Church of England Vicar Promotes Christian Jihad in Iran

on October 8, 2014

Stephen Sizer is a Vicar for the Church of England, a noted author, and dynamic speaker. He can now add to his CV, pawn for Iran’s Ayatollah and pitchman for Syria’s Assad.

It is the low hanging fruit for bloggers and activist journalists to apply the “guilt by association” treatment to an opponent. However, Stephen Sizer’s participation at the recent New Horizon conference in Iran last week is worthy of proper notation. It was not as if it was a conference of notable and respected journalists and filmmakers that had a few conspiracy theorists thrown in to make the event interesting. No, this event was a gathering of the world’s top experts on the truth of 9/11, the real death toll at Nazi concentration camps, and the gayness of President Obama.

Until now Stephen Sizer was someone to be taken seriously. His book on Christian Zionism is widely read in the Pro-Palestinian and BDS (boycott, divest, sanction) circles. He has been an important figure in the movement to undermine Christian support for Israel by providing a rigorous, albeit flawed, historic and theological critique of Christian Zionism. He is a good public speaker and has been a key figure at the Christ at the Checkpoint conference in Bethlehem. He even managed to secure a speaking gig at last year’s GAFCON event, which brought together faithful and Biblically orthodox Anglicans from around the globe. That type of exposure is not often given out to people on the fringes.   So, it is kind of surprising and sad to see Sizer at a conference like the one that took place in Tehran.

If you think I’m being too hard on Sizer, just check out the speaking schedule and topics:

Sizer in iran 3 sizer 7

It might be surprising to some to learn there is such a thing as “Christian Jihad,” but Sizer has created a whole presentation on the subject, which he presented at the Evangelical Christian-Muslim Dialogue Group in 2010. He writes,

“The purpose of Christian Jihad is submission to the will of God. It is to become like Jesus – holy as God is holy. And in so doing, beginning with ourselves, lead others into submission to his perfect will, to know him, love him, obey him and so become like him also. The glorious picture of the future in Scripture is of the day when Jesus will return from heaven and every knee shall bow.

Sizer goes further to contrast the difference between Christian Jihad and Christian Zionism.

“Christian Zionism in contrast, which wages a jihad against Muslims and indirectly against Jews, is a defective, misguided and dangerous theology.  It is an exclusive theology driven by a political agenda which elevates one nation over others, rather than an inclusive theology centred on Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world.  Christian Zionism uses the Bible to justify racial superiority, land expropriation, home demolitions, population transfer, colonial settlements, the denial of international law and fundamental human rights.”

What better place to give a lecture on “Christian Jihad” than at a conference held in a nation that has been labeled the top sponsor of terrorist organizations in the world? Other conference speakers included Kevin Barrett, Wayne Madsen, and Ken O’Keefe. If these are not familiar names to you, you are clearly not spending enough time in the desert listening to late night AM radio broadcasts.

Kevin Barrett is editor of Veterans Today. It may sound like a legitimate site, but deeper look reveals its true nature. Some of Barrett’s recent articles such notables as 9/11 Truth, Palestine TKO Zionist Gatekeepers. Here Barrett notes, “It happened yesterday at Fighting Bob Fest, the annual get-together of over 1,000 progressive and populist activists in Baraboo, Wisconsin. That triumph mirrored the larger victory of the past three months, during which the Zionists dug their own grave by pointlessly brutalizing Gaza in full public view, while 9/11 truth forces landed punch after punch during the run-up to the 13th anniversary.” Barrett is also on the case of exploring whether the Ebola threat is real or a false flag. You can guess the outcome of this frontline reporting.

Wayne Madsen was invited because of his new book The Star and the Sword. The intro to the book claims, “both Israel and Saudi Arabia were intimately involved in planning and carrying out the 9/11 attack on the United States.” When not delving into the secret alliance between Saudi Arabia and Israel, Madsen is delving into the secret gay affairs that President Obama is having with various politicians.

Not to be outdone, Ken O’Keefe is an activist that puts his life on the line for his pet causes. He offered himself as a human shield for Saddam Hussein before the US invasion of Iraq. His shielding did not last long, because he ended up being kicked out of Iraq. O’Keefe told reporters, “I was escorted by Iraqi intelligence officers to the border, because I say what I believe and the Iraqi government wants submissive easy robots.”

Sizer’s participation in the New Horizons conference is not the only example of his downfall. Like a great athlete who ends up doing commercials for erectile dysfunction medication, Sizer is now doing promotional videos for Syria’s Ministry of Tourism. With all that is currently going on in Syria, the thousands of dead civilians, the millions of refugees, and a third of the country being controlled by an organization known for decapitation of its enemies, this video seems ill timed.

 

In this ad Sizer goes to great length to describe the historic role the Damascus played in church history. He states that since the time of the Apostle Paul, Damascus was and remains a safe haven for Christians. Looking straight into the camera, without stutter or smirk, Sizer says, “Until recently Christians in Syria have enjoyed greater freedom than anywhere else in the Middle East. There is no discrimination on the basis of ones faith, but a recognition that God will bless us as we treasure the rich diversity of his creation.”

If there was anything left of his moral authority its final collapse comes from his parroting the Assad regimes talking points on the Syrian civil war. Contrary to Sizer’s claim that the “civil strife was a result of foreign interference,” Syria’s war is homegrown. The Islamic State is home grown in Syria. Terrorism is home grown. Promoting tourism in Syria now is like promoting tourism in Eastern Ukraine–we have rich history and the fireworks are amazing.

It is sad to see a once worthy opponent fall to such a sad state. The Church of England and his bishop to should consider removing him from ministry until he gets proper counsel. Sadly, considering the current state of the Church in England, it is likely that Sizer will continue stumbling down the path to irrelevance.

Update:

Sizer has publicly defended his participation in the the New Horizons conference.  He is quoted in the Telegraph saying,

“Iran is foreign soil and I was there as an Englishman but also as a Christian leader where Christians and Jews are a minority and ambassadors are needed.

“I was seeking to build bridges within a faith context to help to improve relationships for minorities and between our countries.

“Those who criticise this kind of conference must think very carefully of the consequences of their words for Jews and Christians in countries like Iran.”

However, if his comments at the event were similar to his previous presentation on Christian Jihad vs Christian Zionism, he was not defending the minority Christians or Jews of Iran. Rather, his message that Christians who support Israel are racist colonizers is exactly the message that the audience wants to hear.  Bridge building often means finding common ground; it is clear that the common ground  sought was hatred of Zionism. This makes it doubtful that Sizer used the opportunity to appeal for the release of Christians like Saeed Abedini who are languishing in Iranian prisons for the sake of the Gospel.

  1. Comment by Dexter Van Zile on October 8, 2014 at 11:04 am

    This is a great piece.

  2. Comment by faithmcdonnell on October 8, 2014 at 11:10 am

    OWWWW! You are the best, Luke Moon!

  3. Comment by Dan on October 8, 2014 at 1:40 pm

    Shouldn’t Stephen Sizer appear as an example in the dictionary definition of the Soviet era term “useful fool?” BTW, we already have a term for Christian jihad; it’s called a crusade!

  4. Comment by Richard Armbach on October 9, 2014 at 11:35 am

    Luke we are so sorry the lobotomy didn’t work out as well as we all had hoped.

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