Zionist Christians

Certainly, some of the most visible and troubling manifestations of racism in society's recent memory has involved anti-Semitism. Simply put, the Jewish people have put up with a lot of nasty discrimination over the last two millenia; much of it with Christian roots.

Having said that, the Zionist movement itself has been accused of racism towards Arabs. This charge has been made mostly by Muslem nations, in different colourful and dramatic ways. They try and get this message out, but the empathy has not been pouring in. Its hard for me not to agree with them; at the very least I think that one would have to admit a strong potential for this sort of racism in Zionism, if not its actual presence.

But then many people don't see this at all. God gave them (the Jewish people) that land, so the Arab squatters, who have been squatting there a long time now, can just go find a new home. There's a line from a Roger Waters' song that seems appropriate here; 'What God wants, God gets; God help us all'.

Things are already ugly and ethically complicated, but it gets even worse. This brings us to what has to be the biggest group supporting the Zionist dream, and that would be Zionist Christians. Those familiar with the eschatology of conservative Christianity will know what lies at the heart of all this. For those who don't, let me explain.

First of all, eschatology is the branch of theology concerned with the end of the world. Conservative Christians have some interesting ideas about this, based on their reading of Revelation. Well, actually, they are quite childish ideas. They, the born again believers, will be whisked off to heaven (the rapture) while the rest of us nonbelievers scratch our heads trying to figure out where our very religious neigbours and family members wandered off to. Then a series of very nasty things will happen to us (the tribulation) while they are forced to gleefully watch. They've warned us about this countless times; it could happen any day now.

Now, I don't keep up with all the details, and perhaps some of them have changed recently. Hal Lindsay's books no longer make much sense, so perhaps they've been busy reinterpreting Revelation in the light of the present political landscape, as is their custom. Regardless, Zionist Christians supported, and continue to support the state of Isreal for one reason; to usher on the end of the world. And they're growing restless.