AMERICAN ZIONISM Jacob H. Benson ● Dr. Quincy D. Newell ● Religious Studies ● Honors Program Apocalyptic Evangelical Christians and American- Israeli Relations

End Times Predictions “Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things [signs of the end times] have taken place.” - Mark 13:30

Millerite prophetic time chart from 1843, about the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. William Miller

End Times Predictions September, 1994 May, 2011 October, 2011

Views toward Israel  44% of Americans believe that God gave the land that is now Israel to the Jews  52% of Evangelical Leaders believe that Christ will either “probably” or “definitely” return in their lifetime  36% of Americans believe that "the state of Israel is a fulfillment of the biblical prophecy about the second coming of Jesus."  $3.15 Billion – proposed military financial aid to Israel ( ) Pew Forum on Religious and Public life Jeremy M. Sharp, “US Foreign Aid to Israel,” Congressional Research Service, December 4, 2009.

Clifford Geertz – Religion as a cultural System Religion is “a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in [humans] by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic.” Clifford Geertz, “Religion as a Cultural System,” in The Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Basic Books, 1973) 89.

Edward W. Said – Orientalism “Orientalism is a style of thought based upon an ontological and epistemological distinction made between "the Orient" and…"the Occident." Thus a very large mass of writers…have accepted the basic distinction between East and West as the starting point for elaborate theories... And political accounts concerning the Orient, its people, customs, "mind," destiny, and so on.” Edward W. Said, Orientalism (London: Penguin Books, 2003) 2-3.

American Zionism Christian Zionism: Support of the state of Israel for religious reasons, most notably the idea that Israel will be the place of Armageddon (the great battle) and the area where Jesus will return in order to bring about the end of time. Religious Jewish Zionism: The Idea that in order for the Messiah to come, Israel – and temple-based Judaism – must be re-established. Secular Jewish Zionism: Support of a Jewish state for the sake of ending the Jewish Diaspora and the anti-Semitism that many Jews experienced during the Diaspora. Political Zionism: In the realm of American politics, the support of Israel for the sake of security, democracy, and peace in the Middle East.

Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. - 1 Thessalonians 4:17 The Rapture

John Nelson Darby ( )  Rapture of the Church:  Darby taught that the Rapture would happen in two stages:  Jesus would catch up his saints  Jesus and his saints come back to earth to rule the world at the end of the great tribulation.  Dispensationalism: the unfolding of God’s plan for the world in various dispensations, or stewardship agreements, throughout the history of the world.  Sprouts from a literal reading of the Christian Bible

The Psychology of the Zionism

Israeli Statehood

Zionism and Orientalism  Commonplace in America to equate Muslim with Arab  The Middle East and North Africa: 91.2% Muslim, makes up 19.9% of the world’s Muslim population.  The Asia Pacific region: 24.8% Muslim, makes up 62.1% of the world’s Muslim population.

Darlene: First: Why is a non-Christian head of a Christian organization? Second: Brog helps Israel hide their massive human rights abuses of all Palestinians, both Christian and Muslim. Jesus Christ is not who leads his life and his organization conflates Zionist Israel with ALL Jewish people, thus promoting the false idea that criticism of Israel is "Jew-hatred". His organization also promotes Islamophobia -- fear and hatred of Muslims when the reality is that Christians and Muslims live together all over the world in peace. Wake up, Christians! This man is head of an organization that teaches worship of Israel, not Jesus.

psalm118o8: Darlene you lying ignorant servant of Satan. Zionism is the reality that the MESSIAH will return to rule over all the nations from Jerusalem and like all of the enemies of God that really bothers you. Unlike you, daughter of hell, We read and know the word of God. May the LORD speedily end your evil work.

Conclusion

Questions