore Role of Christian Zionism in Colonization of Palestine and Sabeel Jerusalem’s recent Kumi Now Action.
On September 18, we will highlight how the chains of Christian Zionism enslave the church to political policies that oppress Palestinians and theology that coopts the gospel for racist and colonial purposes. The program will feature Rev. Erica Williams of the Poor People’s Campaign, Jonathan Brenneman, a Palestinian American Christian and advocate for Palestinian rights in the Mennonite tradition and Larry Hendel, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace. The program will explain what Christian Zionism is, its political implications, and how we can answer the Palestinian call to challenge Christian Zionism – for sake of the integrity of the gospel and the liberation of Palestinian people.
Lakeshore has taken several steps to support Palestinians in the past few years. Learning more about Christian Zionism and how we can challenge it allows us to continue in this path of solidarity and joint struggle.
Peace,
Pastor Allison