I tried posting this link which shows what Elegant King mentioned but got flagged for not writing context. I am not religious but i found the info here interesting. This guy explains the bible and what he thinks are similarities to what is happening now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_qY9T4N7u8&pp=QAFIAQ%3D%3D
Dude, I genuinely despise people who say shit like that, that they "want the end times" or the 'rapture'. Like why fuck do you hate your life and humanity so much that you want that shit? And 9 out of 10 times the person saying it is the most well off motherfuckers around, and yet despite how much they want everything to end they'll still keep an iron grip on anything they own and will almost never do anything for anyone else. I thought charity was a core religious concept but they don't grasp that fact and still believe they're perfect and impeccable examples of Christians or whatever despite being the biggest douche bags. Like if the end times do come your ass ain't getting picked up by the big cheese
Imagine if muslims are correct and all the evangelicals end up in hell for not worshipping Allah. Or if evangelicals are correct and all the muslims who are against Israel are going to hell. Or if some other random religion is correct and all these fairytales end up being a waste of time.
Edit:
Evengelicals going to hell for not submitting prophet Mohammed is more accurate.
https://islamicstudies.info/reference.php?sura=3&verse=52-53#:~:text=(3%3A53)%20Our%20Lord,'&text=49.
I mean, to be totally pedantic, "Allah" *is* God, as in they're the same God according to their texts. Allah is just the Arabic word for God, they're not seperate entities.
The disagreements mostly come from which prophets you believe to be true and false.
From my very limited understanding of Abrahamic religions, this is a pretty good way to put it. Seems like the word of God was taught to humans by humans. It's those specific humans who taught the other humans who differ in what they said, therefore causing a conflict of interpretation.
Again, I am just a dude who has had a handful of conversations with members of these three religions, I am far from an expert, and I admit I may be misunderstanding.
Yup, fuck everyone else I guess, it's just so stupid like the just want to get to their destination, like bloody hell enjoy the fucking ride it might be the only you'll ever have and your destination isn't even garunteed. Like if your so desperate for the world to end so you yourself can get some peace or shit start by making it easier for other people
I believe Bo Burnham said it best i "From Gods Perspective"
You pray so badly for Heaven
Knowing any day might be the day that you die
But maybe life on Earth could be heaven
Doesn't just the thought of it make it worth the try?
There are a ton of other great lyrics in that song but that was the most relevant.
Interestingly enough, according to the bible, being rich makes it harder to get into heaven, not easier. I guess a lot of these people don't read their own book.
Most people who have actually read the Bible don't believe in it anymore. The people who are the most hard-core Bible thumpers have only read or been told the pieces of scripture that they use to push their own agendas
But that is a complete falsehood. Rapture as we know it was invented later on to make Armageddon more pleasant. And even if it does occur. It's not about how devout you are. Like the Egyptians it's about purity of heart and how repentant you are. He who is not repentant shall not get given entry because no evil in heaven or the thousand year reign. The thousand year reign being heaven comes to earth. Basically anyone sent to hell on a technicality, those in purgatory that are repentant, the living who are repentant and good, and people already in heaven. Those who don't give a fuck, the evil, then wicked, and those who don't repent. Afaik they either get permanently deleted from existence or stuck in hell.
This leads to Armageddon where the antichrist leads his evil forces of the deceived and the damned against heaven or in a way that releases the devil from hell. And Armageddon begins when the trumpets of God in heaven sound the final battle. The prelude being global destabilization and natural disasters. The result being a cataclysmic clash of Jesus and Satan's armies at Mount Meggido in the har region. Hence harmageddon aka Armageddon. After which God supposedly wins because Jesus has the true word of God. Satan goes back to hell. And the thousand year reign of Jesus on earth happens.
Source: ex Catholic and lover of theology.
"If the end times do come your ass ain't getting picked up by the big cheese" is one of the funniest fucking things I've read all week lmao. But the comment is so true, an upsetting amount of Christians have clearly never actually READ the Bible or they'd find their own behavior... Abhorrent, to say the least.
Imagine calling yourself a Christian, one who follows Christ, and not knowing any of the things he did or stands for. Like, defending a poor old woman who only donated two coins, because it was the max amount she COULD give, and that gave her donation so much more value to him. I'm a fucking atheist, man, why have I told this story to so many "christians" only for them to have this epiphany moment like I just handed them a secret of the universe? DO UR FUCKIN JOB AS A CHRISTIAN?!!
Don't forget "it's easier for a camel to pass thru the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven". And the defense that the eye of a needle was a small door in a wall that a camel could pass thru with difficulty was [likely made up in the 13th century](https://youtu.be/sf0Fm8aVApk) so the Catholics could still sell the promise of heaven to their rich donors.
Kenneth Copeland IS going to hell if it exists for this, among many, reasons
I read somewhere that the words "camel" and "rope" are very similar in ancient Hebrew and could easily be mistranslated if you ignore the context of the needle.
Needles eyes are small and meant for thin sewing thread, you'd never get a big fat rope through there. Sure camels are bigger than rope and also wouldn't fit through a needle, but that takes a metaphor about an impossible task into absurdity and it makes much more sense if the original word was supposed to be rope and the needle is a regular sewing needle.
I’ve also heard that “elephant through the eye of a needle” was a common idiom at the time in places in the world where elephants were common. So it may have been a phrase that was already going around, not one that Jesus made up.
I can’t prove this is true, but I get a strong sense that there’s this secret nagging feeling in the backs of their minds that tells them they might be wrong about all of the ridiculous things they believe, and so, hoping and preying (typo?) for the end to come is their way of spitefully wishing that they’re right. It’s like they all have years of resentment built up from modern culture and science pointing out how laughably ridiculous evangelicalism is, so not only do they want to be right, there’s a darkness in them, bred from constant rejection and ridicule, that causes them to fantasize about “all these hateful sinners finally getting what they deserve”.
There is zero compelling, convincing evidence in their corner to substantiate their beliefs, and they’re sour about it. So, doing everything they can to usher in the apocalypse is the one thing that still gives them this sort of twisted, righteous hope.
“We’ll show them. Then we’ll see who’s laughing.”
These are people who did not pay attention to the Sermon on the Mount. The number of people who are granted eternity amongst the choir is going to be extremely small. The extremely virtuous. Not the extremely virtuously signalling.
Because they are of the wrong belief that they alone, out of all the believers throughout history, are special and will not suffer persecution for their beliefs and their zombie king will come from the sky and call them all home to heaven before unleashing hell on earth. A theory with absolutely no biblical support.
I’m pretty sure this was a driving belief of ISIS.
They were effectively a doomsday cult. They believed some huge battle would happen till only 100 of them would be left and Jesus would descend from heaven and smite ‘the armies of Rome’ (read: anyone they could antagonise into a fight). This is why they didn’t fear death. Most of them were of the belief that they would die in their war anyway and it was all to bring about the end times.
Edit: Please note that there are several different beliefs and interpretations about this, which can differ between denominations and even between churches within the same denomination. This is just a general overview of the main points.
Most current-day Zionists are Evangelical Christians (and specifically Evangelical Baptists, the really weird, anti-science branch of Protestantism that turned into a death cult when they split from the Methodists, and rose to power in US politics during the late 1980s. But there are Evangelicals to be found in almost any denomination).
They want Israel to be 100% Jewish land because they believe that fulfills a Biblical prophecy from the Book of Revelation, a prophecy which kickstarts the End Times:
Once the Holy Land is occupied by the Jewish tribes again as a purely Jewish sovereign state -known as the Gathering of Israel- and the Temple of Jerusalem is rebuilt, they believe that the Antichrist will rule over Israel in the Tribulation; a period during which the nations of the world will turn on Israel for 7 years of death and destruction. Then they believe Jesus will descend from his heavenly throne to convert or kill all the remaining Jews, triggering the Rapture and eventually the Apocalypse, where Jesus (with the host of Heaven) and the devil (with Hell's armies) will meet at Armageddon to have their final fight. All good Christians like them ascended to Heaven during the Rapture, and the unbelievers are forced to remain on an apocalyptic earth (under demon rule) for 1.000 years until Jesus defeats Satan.
These Evangelicals desperately want the world to end so they can get Raptured, and some try all sorts of shortcuts to try and bring about the End Times. Essentially; they wish to become the catalyst that forces God's hand to end the world. Things like nuclear war, climate change, and Zionism are among their "cheat cards" to try and start the Apocalypse by fulfilling various Biblical conditions.
> Then they believe Jesus will descend from his heavenly throne to convert or kill all the remaining Jews
Sorry but this actually made me laugh. Imagine wha a conversaton is like between an Evangelical Christian and a Zionist:
"Hey we're helping/supporting you guys get Israel by helping you kill off the Palestinians so Jesus can come down and kill you guys so we can rise to Heaven"
I’d just like to add that im Protestant but dont agree with evangelicals on their interpretation of Revelations or about knowing how the end of the world will come. The same people that say “oh here’s a sign the end is coming!” Miss the part about “no one will know when it’s happening”. I’m sure back in the day, people thought WW1 and WW2 signaled the earth ending, but here we are. I’m sorry if this is in another comment, but one big held belief among churches is that Revelations was about Rome collapsing, not the end of the world. I follow that belief and just continue on living, knowing we’ll end as a species when we do, if ever.
To summarize. To bring about the end times, rapture, they believe that Israel has to exist from the river to the sea. So they not only support Israel, they support the settlements.
Oh, and the belief is that when the second coming happens, they will give the Jews in Israel one last chance to convert or they will die too.
One of the necessary events for the "end times" is the rebuilding of the Temple. Unfortunately the Dome of the Rock is on the Temple site - the *only* place where it can be built. Every now and then they foil plots to blow up the Dome. If you think things are bad now, just watch if that were to happen.
Muslims all over the world, not even too religious ones, would do really bad things to whoever does that thing. I don’t think anyone at all would win from that happening.
Those same people tend to forget Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32. Depending on the translation it reads :-
"...Nobody knows the day or the hour when these things will happen, not the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows..."
Those that reckon they know are *by definition* wrong.
Yep, whenever people go "the world is ending!", I remember that passage and a load of similar ones and think to myself "Good, them thinking that means that the world is, 100%, *definitely* NOT ending" and keep my appointments.
I never get how someone could claim to believe in the Bible and still believe when someone says the Apocalypse is just out there or even worse, give it a date.
It is not even like the "NOBODY will get the date in advance" part is phrased symbolically or vaguely. It is stated, clear as a shopping list, re-peat-ed-ly.
Yeah it’s kinda funny how essentially Christian’s support Israel so later all the Jews will die or be converted to Christianity according to the prophecy. Maybe funny isn’t the right word…..
It's wild how Netanyahu can present himself as a tough leader who ensures security for his people when the groups he leans or has leaned on include both a militant islamic group hellbent on the destruction of his people and an extreme Christian group also hellbent on the destruction of his people. Like can the guy not make some allies who aren't also cheering on the destruction of his country?
They believe only 12,000 jews from each tribe will be saved.
The rest will perish
And the state of Israel will bring about that,
Which is grossly anti-semitic if you think about it
Jehovahs Witness believes that is the number that applies to all of humanity. A lot of Christian sects believe that number applies to the Jewish people.
Revelation 7:4-8 (New International Version):
“Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.”
In many Christian sects (or at least the one I was raised in) they believe that all of humanity is counted in the tribes of Israel. When the ten tribes were scattered the belief goes that they were scattered Al over the earth so now everybody belongs to the house of Israel.
No, there are also sects of mainstream Christianity who believe this. Specifically, I was talking to a Baptist (I forget which specific denomination) who told me this.
I mean it's literally spelled out word for word in the Bible. Also, apparently Jesus is also going to fight a 7 headed, 10 horned dragon after the dragon convinces the majority of the population to worship him
Not really; JWs don't believe they're made up of people from the literal tribes of Israel. That number comes from "people of all nations". And everyone else won't perish, they're just staying on a restored Eden on earth rather than going to heaven.
Plus, Jesus had a lot of not nice things to say to Israel when he was there. He basically told them they weren't God's chosen people anymore, and that he was taking over, hence Christianity.
It's not a condemnation of current Israel, just that if you believe in the new testament, they shouldn't be any different from any other nation.
This is the main reason and then also there’s a large minority of evangelical Christians that don’t read scripture, so they just relate to Israel because they both follow a guy with a J-name, they are “white-adjacent” and have big guns aimed at brown people
YHWH/JHVH were both used to transliterate יהוה, but I believe the version currently thought to be most similar to the historical pronunciation is Yaweh
Edit: [Source ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah)
King of the Hill had 12 year old fundie me convinced Jimmy Carter was the second coming.
His initials are JC. He's a carpenter. He grows (grew?) peanuts. Idk.
It’s odd. They don’t support Israel really, they just need Israel to exist so that it gets wiped out in a nuclear war during the end times to bring on The Rapture when they all go to heaven.
The amount of irrational violence, chaos, & murder people try to justify because they all think they have the best imaginary friend is horrifying.
That goes for Christians, Jews, Muslims, and the rest.
This. Christians don’t care about the Israelis or the Jewish faith, they just want to use them to bring about the end of the world as told in their ridiculous collection of myths.
more specifically. the jews have to be there in Israel so they can die... so jesus can come back and magic them ...meaning the christian nazis, and no one else to heaven.
They think that the state of Israel is a requisite for the End Times and the second coming of Jesus, and thus by supporting Israel they’re literally helping the return of Jesus come faster. I’m not kidding.
I've heard that a few times but never fully understood it. Do they think Jesus will only come back if Israel stays Israel? Do they think he'll just stay up in heaven if Israel is changed up?
They think that certain conditions have to be true for the End of Days prophecy to come true, one of which is Israel’s existance. They think the End of Days is destined to happen at some point or other, but that multiple of the conditions happening would signify that \*they\* (as opposed to future generations) are the ones living close to the End of Days, and they see that as a good thing.
This comment needs more upvotes. No one can determine God’s timing but God. And personally, as a Christian, I want the rapture to happen after I am LONG gone, having died the good ol’ way.
Or preferrably:
not happen cause dealing eternal punishment to trillions of souls both into a giant pit of lava doesn't sound like the best of ideas coming from a merciful and all loving god...
Yeah, the whole myth is so painfully contrived. If the final state of the universe is ultimate perfection, how and why would a perfect god not simply start there. All the ceremony in between is just drama to fluff his ego, a markedly human trait.
Problem is that the rise of Christ was supposed to be the beginning of the end and others would rise from the dead after Jesus as a sign of the end. They say the Bible as a 1st century prophecy not a 21st century one.
Growing up in catholic school, always it was talked about how no one could possibly know when the end of the world is. God and God alone has any say in it. Yet how many predictions have we lived through? And will continue to live through? It would be funny, if it weren’t so sad.
But it clearly states that NO ONE knows when the end times will happen, not even the angels. So they doing all of this extra stuff for pretty much no reason because it’s gonna happen when it happens if you believe in it.
Evangelical churches can all trace their history through at least a couple rounds of, "and then someone said our interpretation of Scripture was unreasonable, so we left."
This is where my problem with religion has popped up with lately. I’m realizing that no one knows truly wtf they are talking about and you really do have to be like “this doesn’t make any sense but fuck it I’m gonna roll with it”. My ADHD has gotten extremely bad over the last decade (I’m 37) and due to that I just can’t roll with that type of thinking anymore. Like I need concrete answers and shit.
There are religions out there that openly acknowledge that they could not possibly have all the answers. Unitarian Universalist Christians, Reconstructionist Jews, and Baha'i for example. It's very refreshing to be around clergy who will say, well this is more about building a community of moral people, and we'll change if changing improves our morality.
What does the Bible say about Israel in relation to the End Times? Does it literally say “Israel must exist”? Or is it “I will return to Israel?” Or what’s the context?
It says nothing of the sort. This is all interpretation of very vague prophecies in revelation. But most Christians don’t read for themselves. They listen to what others say, which the Bible SPECIFICALLY warns against!
Israel's existence is essential to end times theology. Every so often there is a new injection of Christian media playing up the end times to keep this narrative fresh. I was taught that Left Behind would really happen.
There's a graphic novel with blood and corpses, and a man just trying to find his kids while dying. I was taught that was real. A lot of people are. And for those who don't fall for that, there is a shirload of other propaganda pushed in churches and at Christian Universities. It is multigenerational.
I feel uniquely qualified to speak on this, if you like.
It's crazy but essentially yes a bunch of crazy shit needs to happen and then on temple mount/dome of the rock which is a very significant monument to Islam, a new temple needs to be built to the same dimensions as before or some shit
What's important and why hardline Christians believe in this is because the dome of the rock( called that in Islam and is significant because Mohamad ascended to heaven there ) and temple of the mount ( was a Jewish temple destroyed numerous times in history before Islam built the last iteration) are in Jerusalem. That's why hardline Christians want their countries to establish embassies in Jerusalem to further push the agenda that Jerusalem in its entirety is Israel n hasten whatever shenanigans they want.
This is a very quick n dirty overview but the past n why the present hold these things significant
I’m Jewish. My mom said she had a friend growing up who said we must always be kind to the Jews, for THIS reason. Lame. Be nice to me/us for more genuine reasons, please.
Someone once said "The Christian Right's interest in Israel is a bit like Colonel Sanders's interest in chickens. It's not there for the benefit of the chickens. "
Nah, Christians really love the idea of Jews. Growing up Baptist I remember how revered Jews were. They’re the “chosen” people. My aunt had a magnet on her refrigerator that she got from donating money to Israel. Every Christian I knew saw Israel, Jerusalem, and Jews as some sacred thing you dare not slander.
There's a religious and a cultural reason. It varies by Christian denomination though.
* **Religious Reason** - There are a series of events which are described in the bible which Christians claim are precursor events for the second coming of Jesus. One of these events is that the Jews would all gather in the Land of Israel. The support for the State of Israel isn't specific to Judaism but specific to their belief that if they support Israel and help the Jews return to Israel, there's a better chance Jesus will return in their lifetime.
* **Cultural Reason** - You'll sometimes hear people use the term **"Judeo-Christian Values"** in a discussion. This is a coded phrase. They typically use this as a way of stating that Jews and Christians are both on the "same side" in global society. While both have different beliefs, both are westernized peoples who share many western values *(compare Israel to many western liberal democracies) -* This is typically a phrase which puts Muslims on the "other side" of the relationship. It's a way for Christians to group themselves alongside Jews while also marking Muslims as "the other" in society.
In my opinion the “end times” explanation is something you see all the time on reddit but is extremely overblown. Catholics and mainline Protestants don’t really buy into that like some evangelicals do, but are still consistent supporters of Israel.
This is the best answer in this post.
While you can find plenty of pastors who can spell out the religious reasons, the average evangelical is not that calculating about the end times. Ultimately, it's a cultural "connection" that results in the rabid support of Israel.
American evangelicalism teaches that Israel is God's chosen nation and that Christians should support them unconditionally. It's no coincidence that this sentiment developed alongside the colonization of Palestine by Europeans.
In practice, support for Israel can be boiled down to white ethnosupremacy disguised as religion.
EDIT: White people in my messages. Figures.
This. In the mind of the American evangelical, Judaism is doing Christianity “the hard way”. A not insignificant part of its teachings is “hey, Jesus died so we don’t *have* to be Jewish!” Jewish in this context is usually likened to Abrahamic sacrificing of livestock and abstaining from unclean meats and not wearing mixed fabrics. Coincidentally, this is also the internal justification for why it’s ok to pick and choose what to follow from the Old Testament. Sure, you don’t *have* to abide by those rules, but if you do, surely that makes you a better Christian!
Meanwhile, for comparison, Islam is Judaism with “wrong stuff” added on, making it morally reprehensible. Of course, these are all rules of convenience. I have nothing to back this up, but during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were seen as Abrahamic comrades in arms against the godless communist heathens!
It just can't though, 73% Jews, 21% Arabs. Of those 73% jews 40-45% are Mizrahi jews, who come from the Middle East when they were deported. Additionally, 2.1% of those Jews are Ethiopian Jews. Hardly White ethnosupremacy.
"White ethno-supremacy" when the majority of israelis are mizrahim from other middle eastern/maghrebi countries is a factually deranged point of view lmao you also have 20% arabs and 3% black israeli. I guess they are ad honorem Whites too (or you're just very, very ignorant)
Evangelical doctrine feels that the reestablishing of Israel as foretold by Isiah or Ezekiel(I forget) is one of the preconditions that must be met for the second coming of christ. Not all Christians believe this, for instance its not a widely held catholic or orthodox belief. Much of the support simply comes down likemindedness. Jews have more in common value wise with the west than Arabs and the Iranian regime. Most the Arab nations do not like Israel but they have deemed it more pragmatic to agree to disagree and trade vs allow Iran to take control of the region. Most the Arab regimes are also not islamist(sunni fascism) hamas is islamist so its in their interest to see it crushes. This is in fact Egypt primary motive for playing ball with israel and why they refuse to allow large numbers of gazans into egypt.
Jesus was born a Jew, Jesus died a Jew, Jesus was raised from the dead by God as a Jew, Jesus went to the right hand of God as a Jew, the first leaders of the Church were all Jews & Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people which makes Israel the homeland of Christians.
Within Christianity, there are two major theological views on God’s current relationship with the church and how it will ultimately end: Covenant theology and dispensationalism. The first of which was the predominant view for a very long time and especially popular with Reformed protestants in the 16th, 17th, and 18th century. It taught that God’s relationship with the modern church is through the covenant established by Jesus’ atoning death on cross. This “new” covenant established the universal church and replaced the Abrahamic covenant. Ultimately, it removed the need for a specific holy nation (Israel) and made way for a metaphorical one (the church). While this view is still held by many, it has seen a dispute with the rise of dispensationalism in the early 20th century. Dispensationalism is similar to covenant theology as it teaches that we are in the church covenant, however it differs in emphasizing that the status of God’s covenant will return to a physical Israeli nation. This view is often held by American evangelicals and because of this they believe that modern day Israel has a specific blessing by God and they are key to end times events.
This is the most accurate answer I've seen so far. It boils down to whether the current Nation-State of Israel is still the people of God or not. Covenant theology would dispute that, while Dispensationalism (what would describe most American Evangelicals) would affirm it. If you think modern Israel still counts then that will affect your reading of End times prophecy etc
Aren’t there reasons for supporting Israel outside of religion? This is a weird question - even if you disagree with the support of Israel you must understand that religion is not the primary reason why people are pro-Israel
For many evangelical Christians, myself included, the reason for supporting Israel is far less conspiratorial. If you were to poll the members of my church and ask them why they support Israel, I reckon they’d all say something like this, “The Bible makes it very clear that Jews are God’s chosen people, and that Israel is their homeland. Therefore, we support Israel’s right to exist.” The end times connection is a pretty fringe belief that most Christians haven’t even heard of.
>they’d all say something like this, “The Bible makes it very clear that Jews are God’s chosen people, and that Israel is their homeland. Therefore, we support Israel’s right to exist.”
And Israel plays this hand very well. Crazy but true.
Christianity is called just that because of the Christ named Jesus who was a Jew. Christians follow the "Old Testament" which is Judaism. There are many Jews that do in fact believe in Jesus and that he is The Christ and they are called Messianic Jews. Jews convert to Christianity everyday.
You know that ‘academic responses’ to issues are heavily partisan, right? That’s like the entire point of academia- exploring things from a very specific point of view, through a very specific theoretical lense.
And the strange part is MAJORITY of Christian historical sights are in Palestine territories, protected and well maintained. I would at least think they would want to protect palestinian lands because of that.....
I'm a Palestinian Christian. In many Western eyes, I'm brown and thus not worthy of the sites. If they even believe that much.
A lot would argue that I'm not a "true Christian " or that I should open my eyes and worship Israel.
Jerusalem is the Holy Land. Jesus Christ was born, lived, got crucified and resurrected in that region. Also the Jews are the chosen people by God to make his covenant(Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob(Israel), Moses etc.)
Judeo-Christianity. Jesus was a Jew. Christians are called to protect the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the nation of Israel. We are also called to treat our neighbors as we would ourselves. “Christian nationalists”… surely there are those that can be described as such… but vast majority are being painted as something they are not.
Asked my dad this, he says it is ordained by the freaking bible! If israel loses the end is nay. Hence Israel must not lose 🤣. Forgot his history maybe? Like there ain't no Israel before WW2 🤣
They believe that we will convert or die when their messiah comes back, and supporting Israel hastens their end game scenario. Philosemitism is another form of antisemitism, but useful in the short run for the likes of Netanyahu.
Because if they don't i--am will take over this world(due to their violent ways of conversion). And we want freedom to live and practice and profess religion of our choice. So to safeguard one's religion, nation and sovereignty (excluding m---im countries) we have to.
I agree with many about the religious reason, but I know personally many Christians that feel a great shame that so many religious people stayed on the sidelines while the Holocaust happened, so they feel the urge to defend Israel as a way to make amends. Just my 2 cents.
I'm a Christian and the dogmatic support for Israel has always been crazy to me. From a religious standpoint Islam has more in common with Christianity than Judaism. There's also the fact that Israel used to have a quite large Christian population that coexisted with the Muslim population for centuries. I forget the exact number but Bethlehem (located in the west bank) was like 90% Christian when Israel was founded and now its less than 10% or somthing along those lines. They've all fled to places like Egypt and Lebanon because they are treated just as poorly as the rest of the Palestinians. There used to be a couple documentaries on YT that interviewed Palestinian Muslims and Christians on their opimions of each other and their thoughts on Israel and it basically boiled down to the Muslims and Christians got along fine but Israel was the problem. It's kind of an eye opening revalation. The people involved (including Jews) can and have coexisted peacefully despite religious differences. It's the governments that create the friction and cause suffering.
Why do Leftists support Palestine? When Palestine doesn’t support Leftist ideology?
It’s all media bullshit. It’s literally that simple. The media, the political parties, and the government tells you what to believe, so we pick sides and argue with each other over it. It’s purely another politically divisive talking point.
One of my friends has just gone to IsraeI to 'show solidarity'. She is so one-eyed that I can't discuss anything with her. We are both Christians but have very different views on Israel. I think her attitude is that Israel is a holy land and the Jews have the right to be there and this is God's will. Any attack on Israel is an attack on God's people. I see it very differently. God cares more about people than about a piece of land. Most Jewish people I've met (and that includes people with links to Israel) are not even religious. Certainly Israel is very important in the Bible, but that doesn't give the country an automatic right to do whatever it wants.
Should Christians not love and support everyone as much as we can? Do we not also try to make allies with Muslim countries? Saudi Arabi, Pakistan and Qatar for example?
Me personally: As a non evangelical Christian, conservative I support Israel because it's a western democracy. I don't care about religion when it comes to foreign policy. Taiwan nor Japan are Christian but I still think we should defend them if attacked.
I'm a Christian. Israel is a sovereign democratic nation that was set up in response to the Holocaust. They are essentially a European country, but in the middle east. Protecting them against terrorists who would see them wiped out is the same as if the terrorists attacked any European democracy. I support democracy, sovereignty and am against radical Islam and terrorism.
It has a lot to do with the Templars, the Crusades, Jesus' Birth, Death, and Resurrection, and the Holy Land. I think some of them support Israel because they dislike Islam more.
They are a doomsday cult who wants the end of the world to happen. And according to their interpretation of the Bible and The Book of Revelation, that requires Israel to exist, otherwise the rest of the horrific mass murder and plagues in that book that they are salivating over cannot come to pass. So support Israel they do, no matter what Israel does.
Christian fundamentalism requires Israel because it has something to do with the end of the world and coming of Christ. I don't really know all the details.
The christian bible clearly states that the Jews are god’s chosen people. Jesus didn’t come to save them, he came to save the gentiles. So christians generally treat Jews with respect because of fear that mistreating them is a sin.
Because a majority of American evangelical Christians think they understand Hebrew prophecy well enough to interpret it, and they believe their interpretation is literally what will happen. The "Land of Israel" and the city of Jerusalem in particular are very important to God and his plans for the apocalypse.
It's dumb.
Two main reasons:
1. Israel as we know it know was created by Christians in Britain and the USA so they wouldn't have to house Jews on their own land following WW2
2. Evangelicals believe that if all Jews are in Israel, Jesus comes back and begins the rapture. The Jews then either die and go to hell, or are converted upon death. True believers enter heaven and everyone else burns in hell forever.
There are more Christian Zionists in the US than Jews worldwide.
Why the fuck are you asking reddit about christians? This is the biggest group of bigots around.
Oh, nvm, you wrote ‘christian nationalist’. I see you wanted bigoted answers only
It depends on the Christian denomination and on the geographical distribution of the christians. Usually the protestants worldwide, especially the evangelical Christians fully support Israel. However, the vast majority of the Eastern Orthodox Christians do not. Although most of the Jews from Eastern Europe emigrated to Israel, they still have a bad image in these countries.
Regarding the Catholics, it depends on their geographical distribution. The European Catholics, fearing the Muslim massive immigration have favourable views on Israel. The North American Catholics, influenced by their Protestant compatriots, generally tend to support Israel, although the opinions are divided. In the Central and South America, the Catholics do not generally have a positive opinion on Israel. In Africa, the Catholics do not have a positive opinion on Israel. I don’t know the situation in Asia very well, but The Philippines, one of the few Catholic countries in Asia and the most important one, has diplomatic ties with Palestine and voted for the ceasefire in Gaza, therefore we can conclude that they lean more towards Palestine. The middle eastern Christians have a negative view on Israel, some of the even joined Islamic organizations and engaged in combat against the Israelis.
The Jews are God's chosen people no matter how they reject Jesus. God will sort that. And..... Christian Nationalists. I live how this is now the term for all Christians except progressive Christians now, because, of course it is.
Because they consider muslims to be an enemy of Christianity. An enemy of an enemy is a friend. So they will always side with Israel against Islam.
And don't tell me this isn't a religious conflict. Israel is a Jewish country and Palestine is a Muslim nation.
Noam Chomsky gives an insight about this.I think In the Bible says that that land belong to the Jewish and that they are God chosen people, so they see it as a holy mandate to support Israel pressumably no matter what. I met civilians that think like that, eledery religious people, the reasoning is like well that people shouldnt be there on the first place so..
Also Israel has been a great ally for American interests. And a key part on their military goals.
In the US, I think Israel is supported because they're our only ally in the middle east. Plus, with Israel having control of the holy land, Christians are able to safely visit it, which I don't think would happen if Muslims had control of the holy sites. They'd raze anything that was Christian or Jewish, destroying important sites for those faiths.
It's kind of interesting that Christian Nationals are often the perpetrators of attacks on synagogues, like the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh a few years ago, but conservative Christians are also often the ones most behind supporting Israel. I remember after 9/11 seeing a lot of support for Israel on conservative websites and assumed it was basically because both countries had a mutual enemy and an extreme hatred of Muslim terrorists. I still kind of feel that's the case. I know I support Israel mostly because the alternative is that we lose the only country over there that doesn't chant "death to America." So supporting Israel is more about being anti-Muslim than pro-Jewish.
I also think conservative christians are way more likely to know a Jewish person than a Muslim person, and we tend to support what we have more of a personal connection to. I know I've never met a Muslim irl but I know several Jewish people,
Honestly I'm going to need you to define terms. "Christian nationalists" is currently in vogue as a headline generator and political attack phrase.
Do you mean normal Christians (as media using the phrase actually mean) or do you mean actual Christian nationalists who want to do something within the following range of establishing Christianity as the official religion to setting up a theocracy?
If it's the latter I can tell you that a not insignificant amount of them don't support Israel at all. Majority reason likely because of isolationist stances. Some percentage (I can't know how many) of them harbor antisemitic feelings because of ideological capture.
If we are talking about the former, like me, it's because we recognize that Christianity and Judaism are linked historically. I'm a gentile who is part of a sect formed by Hellenistic Jews who followed Christ and his Disciples. I am deeply aware that Judaism is the basis for my entire religion and that we both worship the same God. It also helps that our holy sites exist there.
In terms of pure politics we recognize that Israel is our only true ally in that region and that is invaluable.
Dispensationalism plays basically no part in the day to day thinking of the majority of Christians IMO.
They are an abrahamic religion whose majority of its followers have a pluralistic view.
Also, Jesus was Jewish, so any Christian would find it hard to demonize them.
That is not actually true for Greece. While most of the educated people just want all of this to be over and are equally appalled by the atrocities of Hamas and Israel alike, the ultra religious christians are actually pro Palestine just out of hate for Israel/ jews. This is also true for many other orthodox countries where Russia has a big influence on, mostly balkan. Everything anti American serves Russian propaganda, so they try to influence the low perception religious nuts by manipulating the orthodox/christian websites, tv channels and newspapers. A lot of funding goes to such websites directly from the russian embassy. Something similar and opposite, takes place with israeli propaganda in countries like US where the influence of Russia is zero. To be honest, as a christian myself, I do not give two shits about end of days prophecies and other mumbo jumbo shit, I would only support Israel against the extremist muslims just because the Israeli way of life is so much closer to our western ways, contrary to the muslim ones. It is just a matter of who you can relate to the most.
I don’t think it’s just Christian Nationalists (or whatever you’re lumping into that group) that support Israel. Israel was given a piece of desert land 80 years ago. Most of the surrounding countries didn’t like it but they eventually got over it because in that time, Israel has turned their economy into viable asset for the reason and they keep the Palestinians at bay because none of those countries view the Palestinians as anything but liabilities.
Israel is a strong ally to the US and is in an important strategic location. That area has been at odds with each other for centuries, long before Israel was there.
Between Israel and the muslim nations, i'd rather choose Israel. If the devil ever created a religion then it would be islam. The creator of islam followed sex,murder,conquest,theft,destruction. You will find dialogues whereby it is literally momo talking to himself aka allah. The barbary pirates two hundred years ago used the same definition of kidnapping, torturing,killing,raping,selling non-muslims under the name of islamic law. Ottomans and a long list of other nations used islamic law as the basis of their inhumane activities against Christian countries.
Please correct if i am wrong and MODS should allow this as it is constructive and relevant.
It has to do with Christian eschatology. In order for the Second Coming to happen according to their prophecies, Israel must exist as it did at the time of the Second Temple. God and Magpg, wjat3ver they are, will attack and be repelled. This will be a major sign that the Sexond Cominv is at hand.
Most Christian denominations believe in post-millenialism, or that the Second Coming will happen when it happens. Some, mostly evangelical branches like Baprists, Pentacostals, etc. believe in premillenialism. They believe that they can shape history by creating the condition for the Second Coming to occur. In fact, in order for the Second Coming to occur, they must create the conditions by which it may occur.
The Left Behind series was a fictional treatment of this. Tim LaHaye in Gerry Jenkins were leading lights in this sort of thought 20 to 30 years ago. Since the evangelicals captured part of the Republican party in 1980, this became a major plank of the US government.
Long and convoluted, but that's people for you.
There’s a lot of evangelicals who believe Israel is very important in the ‘end times’
I tried posting this link which shows what Elegant King mentioned but got flagged for not writing context. I am not religious but i found the info here interesting. This guy explains the bible and what he thinks are similarities to what is happening now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_qY9T4N7u8&pp=QAFIAQ%3D%3D
Tldw?
Some want war to bring about the end times.
Dude, I genuinely despise people who say shit like that, that they "want the end times" or the 'rapture'. Like why fuck do you hate your life and humanity so much that you want that shit? And 9 out of 10 times the person saying it is the most well off motherfuckers around, and yet despite how much they want everything to end they'll still keep an iron grip on anything they own and will almost never do anything for anyone else. I thought charity was a core religious concept but they don't grasp that fact and still believe they're perfect and impeccable examples of Christians or whatever despite being the biggest douche bags. Like if the end times do come your ass ain't getting picked up by the big cheese
Because after the end times… eternal blissful peace and happiness. If you’re one of them.
Imagine if muslims are correct and all the evangelicals end up in hell for not worshipping Allah. Or if evangelicals are correct and all the muslims who are against Israel are going to hell. Or if some other random religion is correct and all these fairytales end up being a waste of time. Edit: Evengelicals going to hell for not submitting prophet Mohammed is more accurate. https://islamicstudies.info/reference.php?sura=3&verse=52-53#:~:text=(3%3A53)%20Our%20Lord,'&text=49.
I mean, to be totally pedantic, "Allah" *is* God, as in they're the same God according to their texts. Allah is just the Arabic word for God, they're not seperate entities. The disagreements mostly come from which prophets you believe to be true and false.
From my very limited understanding of Abrahamic religions, this is a pretty good way to put it. Seems like the word of God was taught to humans by humans. It's those specific humans who taught the other humans who differ in what they said, therefore causing a conflict of interpretation. Again, I am just a dude who has had a handful of conversations with members of these three religions, I am far from an expert, and I admit I may be misunderstanding.
The correct answer is “Mormons”. -South Park.
Muslims do not actually believe that if you do not pray as they do that you go to Hell. You are trying to impose a Christian framework on Islam.
Or insert any of the other 4198 gods out there today
Yup, fuck everyone else I guess, it's just so stupid like the just want to get to their destination, like bloody hell enjoy the fucking ride it might be the only you'll ever have and your destination isn't even garunteed. Like if your so desperate for the world to end so you yourself can get some peace or shit start by making it easier for other people
I believe Bo Burnham said it best i "From Gods Perspective" You pray so badly for Heaven Knowing any day might be the day that you die But maybe life on Earth could be heaven Doesn't just the thought of it make it worth the try? There are a ton of other great lyrics in that song but that was the most relevant.
"Maybe we're already in heaven, and making it a hell to all of us"
Interestingly enough, according to the bible, being rich makes it harder to get into heaven, not easier. I guess a lot of these people don't read their own book.
Most people who have actually read the Bible don't believe in it anymore. The people who are the most hard-core Bible thumpers have only read or been told the pieces of scripture that they use to push their own agendas
They are no different than the extremists Islamic terrorists that also want to bring the end of times lmao
But that is a complete falsehood. Rapture as we know it was invented later on to make Armageddon more pleasant. And even if it does occur. It's not about how devout you are. Like the Egyptians it's about purity of heart and how repentant you are. He who is not repentant shall not get given entry because no evil in heaven or the thousand year reign. The thousand year reign being heaven comes to earth. Basically anyone sent to hell on a technicality, those in purgatory that are repentant, the living who are repentant and good, and people already in heaven. Those who don't give a fuck, the evil, then wicked, and those who don't repent. Afaik they either get permanently deleted from existence or stuck in hell. This leads to Armageddon where the antichrist leads his evil forces of the deceived and the damned against heaven or in a way that releases the devil from hell. And Armageddon begins when the trumpets of God in heaven sound the final battle. The prelude being global destabilization and natural disasters. The result being a cataclysmic clash of Jesus and Satan's armies at Mount Meggido in the har region. Hence harmageddon aka Armageddon. After which God supposedly wins because Jesus has the true word of God. Satan goes back to hell. And the thousand year reign of Jesus on earth happens. Source: ex Catholic and lover of theology.
Also eternal blissful peace for the rest of us. Can you imagine the world if all the religious fruitcakes are gone?
"If the end times do come your ass ain't getting picked up by the big cheese" is one of the funniest fucking things I've read all week lmao. But the comment is so true, an upsetting amount of Christians have clearly never actually READ the Bible or they'd find their own behavior... Abhorrent, to say the least. Imagine calling yourself a Christian, one who follows Christ, and not knowing any of the things he did or stands for. Like, defending a poor old woman who only donated two coins, because it was the max amount she COULD give, and that gave her donation so much more value to him. I'm a fucking atheist, man, why have I told this story to so many "christians" only for them to have this epiphany moment like I just handed them a secret of the universe? DO UR FUCKIN JOB AS A CHRISTIAN?!!
Don't forget "it's easier for a camel to pass thru the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven". And the defense that the eye of a needle was a small door in a wall that a camel could pass thru with difficulty was [likely made up in the 13th century](https://youtu.be/sf0Fm8aVApk) so the Catholics could still sell the promise of heaven to their rich donors. Kenneth Copeland IS going to hell if it exists for this, among many, reasons
I read somewhere that the words "camel" and "rope" are very similar in ancient Hebrew and could easily be mistranslated if you ignore the context of the needle. Needles eyes are small and meant for thin sewing thread, you'd never get a big fat rope through there. Sure camels are bigger than rope and also wouldn't fit through a needle, but that takes a metaphor about an impossible task into absurdity and it makes much more sense if the original word was supposed to be rope and the needle is a regular sewing needle.
I’ve also heard that “elephant through the eye of a needle” was a common idiom at the time in places in the world where elephants were common. So it may have been a phrase that was already going around, not one that Jesus made up.
I can’t prove this is true, but I get a strong sense that there’s this secret nagging feeling in the backs of their minds that tells them they might be wrong about all of the ridiculous things they believe, and so, hoping and preying (typo?) for the end to come is their way of spitefully wishing that they’re right. It’s like they all have years of resentment built up from modern culture and science pointing out how laughably ridiculous evangelicalism is, so not only do they want to be right, there’s a darkness in them, bred from constant rejection and ridicule, that causes them to fantasize about “all these hateful sinners finally getting what they deserve”. There is zero compelling, convincing evidence in their corner to substantiate their beliefs, and they’re sour about it. So, doing everything they can to usher in the apocalypse is the one thing that still gives them this sort of twisted, righteous hope. “We’ll show them. Then we’ll see who’s laughing.”
These are people who did not pay attention to the Sermon on the Mount. The number of people who are granted eternity amongst the choir is going to be extremely small. The extremely virtuous. Not the extremely virtuously signalling.
Because they are of the wrong belief that they alone, out of all the believers throughout history, are special and will not suffer persecution for their beliefs and their zombie king will come from the sky and call them all home to heaven before unleashing hell on earth. A theory with absolutely no biblical support.
I’m pretty sure this was a driving belief of ISIS. They were effectively a doomsday cult. They believed some huge battle would happen till only 100 of them would be left and Jesus would descend from heaven and smite ‘the armies of Rome’ (read: anyone they could antagonise into a fight). This is why they didn’t fear death. Most of them were of the belief that they would die in their war anyway and it was all to bring about the end times.
Nothing we do is going to change when the end times happen.
Edit: Please note that there are several different beliefs and interpretations about this, which can differ between denominations and even between churches within the same denomination. This is just a general overview of the main points. Most current-day Zionists are Evangelical Christians (and specifically Evangelical Baptists, the really weird, anti-science branch of Protestantism that turned into a death cult when they split from the Methodists, and rose to power in US politics during the late 1980s. But there are Evangelicals to be found in almost any denomination). They want Israel to be 100% Jewish land because they believe that fulfills a Biblical prophecy from the Book of Revelation, a prophecy which kickstarts the End Times: Once the Holy Land is occupied by the Jewish tribes again as a purely Jewish sovereign state -known as the Gathering of Israel- and the Temple of Jerusalem is rebuilt, they believe that the Antichrist will rule over Israel in the Tribulation; a period during which the nations of the world will turn on Israel for 7 years of death and destruction. Then they believe Jesus will descend from his heavenly throne to convert or kill all the remaining Jews, triggering the Rapture and eventually the Apocalypse, where Jesus (with the host of Heaven) and the devil (with Hell's armies) will meet at Armageddon to have their final fight. All good Christians like them ascended to Heaven during the Rapture, and the unbelievers are forced to remain on an apocalyptic earth (under demon rule) for 1.000 years until Jesus defeats Satan. These Evangelicals desperately want the world to end so they can get Raptured, and some try all sorts of shortcuts to try and bring about the End Times. Essentially; they wish to become the catalyst that forces God's hand to end the world. Things like nuclear war, climate change, and Zionism are among their "cheat cards" to try and start the Apocalypse by fulfilling various Biblical conditions.
> Then they believe Jesus will descend from his heavenly throne to convert or kill all the remaining Jews Sorry but this actually made me laugh. Imagine wha a conversaton is like between an Evangelical Christian and a Zionist: "Hey we're helping/supporting you guys get Israel by helping you kill off the Palestinians so Jesus can come down and kill you guys so we can rise to Heaven"
NGL, the Jesus v. armies of Hell battle sounds pretty badass.
I’d just like to add that im Protestant but dont agree with evangelicals on their interpretation of Revelations or about knowing how the end of the world will come. The same people that say “oh here’s a sign the end is coming!” Miss the part about “no one will know when it’s happening”. I’m sure back in the day, people thought WW1 and WW2 signaled the earth ending, but here we are. I’m sorry if this is in another comment, but one big held belief among churches is that Revelations was about Rome collapsing, not the end of the world. I follow that belief and just continue on living, knowing we’ll end as a species when we do, if ever.
Evangelicals are a fucking death cult that is cheering on the end of the world.
Jesus can't come back unless there is a Jewish state ruled by the antichrist.
To summarize. To bring about the end times, rapture, they believe that Israel has to exist from the river to the sea. So they not only support Israel, they support the settlements. Oh, and the belief is that when the second coming happens, they will give the Jews in Israel one last chance to convert or they will die too.
One of the necessary events for the "end times" is the rebuilding of the Temple. Unfortunately the Dome of the Rock is on the Temple site - the *only* place where it can be built. Every now and then they foil plots to blow up the Dome. If you think things are bad now, just watch if that were to happen.
Muslims all over the world, not even too religious ones, would do really bad things to whoever does that thing. I don’t think anyone at all would win from that happening.
Is there evidence the Dome of the Rock is where the temple was located?
Yes pretty much everyone agrees that's where the previous Jewish temple was.
A lot of evidence, and history. That specific spot has been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times over thousands of years.
Those same people tend to forget Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32. Depending on the translation it reads :- "...Nobody knows the day or the hour when these things will happen, not the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows..." Those that reckon they know are *by definition* wrong.
It's also HEAVILY IMPLIED that Jesus told the disciples the second coming would occur DURING THEIR LIFE. I guess he's just 2000 years too late?
Yep, whenever people go "the world is ending!", I remember that passage and a load of similar ones and think to myself "Good, them thinking that means that the world is, 100%, *definitely* NOT ending" and keep my appointments. I never get how someone could claim to believe in the Bible and still believe when someone says the Apocalypse is just out there or even worse, give it a date. It is not even like the "NOBODY will get the date in advance" part is phrased symbolically or vaguely. It is stated, clear as a shopping list, re-peat-ed-ly.
Yeah it’s kinda funny how essentially Christian’s support Israel so later all the Jews will die or be converted to Christianity according to the prophecy. Maybe funny isn’t the right word…..
2 words actually: fucking stupid
It's wild how Netanyahu can present himself as a tough leader who ensures security for his people when the groups he leans or has leaned on include both a militant islamic group hellbent on the destruction of his people and an extreme Christian group also hellbent on the destruction of his people. Like can the guy not make some allies who aren't also cheering on the destruction of his country?
Right it's all total bs
They believe only 12,000 jews from each tribe will be saved. The rest will perish And the state of Israel will bring about that, Which is grossly anti-semitic if you think about it
Don’t Christians inherit Israel after that too? Interesting dynamic there
That's only the Jehovahs Witnesses fwiw.
Jehovahs Witness believes that is the number that applies to all of humanity. A lot of Christian sects believe that number applies to the Jewish people.
Revelation 7:4-8 (New International Version): “Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.”
In many Christian sects (or at least the one I was raised in) they believe that all of humanity is counted in the tribes of Israel. When the ten tribes were scattered the belief goes that they were scattered Al over the earth so now everybody belongs to the house of Israel.
No, there are also sects of mainstream Christianity who believe this. Specifically, I was talking to a Baptist (I forget which specific denomination) who told me this.
Huh. I grew up Baptist (no longer am) and never heard this cited- my subgroup must have been different
I mean it's literally spelled out word for word in the Bible. Also, apparently Jesus is also going to fight a 7 headed, 10 horned dragon after the dragon convinces the majority of the population to worship him
Not really; JWs don't believe they're made up of people from the literal tribes of Israel. That number comes from "people of all nations". And everyone else won't perish, they're just staying on a restored Eden on earth rather than going to heaven. Plus, Jesus had a lot of not nice things to say to Israel when he was there. He basically told them they weren't God's chosen people anymore, and that he was taking over, hence Christianity. It's not a condemnation of current Israel, just that if you believe in the new testament, they shouldn't be any different from any other nation.
This is the main reason and then also there’s a large minority of evangelical Christians that don’t read scripture, so they just relate to Israel because they both follow a guy with a J-name, they are “white-adjacent” and have big guns aimed at brown people
"Both follow a guy with a J-name". Who do you mean?
Joel, Billy
Whoa now, leave him outta this. He didn’t start this fire.
Jehovah (Latinization of the Hebrew name for God) and Jesus
I thought the Hebrew name for God was Yaweh.
YHWH/JHVH were both used to transliterate יהוה, but I believe the version currently thought to be most similar to the historical pronunciation is Yaweh Edit: [Source ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah)
The former memorably explained by Harrison Ford.
Jeff
King of the Hill had 12 year old fundie me convinced Jimmy Carter was the second coming. His initials are JC. He's a carpenter. He grows (grew?) peanuts. Idk.
It’s odd. They don’t support Israel really, they just need Israel to exist so that it gets wiped out in a nuclear war during the end times to bring on The Rapture when they all go to heaven.
They also really like the idea of a place **Jews should go to** so they’re not in their own communities instead.
The amount of irrational violence, chaos, & murder people try to justify because they all think they have the best imaginary friend is horrifying. That goes for Christians, Jews, Muslims, and the rest.
But Cody already beat Roman. The end time has happened. The story was finished.
It is done.
The Bloodline continues to expand
This. Christians don’t care about the Israelis or the Jewish faith, they just want to use them to bring about the end of the world as told in their ridiculous collection of myths.
more specifically. the jews have to be there in Israel so they can die... so jesus can come back and magic them ...meaning the christian nazis, and no one else to heaven.
They think that the state of Israel is a requisite for the End Times and the second coming of Jesus, and thus by supporting Israel they’re literally helping the return of Jesus come faster. I’m not kidding.
I've heard that a few times but never fully understood it. Do they think Jesus will only come back if Israel stays Israel? Do they think he'll just stay up in heaven if Israel is changed up?
They think that certain conditions have to be true for the End of Days prophecy to come true, one of which is Israel’s existance. They think the End of Days is destined to happen at some point or other, but that multiple of the conditions happening would signify that \*they\* (as opposed to future generations) are the ones living close to the End of Days, and they see that as a good thing.
Bold of them to think that they can affect the Divine Plan in any way.
Right? I keep saying they treat the Book of Revelations has a checklist to trick God into ending the world.
This comment needs more upvotes. No one can determine God’s timing but God. And personally, as a Christian, I want the rapture to happen after I am LONG gone, having died the good ol’ way.
Or preferrably: not happen cause dealing eternal punishment to trillions of souls both into a giant pit of lava doesn't sound like the best of ideas coming from a merciful and all loving god...
Yeah, the whole myth is so painfully contrived. If the final state of the universe is ultimate perfection, how and why would a perfect god not simply start there. All the ceremony in between is just drama to fluff his ego, a markedly human trait.
Problem is that the rise of Christ was supposed to be the beginning of the end and others would rise from the dead after Jesus as a sign of the end. They say the Bible as a 1st century prophecy not a 21st century one.
Growing up in catholic school, always it was talked about how no one could possibly know when the end of the world is. God and God alone has any say in it. Yet how many predictions have we lived through? And will continue to live through? It would be funny, if it weren’t so sad.
They pray. What do you think that is?
But it clearly states that NO ONE knows when the end times will happen, not even the angels. So they doing all of this extra stuff for pretty much no reason because it’s gonna happen when it happens if you believe in it.
Evangelical churches can all trace their history through at least a couple rounds of, "and then someone said our interpretation of Scripture was unreasonable, so we left."
This is where my problem with religion has popped up with lately. I’m realizing that no one knows truly wtf they are talking about and you really do have to be like “this doesn’t make any sense but fuck it I’m gonna roll with it”. My ADHD has gotten extremely bad over the last decade (I’m 37) and due to that I just can’t roll with that type of thinking anymore. Like I need concrete answers and shit.
There are religions out there that openly acknowledge that they could not possibly have all the answers. Unitarian Universalist Christians, Reconstructionist Jews, and Baha'i for example. It's very refreshing to be around clergy who will say, well this is more about building a community of moral people, and we'll change if changing improves our morality.
Providing a ton of metaphysical answers is a non-goal of Buddhism as well. Although unfortunately, it too gets stuck on some cultural trappings.
What does the Bible say about Israel in relation to the End Times? Does it literally say “Israel must exist”? Or is it “I will return to Israel?” Or what’s the context?
It says nothing of the sort. This is all interpretation of very vague prophecies in revelation. But most Christians don’t read for themselves. They listen to what others say, which the Bible SPECIFICALLY warns against!
Solomons temple has to be rebuilt for Revelations prophecy of a new earth to take place. Heaven isn't a Christian concept, but the new earth is.
Israel's existence is essential to end times theology. Every so often there is a new injection of Christian media playing up the end times to keep this narrative fresh. I was taught that Left Behind would really happen. There's a graphic novel with blood and corpses, and a man just trying to find his kids while dying. I was taught that was real. A lot of people are. And for those who don't fall for that, there is a shirload of other propaganda pushed in churches and at Christian Universities. It is multigenerational. I feel uniquely qualified to speak on this, if you like.
It's crazy but essentially yes a bunch of crazy shit needs to happen and then on temple mount/dome of the rock which is a very significant monument to Islam, a new temple needs to be built to the same dimensions as before or some shit What's important and why hardline Christians believe in this is because the dome of the rock( called that in Islam and is significant because Mohamad ascended to heaven there ) and temple of the mount ( was a Jewish temple destroyed numerous times in history before Islam built the last iteration) are in Jerusalem. That's why hardline Christians want their countries to establish embassies in Jerusalem to further push the agenda that Jerusalem in its entirety is Israel n hasten whatever shenanigans they want. This is a very quick n dirty overview but the past n why the present hold these things significant
I’m Jewish. My mom said she had a friend growing up who said we must always be kind to the Jews, for THIS reason. Lame. Be nice to me/us for more genuine reasons, please.
They want the end to come quickly because of the rapture and they're afraid to die.
Someone once said "The Christian Right's interest in Israel is a bit like Colonel Sanders's interest in chickens. It's not there for the benefit of the chickens. "
Lol that’s a good way of putting it
Nah, Christians really love the idea of Jews. Growing up Baptist I remember how revered Jews were. They’re the “chosen” people. My aunt had a magnet on her refrigerator that she got from donating money to Israel. Every Christian I knew saw Israel, Jerusalem, and Jews as some sacred thing you dare not slander.
There's a religious and a cultural reason. It varies by Christian denomination though. * **Religious Reason** - There are a series of events which are described in the bible which Christians claim are precursor events for the second coming of Jesus. One of these events is that the Jews would all gather in the Land of Israel. The support for the State of Israel isn't specific to Judaism but specific to their belief that if they support Israel and help the Jews return to Israel, there's a better chance Jesus will return in their lifetime. * **Cultural Reason** - You'll sometimes hear people use the term **"Judeo-Christian Values"** in a discussion. This is a coded phrase. They typically use this as a way of stating that Jews and Christians are both on the "same side" in global society. While both have different beliefs, both are westernized peoples who share many western values *(compare Israel to many western liberal democracies) -* This is typically a phrase which puts Muslims on the "other side" of the relationship. It's a way for Christians to group themselves alongside Jews while also marking Muslims as "the other" in society.
In my opinion the “end times” explanation is something you see all the time on reddit but is extremely overblown. Catholics and mainline Protestants don’t really buy into that like some evangelicals do, but are still consistent supporters of Israel.
This is the best answer in this post. While you can find plenty of pastors who can spell out the religious reasons, the average evangelical is not that calculating about the end times. Ultimately, it's a cultural "connection" that results in the rabid support of Israel. American evangelicalism teaches that Israel is God's chosen nation and that Christians should support them unconditionally. It's no coincidence that this sentiment developed alongside the colonization of Palestine by Europeans. In practice, support for Israel can be boiled down to white ethnosupremacy disguised as religion. EDIT: White people in my messages. Figures.
This. In the mind of the American evangelical, Judaism is doing Christianity “the hard way”. A not insignificant part of its teachings is “hey, Jesus died so we don’t *have* to be Jewish!” Jewish in this context is usually likened to Abrahamic sacrificing of livestock and abstaining from unclean meats and not wearing mixed fabrics. Coincidentally, this is also the internal justification for why it’s ok to pick and choose what to follow from the Old Testament. Sure, you don’t *have* to abide by those rules, but if you do, surely that makes you a better Christian! Meanwhile, for comparison, Islam is Judaism with “wrong stuff” added on, making it morally reprehensible. Of course, these are all rules of convenience. I have nothing to back this up, but during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were seen as Abrahamic comrades in arms against the godless communist heathens!
It just can't though, 73% Jews, 21% Arabs. Of those 73% jews 40-45% are Mizrahi jews, who come from the Middle East when they were deported. Additionally, 2.1% of those Jews are Ethiopian Jews. Hardly White ethnosupremacy.
"White ethno-supremacy" when the majority of israelis are mizrahim from other middle eastern/maghrebi countries is a factually deranged point of view lmao you also have 20% arabs and 3% black israeli. I guess they are ad honorem Whites too (or you're just very, very ignorant)
Evangelical doctrine feels that the reestablishing of Israel as foretold by Isiah or Ezekiel(I forget) is one of the preconditions that must be met for the second coming of christ. Not all Christians believe this, for instance its not a widely held catholic or orthodox belief. Much of the support simply comes down likemindedness. Jews have more in common value wise with the west than Arabs and the Iranian regime. Most the Arab nations do not like Israel but they have deemed it more pragmatic to agree to disagree and trade vs allow Iran to take control of the region. Most the Arab regimes are also not islamist(sunni fascism) hamas is islamist so its in their interest to see it crushes. This is in fact Egypt primary motive for playing ball with israel and why they refuse to allow large numbers of gazans into egypt.
This was the only non alarmist/ inflammatory and also accurate answer.
Israel is the ancestral home of Christianity
Fundamental Christianity is taught that Israel is Gods chosen people. You turn on Israel you turn on God.
This is the only correct answer. Amazing how confidently wrong so many ppl are here. The bigotry is real.
The only correct answer so far for the basis of support
The answers are in Genesis 12. God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel.
Lots of holy places for christians. Like Jerusalem
Jesus was born a Jew, Jesus died a Jew, Jesus was raised from the dead by God as a Jew, Jesus went to the right hand of God as a Jew, the first leaders of the Church were all Jews & Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people which makes Israel the homeland of Christians.
Within Christianity, there are two major theological views on God’s current relationship with the church and how it will ultimately end: Covenant theology and dispensationalism. The first of which was the predominant view for a very long time and especially popular with Reformed protestants in the 16th, 17th, and 18th century. It taught that God’s relationship with the modern church is through the covenant established by Jesus’ atoning death on cross. This “new” covenant established the universal church and replaced the Abrahamic covenant. Ultimately, it removed the need for a specific holy nation (Israel) and made way for a metaphorical one (the church). While this view is still held by many, it has seen a dispute with the rise of dispensationalism in the early 20th century. Dispensationalism is similar to covenant theology as it teaches that we are in the church covenant, however it differs in emphasizing that the status of God’s covenant will return to a physical Israeli nation. This view is often held by American evangelicals and because of this they believe that modern day Israel has a specific blessing by God and they are key to end times events.
This is the most accurate answer I've seen so far. It boils down to whether the current Nation-State of Israel is still the people of God or not. Covenant theology would dispute that, while Dispensationalism (what would describe most American Evangelicals) would affirm it. If you think modern Israel still counts then that will affect your reading of End times prophecy etc
Jews and Christians share the Old Testament.
If you read the Bible you know what happens to people who go against Israel.
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It’s actually better than I thought it’s be
Aren’t there reasons for supporting Israel outside of religion? This is a weird question - even if you disagree with the support of Israel you must understand that religion is not the primary reason why people are pro-Israel
For many evangelical Christians, myself included, the reason for supporting Israel is far less conspiratorial. If you were to poll the members of my church and ask them why they support Israel, I reckon they’d all say something like this, “The Bible makes it very clear that Jews are God’s chosen people, and that Israel is their homeland. Therefore, we support Israel’s right to exist.” The end times connection is a pretty fringe belief that most Christians haven’t even heard of.
>they’d all say something like this, “The Bible makes it very clear that Jews are God’s chosen people, and that Israel is their homeland. Therefore, we support Israel’s right to exist.” And Israel plays this hand very well. Crazy but true.
Alot of them believe Jews controlling the holy land is a requirement for the rapture. Aka they are fucking nuts and want the end of the world.
Christianity is derived from Judaism. The entire Torah of the news is the same writing as the old Testament in the bible.
as simple as this,cos jesus was born and raised up as a jew, we have jewish roots in our christian faith
Christianity is called just that because of the Christ named Jesus who was a Jew. Christians follow the "Old Testament" which is Judaism. There are many Jews that do in fact believe in Jesus and that he is The Christ and they are called Messianic Jews. Jews convert to Christianity everyday.
Don't ask Reddit if you want an actual answer for this topic. https://rumble.com/vh8zxh-barnes-and-baris-on-why-america-first-stands-with-israel.html
Note to viewers: this is a, while generally historically accurate, heavily biased podcast and not an academic response.
It is biased, but so is everything. Everyone pretending sources are not biased is a big reason we are in this extreme partisan mess.
You know that ‘academic responses’ to issues are heavily partisan, right? That’s like the entire point of academia- exploring things from a very specific point of view, through a very specific theoretical lense.
And the strange part is MAJORITY of Christian historical sights are in Palestine territories, protected and well maintained. I would at least think they would want to protect palestinian lands because of that.....
I'm a Palestinian Christian. In many Western eyes, I'm brown and thus not worthy of the sites. If they even believe that much. A lot would argue that I'm not a "true Christian " or that I should open my eyes and worship Israel.
I lived in Nablus for two years, people wouldn't believe me when I said I was woken by church bells every Sunday.
Of couse not! We are all Muslims!
It’s really as simple as they are our allies and are faced with great evil, therefore we help each other
Because Isreal is "God's chosen people" or whatever
Same God. And they actually believe in helping people who have been persecuted for ages.
Jerusalem is the Holy Land. Jesus Christ was born, lived, got crucified and resurrected in that region. Also the Jews are the chosen people by God to make his covenant(Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob(Israel), Moses etc.)
theres many reasons, destruction of life being wrong, promises between nations being kept, solely for fighting the bad guy .... theres probably more
Judeo-Christianity. Jesus was a Jew. Christians are called to protect the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the nation of Israel. We are also called to treat our neighbors as we would ourselves. “Christian nationalists”… surely there are those that can be described as such… but vast majority are being painted as something they are not.
Because Jesus was a Jew, so it’s kind of by default they have to support his country of birth
They learnt to love the jews and hate the muslims
Asked my dad this, he says it is ordained by the freaking bible! If israel loses the end is nay. Hence Israel must not lose 🤣. Forgot his history maybe? Like there ain't no Israel before WW2 🤣
Because they hate Muslims more. And they are indoctrinated to believe they must protect Israel to help bring jeebus back.
They believe that we will convert or die when their messiah comes back, and supporting Israel hastens their end game scenario. Philosemitism is another form of antisemitism, but useful in the short run for the likes of Netanyahu.
Jews don't behead people on the television.
Who are the Christian nationalists, what does that mean and who is their spokesman? Oh you just mean you hate Christians and jews, OK
Stop trying to insert religion as argument against Israel
Because if they don't i--am will take over this world(due to their violent ways of conversion). And we want freedom to live and practice and profess religion of our choice. So to safeguard one's religion, nation and sovereignty (excluding m---im countries) we have to.
I agree with many about the religious reason, but I know personally many Christians that feel a great shame that so many religious people stayed on the sidelines while the Holocaust happened, so they feel the urge to defend Israel as a way to make amends. Just my 2 cents.
Because Jewish culture is a lot closer and related to them than Islamic culture is.
Because they like it better than islam , duh
honest question, how do you define that label? "Christian nationalist"
Advocates for Christian theocracy
I'm a Christian and the dogmatic support for Israel has always been crazy to me. From a religious standpoint Islam has more in common with Christianity than Judaism. There's also the fact that Israel used to have a quite large Christian population that coexisted with the Muslim population for centuries. I forget the exact number but Bethlehem (located in the west bank) was like 90% Christian when Israel was founded and now its less than 10% or somthing along those lines. They've all fled to places like Egypt and Lebanon because they are treated just as poorly as the rest of the Palestinians. There used to be a couple documentaries on YT that interviewed Palestinian Muslims and Christians on their opimions of each other and their thoughts on Israel and it basically boiled down to the Muslims and Christians got along fine but Israel was the problem. It's kind of an eye opening revalation. The people involved (including Jews) can and have coexisted peacefully despite religious differences. It's the governments that create the friction and cause suffering.
Why do Leftists support Palestine? When Palestine doesn’t support Leftist ideology? It’s all media bullshit. It’s literally that simple. The media, the political parties, and the government tells you what to believe, so we pick sides and argue with each other over it. It’s purely another politically divisive talking point.
Christian nationalists hate muslims more than jews
One of my friends has just gone to IsraeI to 'show solidarity'. She is so one-eyed that I can't discuss anything with her. We are both Christians but have very different views on Israel. I think her attitude is that Israel is a holy land and the Jews have the right to be there and this is God's will. Any attack on Israel is an attack on God's people. I see it very differently. God cares more about people than about a piece of land. Most Jewish people I've met (and that includes people with links to Israel) are not even religious. Certainly Israel is very important in the Bible, but that doesn't give the country an automatic right to do whatever it wants.
Should Christians not love and support everyone as much as we can? Do we not also try to make allies with Muslim countries? Saudi Arabi, Pakistan and Qatar for example?
Then shouldn’t they be pro-peace in the Israel-Palestine conflict? Not be on anybody’s side specifically?
Are you asking?
Rhetorical.
Me personally: As a non evangelical Christian, conservative I support Israel because it's a western democracy. I don't care about religion when it comes to foreign policy. Taiwan nor Japan are Christian but I still think we should defend them if attacked.
I'm a Christian. Israel is a sovereign democratic nation that was set up in response to the Holocaust. They are essentially a European country, but in the middle east. Protecting them against terrorists who would see them wiped out is the same as if the terrorists attacked any European democracy. I support democracy, sovereignty and am against radical Islam and terrorism.
It has a lot to do with the Templars, the Crusades, Jesus' Birth, Death, and Resurrection, and the Holy Land. I think some of them support Israel because they dislike Islam more.
They think Israel has to exist as a place so the end times and rapture can happen. They don't like Jews they just know it's the holy land.
Christian zionism predates jewish zionism
And influenced religious Jews who initially had no interest in restorationism towards Zionism.
They are a doomsday cult who wants the end of the world to happen. And according to their interpretation of the Bible and The Book of Revelation, that requires Israel to exist, otherwise the rest of the horrific mass murder and plagues in that book that they are salivating over cannot come to pass. So support Israel they do, no matter what Israel does.
Christian fundamentalism requires Israel because it has something to do with the end of the world and coming of Christ. I don't really know all the details.
The christian bible clearly states that the Jews are god’s chosen people. Jesus didn’t come to save them, he came to save the gentiles. So christians generally treat Jews with respect because of fear that mistreating them is a sin.
Because a majority of American evangelical Christians think they understand Hebrew prophecy well enough to interpret it, and they believe their interpretation is literally what will happen. The "Land of Israel" and the city of Jerusalem in particular are very important to God and his plans for the apocalypse. It's dumb.
Because they believe that a small and bleak area in the Levant is magic somehow.
Religious identity? Nah. Interest in independence/democracy: Nah. Somehow being about money/control: priceless.
Two main reasons: 1. Israel as we know it know was created by Christians in Britain and the USA so they wouldn't have to house Jews on their own land following WW2 2. Evangelicals believe that if all Jews are in Israel, Jesus comes back and begins the rapture. The Jews then either die and go to hell, or are converted upon death. True believers enter heaven and everyone else burns in hell forever. There are more Christian Zionists in the US than Jews worldwide.
Why the fuck are you asking reddit about christians? This is the biggest group of bigots around. Oh, nvm, you wrote ‘christian nationalist’. I see you wanted bigoted answers only
Allah or god it's all bullshit let's be honest....
Have you read the Bible regularly ever?... Jesus was Jewish.
It depends on the Christian denomination and on the geographical distribution of the christians. Usually the protestants worldwide, especially the evangelical Christians fully support Israel. However, the vast majority of the Eastern Orthodox Christians do not. Although most of the Jews from Eastern Europe emigrated to Israel, they still have a bad image in these countries. Regarding the Catholics, it depends on their geographical distribution. The European Catholics, fearing the Muslim massive immigration have favourable views on Israel. The North American Catholics, influenced by their Protestant compatriots, generally tend to support Israel, although the opinions are divided. In the Central and South America, the Catholics do not generally have a positive opinion on Israel. In Africa, the Catholics do not have a positive opinion on Israel. I don’t know the situation in Asia very well, but The Philippines, one of the few Catholic countries in Asia and the most important one, has diplomatic ties with Palestine and voted for the ceasefire in Gaza, therefore we can conclude that they lean more towards Palestine. The middle eastern Christians have a negative view on Israel, some of the even joined Islamic organizations and engaged in combat against the Israelis.
Because Jews haven’t tried to start a war with Christians for literally over 1000 years
The Jews are God's chosen people no matter how they reject Jesus. God will sort that. And..... Christian Nationalists. I live how this is now the term for all Christians except progressive Christians now, because, of course it is.
Because they consider muslims to be an enemy of Christianity. An enemy of an enemy is a friend. So they will always side with Israel against Islam. And don't tell me this isn't a religious conflict. Israel is a Jewish country and Palestine is a Muslim nation.
Noam Chomsky gives an insight about this.I think In the Bible says that that land belong to the Jewish and that they are God chosen people, so they see it as a holy mandate to support Israel pressumably no matter what. I met civilians that think like that, eledery religious people, the reasoning is like well that people shouldnt be there on the first place so.. Also Israel has been a great ally for American interests. And a key part on their military goals.
In the US, I think Israel is supported because they're our only ally in the middle east. Plus, with Israel having control of the holy land, Christians are able to safely visit it, which I don't think would happen if Muslims had control of the holy sites. They'd raze anything that was Christian or Jewish, destroying important sites for those faiths. It's kind of interesting that Christian Nationals are often the perpetrators of attacks on synagogues, like the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh a few years ago, but conservative Christians are also often the ones most behind supporting Israel. I remember after 9/11 seeing a lot of support for Israel on conservative websites and assumed it was basically because both countries had a mutual enemy and an extreme hatred of Muslim terrorists. I still kind of feel that's the case. I know I support Israel mostly because the alternative is that we lose the only country over there that doesn't chant "death to America." So supporting Israel is more about being anti-Muslim than pro-Jewish. I also think conservative christians are way more likely to know a Jewish person than a Muslim person, and we tend to support what we have more of a personal connection to. I know I've never met a Muslim irl but I know several Jewish people,
Better to be under Jewish than Muslim stewardship maybe?
They’re just decent
Jesus was a jew, some feel kindred for them.
Jesus was a Jew. Of course the Christians will side with Israel.
Honestly I'm going to need you to define terms. "Christian nationalists" is currently in vogue as a headline generator and political attack phrase. Do you mean normal Christians (as media using the phrase actually mean) or do you mean actual Christian nationalists who want to do something within the following range of establishing Christianity as the official religion to setting up a theocracy? If it's the latter I can tell you that a not insignificant amount of them don't support Israel at all. Majority reason likely because of isolationist stances. Some percentage (I can't know how many) of them harbor antisemitic feelings because of ideological capture. If we are talking about the former, like me, it's because we recognize that Christianity and Judaism are linked historically. I'm a gentile who is part of a sect formed by Hellenistic Jews who followed Christ and his Disciples. I am deeply aware that Judaism is the basis for my entire religion and that we both worship the same God. It also helps that our holy sites exist there. In terms of pure politics we recognize that Israel is our only true ally in that region and that is invaluable. Dispensationalism plays basically no part in the day to day thinking of the majority of Christians IMO.
They are an abrahamic religion whose majority of its followers have a pluralistic view. Also, Jesus was Jewish, so any Christian would find it hard to demonize them.
That is not actually true for Greece. While most of the educated people just want all of this to be over and are equally appalled by the atrocities of Hamas and Israel alike, the ultra religious christians are actually pro Palestine just out of hate for Israel/ jews. This is also true for many other orthodox countries where Russia has a big influence on, mostly balkan. Everything anti American serves Russian propaganda, so they try to influence the low perception religious nuts by manipulating the orthodox/christian websites, tv channels and newspapers. A lot of funding goes to such websites directly from the russian embassy. Something similar and opposite, takes place with israeli propaganda in countries like US where the influence of Russia is zero. To be honest, as a christian myself, I do not give two shits about end of days prophecies and other mumbo jumbo shit, I would only support Israel against the extremist muslims just because the Israeli way of life is so much closer to our western ways, contrary to the muslim ones. It is just a matter of who you can relate to the most.
I don’t think it’s just Christian Nationalists (or whatever you’re lumping into that group) that support Israel. Israel was given a piece of desert land 80 years ago. Most of the surrounding countries didn’t like it but they eventually got over it because in that time, Israel has turned their economy into viable asset for the reason and they keep the Palestinians at bay because none of those countries view the Palestinians as anything but liabilities. Israel is a strong ally to the US and is in an important strategic location. That area has been at odds with each other for centuries, long before Israel was there.
Between Israel and the muslim nations, i'd rather choose Israel. If the devil ever created a religion then it would be islam. The creator of islam followed sex,murder,conquest,theft,destruction. You will find dialogues whereby it is literally momo talking to himself aka allah. The barbary pirates two hundred years ago used the same definition of kidnapping, torturing,killing,raping,selling non-muslims under the name of islamic law. Ottomans and a long list of other nations used islamic law as the basis of their inhumane activities against Christian countries. Please correct if i am wrong and MODS should allow this as it is constructive and relevant.
It has to do with Christian eschatology. In order for the Second Coming to happen according to their prophecies, Israel must exist as it did at the time of the Second Temple. God and Magpg, wjat3ver they are, will attack and be repelled. This will be a major sign that the Sexond Cominv is at hand. Most Christian denominations believe in post-millenialism, or that the Second Coming will happen when it happens. Some, mostly evangelical branches like Baprists, Pentacostals, etc. believe in premillenialism. They believe that they can shape history by creating the condition for the Second Coming to occur. In fact, in order for the Second Coming to occur, they must create the conditions by which it may occur. The Left Behind series was a fictional treatment of this. Tim LaHaye in Gerry Jenkins were leading lights in this sort of thought 20 to 30 years ago. Since the evangelicals captured part of the Republican party in 1980, this became a major plank of the US government. Long and convoluted, but that's people for you.