What Christian Zionism means for Protestants and Catholics

Comment by Glenn Wheeler on May 8, 2026 at 12:20 am

“Christian Zionism” means that you are a follower of an anti-Christian heresy that was created in the late 1800’s for political and economic hegemony, and that you support a murderous, artificially created state in the Middle East that willy-nilly slaughters people at will, commits genocide, has been the single biggest contributor to turmoil in the Middle East for almost 80 years, and believes their god hates everyone but them.

And if you don’t support that, you are “antisemitic.”

Comment by Wilson R. on May 8, 2026 at 9:10 am

The term Zionism no longer appears to have consistent meaning, and any debate about Zionism should clarify definitions before going any further. In the generations leading up to and just after the founding of Israel, Zionism meant that you favored a homeland for the Jewish people. Support for that position became irresistible after the Holocaust.

Now, many people appear to use Zionism to mean support for the policies of the Israeli government. I sometimes see that position taken by both conservative Christians and by people who call for a “free Palestine.” But this definition of Zionism ignores that you can favor a Jewish homeland while also fervently opposing what Israel’s government is doing.

If criticizing the leadership makes you anti-semitic, then the Old Testament prophets were anti-semites.

Comment by Gary Beop on May 8, 2026 at 1:07 pm

The anti-Zionist hate parade is ever ready to rally against the people through whom Messiah has come. The fact that this bigoted and thuggish element posts their comment clap at this site is an antisemitic epiphany. “Anti-Zionism” is a gloss, a proxy, and a placeholder for Gentile haughtiness (condemned in Romans 9-11). Beware the deceit in play, the tendentious recitation of historical grievances.

Comment by David on May 8, 2026 at 6:28 pm

People felt sorry for Jewish refugees in Europe after WWII because of the terrible things they experienced. They thought it was nice that they could go to Palestine. This also relieved Western countries from having to deal with them—read about Lord Balfour. Unfortunately, it was forgotten that Palestine was already inhabited by a population that had been there for millennia. Rather than try to fit in with that population, Zionists insisted on their own country, with the displacement of the existing population. They went so far as to invent a new language which was only about 10% bibical Hebrew in order to separate themselves from Arabic speakers. While Palestinians and European Jews are both genetically Canaanite, the European Jews are about 40% European, often Northern Italian.

Things did not have to be this way. Granted, there was serious ethnic fighting in 1929, largely because of rumors. But one can point to places such as Queens, New York City, with great diversity, where people live in peace. There are ethnic neighborhoods there, but no conflict.

Comment by Qohelet on May 9, 2026 at 10:06 am

Bebop, as usual you attack the character of your opponents so that you don’t have to respond to their ideas, which in most cases you can’t without exposing your hypocrisy.

Where in Wilson’s comment do you see hatred?

Glenn’s comment is certainly angry, but hateful?

The fact is, most of us who reject American support of Israel do it not out of hatred but out of love. Love for the Palestinians and now Lebanese whose lives are callously destroyed by the racist idea that only Israeli security matters. And love for the people of Israel who don’t seem to understand that this is not sustainable, and that they’re on the path to ruin.

Comment by Glenn Wheeler on May 11, 2026 at 12:37 am

Qohelet,
Notice that Beop did not refute any of the points that Wilson and I made, instead he just resorted to personal attacks and stock slander.

The reason for that is that the points we made are irrefutable, and he had nothing else available. Although the wheels of history turn slowly, the die has been cast. Israel has slaughtered too many, too many times. In 30 years it will not exist.

Comment by Wilson R. on May 12, 2026 at 10:29 am

Glenn:

I have wondered myself whether Israel has a long-term future as a nation-state. And if it does not, it would be in keeping with biblical Israel’s own history–a repeat of a pattern in which the nation turned away from God, relied on its own geopolitical solutions, and paid a price. Which writers active in Israel today will be regarded as the prophets who warned against the course the nation is taking?

This is not the Israel I grew up reading about–the industrious people who survived Hitler and made the desert bloom. This is not even the Israel from the Camp David years when peace seemed possible and the extremists who dominate Israeli politics today were a minority. Today, Israel is a place where the government supports policies in the West Bank that are inescapably reminiscent of what the Nazis practiced against Jews in Germany in the late 1930s. In Gaza, it is one thing to respond to what Hamas did on October 7. It is quite another to carry out a war on civilians that involves deliberate starvation and deliberate attacks on relief workers, and indiscriminate bombing.

I support Judaism and the Jewish people. I support Israel’s right to exist peaceably with full rights for its Muslim and Christian citizens. (Side note: Why does the IRD, which claims to be so intent on defending religious freedom, have nothing to say about the persecution of the many Arab Christians with Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza? Hmm?)

What I do not support are the policies of the current Israeli government and the extreme views of what is now a majority of Israelis.

Comment by Thomas on May 13, 2026 at 9:55 pm

I support the existence of the State of Israel but also the creation of a Palestinian state. I wonder how History would have been different if the State of Palestine had been created by now.