General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy do Evangelicals/Fundamentalists so vehemently support Israel? They feel guilty...
because they were silent in Germany and the US during the Holocaust.
That was the answer I got from a man with a long history within the Pentacostal movement.
njhoneybadger
(3,910 posts)TheBlackAdder
(28,211 posts)muntrv
(14,505 posts)TlalocW
(15,391 posts)Because it ties into their interpretation of the prophecy of Jesus coming back. No Israel = No Place for Jesus to Return to.
TlalocW
kydo
(2,679 posts)By supporting Israel that temple might get built sooner and bring on the end of days, rapturing, fire brimstone all that.
Plus supporting Israel means not supporting Palestine cause they are Muslims or something.
But yeah the guilt from the Holocaust sometimes makes their list and sometimes it just sounds good.
LostOne4Ever
(9,290 posts)bobbieinok
(12,858 posts)Girard442
(6,084 posts)If the Jews all end up dead and in Hell after that, well, whatever.
MaryMagdaline
(6,856 posts)They would not support it.
But, their religion emphasizes Old Testament rather than new and therefore, there is identification with the Israeli State.
They also admire strong man rule and anti-Islam.
Plus Armageddon depends on Jewish control of the Holy Lands.
All things come together for pro-Israeli stance.
Sophia4
(3,515 posts)The US (and other countries in the Western Hemisphere) could have saved thousands of Jews from the Nazis. They didn't. At one point, the US literally turned away a ship of 900 German Jews. Shortly afterward, it rejected a proposal to allow 20,000 Jewish children to come to the US for safety.
At the time, the US didn't know how terrible the Holocaust would become. But Americans did know that Nazis were encouraging vandalism and violence against Jews many Americans had been alarmed by Kristallnacht in 1938, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt had issued a statement condemning it. But America didn't feel strongly enough about the mistreatment of Jews to allow them to find a safe harbor in the US.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/27/14412082/refugees-history-holocaust
ansible
(1,718 posts)The nazis went to great lengths to keep it completely secret, even releasing propaganda videos claiming that they had sent the jews to the east instead in humane, productive work camps.
hedda_foil
(16,375 posts)The prisoner orchestra played and treats were served Until the concerned visitors left and the cameras turned off.
Xolodno
(6,401 posts)....Aside from the Chapter they read on their weekly Bible class.
They buy all the charlatan's literature, dvd's, etc. that says if all these "prophetical" events happen, then the Rapture....which has no significant history in Christianity...will happen and Jesus will return.
And the charlatans push it like a drug, because hell fire and brimstone gets people hooked and coming back for more.
In the Bible, it says Christ himself doesn't know when he returns. But the charlatans have convinced them that they can make it happen.
A Jesus preaching forgiveness, kindness and being Ghandi-esque, doesn't get people to empty their wallets.
Runningdawg
(4,522 posts)From the 60's until the late 70's I was raised in a fundy cult. Frequently we heard about the "evil Jews". The message was don't treat them badly, just don't have anything to do with them. Don't talk to them unless you have to, don't work for one, certainly don't befriend one. No one talked about the State of Israel. No mention was made of supporting it. I never heard the word Zion.
Now here we are....
I watched the evolution through my Dad, who was a deacon up until his death in 2012. It seems to me it wasn't until they "discovered" Muslims in his world that they started liking the Jews. I think the evangelicals reason for support of Israel is more political than religious but like most things political, they need to justify their opinions with the Bible.
Behind the Aegis
(53,986 posts)Yeah, no. What everyone else in this thread said is correct. It is about their end of the world fantasy. Like the vast majority of people then (and now), they didn't (and don't) give a shit about Jews. Their support of Israel has nothing to do with their feelings of guilt about mistreatment of Jews, before or since. What he told you is just another myth to make themselves feel better about their end of the world nonsense. Much like the current "president', it isn't about the other only about themselves.
"They feel guilty because they were silent..."
I almost wet myself with laughter. I am still chuckling. As if most people give a shit about the Jewish people.
still_one
(92,394 posts)to burn in hell.
The Billy Graham/Nixon tapes spoke volumes
Hekate
(90,793 posts)...Israel is only the means to an end. The End Times, that is. Then all the Jews and other unbelievers can go fry in Hell for eternity, while the Evangelicals get Raptured into the arms of Snow White Jebus.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)They dont feel guilty about a thing. They need Israel to fulfill end times prophesies
mcar
(42,372 posts)They don't give a figure for Israel or Jews.
Demsrule86
(68,667 posts)GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)So wrong there is no where to go.
Its all about Jesus finally giving them what they deserve.
They are about Israel. They could give a shit about Jews.
JI7
(89,264 posts)D_Master81
(1,822 posts)Its two-fold:
1) Prophecy - all the end times events from the Book of Revelation happen in Israel/Middle East
2) In the bible it says something along the lines of "those who support Israel will have God's blessing"
former9thward
(32,077 posts)FDR turned away Jewish refugee ships trying to land in the U.S. No one said or did anything.
Snarkoleptic
(6,001 posts)rusty quoin
(6,133 posts)I always thought that it is comforting to be that crazy. When you give up the responsibility to think for yourself, and you are actually able to do it, which I could never do, it is a release to live your life and be happy. The burden of thinking logically is hard.
Just think about it. Religion is a drug, except it does not destroy your health or your family who thinks like you. Everything is a fantasy but it doesn't matter. The power that you follow uses you like a parasite in the insect world would use a host. But it does no affect you because you live in the moment. There is no planning except family and church things. You are told what to think about worldly things.
I actually kind of envy these people, though I don't recommend it for the sake of humanity.
GrapesOfWrath
(525 posts)I agree. It seems they live in a happy little jebus bubble where they can be as children.
LuvNewcastle
(16,856 posts)Nothing gives me the creeps worse than a bunch of brainwashed irrational fundies.
sarcasmo
(23,968 posts)Dan
(3,579 posts)Then they must plan to put Blacks and Native Americans on pedestals - given the history of slavery and genocide.
beachbum bob
(10,437 posts)The antichrist leading the way right now in the white House
hatrack
(59,592 posts)The just can't wait for everybody to die (except for them, of course), 'cuz that will show how pure they are and how much God loves them.
Gothmog
(145,554 posts)Jews and Israel have accepted this support because Israel needs this support to survive. These groups support Israel to try to hasten the second coming. Part of this ideology is to also convert Jews and that can get nasty. I have a good friend whose daughter was targeted by a sanctioned school group. This group believe that if you convert enough Jews to christianity, then the second coming would occur. The ADL got involved and the teacher disbanded this group after he learned that he was going to be sued and that the school district would not defend him.
My friend's daughter was told that she was being selfish by not converting and that if she converted then the second coming would occur. It was sick,
BTW, this young lady is now a partner in a major downtown law firm