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She said she liked his decisions regarding Israel, especially moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but I thought this was a setback for the Palestinians. Her grandmother said that America would be blessed by God for standing with Israel.
I thought about that last week when more than 1,000 Black Christian pastors sent a letter to the Biden administration calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war in Gaza, the release of hostages, and an end to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. . Pastors cited the disillusionment of their congregations as the reason. Barbara Williams-Skinner, co-chair of the National African American Clergy Network, told the New York Times: It’s a rights movement. ”
My grandmother belonged to a different stream of black Christians. Despite the tendency, especially during election periods, to portray black voters of faith as monolithic, many black and African People are Israel defenders. Ignoring this influence provides an incomplete picture of the black world’s complex spiritual relationship not only to Israel and the Palestinians, but also to the idea of liberation itself.
In his article “Political Engagement Meets the Prosperity Gospel: African American Christian Zionism and Black Church Politics,” Yale sociologist Roger Bauman argues that two dramatically different theologies in the black church We are considering the position. The authors of the letter to Biden embrace the social gospel and preach the need for racial and collective liberation. Another thing he promotes is the “prosperity gospel.” Bauman writes: “Black churches that emphasize the prosperity gospel have been largely excluded from consideration of the so-called ‘political church.'”
I grew up in the 1990s in a predominantly white evangelical church in the prosperity gospel tradition. My exposure to Sunday theology was supported by televangelists who appeared on television daily, including the influential Pastor John Hagee. We have often heard the Old Testament verse that says, “Blessed are those who bless Israel, and cursed are those who curse Israel.” We were taught that tithes and offerings that supported the mission to Israel would produce material blessings and other signs of God’s favor in our lives.
The belief that although the Jews are the chosen people, Christ’s return will depend on a significant number of Jews accepting that Christ is the Messiah, King, and Deliverer promised to them. He often offered to send Christian missionaries to Israel. In the tradition of the prosperity gospel, we were promised rewards for our participation in this project, usually financial blessings, opportunities, favors, health, and better jobs. With the attractive prospect of immediate profits, Prosperity Gospel Churches, often infused with Pentecostal fervor, are growing like wildfire and increasing political power across the African continent. Not surprising.
Mr. Hagy himself founded United States Christians for Israel (CUFI), the largest pro-Israel organization in the United States with about 10 million members. CUFI actively recruits black and African pastors to spread its message.
I spoke with Reverend Dumisani Washington, former Diversity Outreach Chair at CUFI and founder of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel. He said CUFI does not keep records of black members. “But depending on how you define what that means, there are probably far more black Americans who support Israel than there are detractors,” he says.
The point of highlighting this diversity is that it does not challenge or marginalize the many black and African faith communities that asserted Palestinian freedom rights and called for a ceasefire long before October 7th. It’s not something you do.
What I’m saying is that many of us, especially liberals, view the black church through an overly nostalgic lens in which every congregation is a Hollywood civil rights era version of the social struggle for racial liberation. It means that we are pursuing. We miss the rise of a conservative, individualistic spirituality rooted in the preaching of the prosperity gospel. And we are missing the big fact that young black people, along with their white peers, are leaving the church entirely. Both trends call into question whether progressive black churches can maintain the same strong political organizing power they have.
This complexity of Black Christianity pushes back against the argument that all Black perspectives on the conflict are reflexive, ignorant, and anti-Semitic.
And understanding the full story sheds sharp light on the troubling theology that lies behind the superficial support for Israel among evangelicals, black and white alike. Their mission is not to make Israel safe for Jews. It is the subversion of Jewish beliefs in pursuit of Christian goals.
Although I am no longer an evangelical and have been critical of the state of Israel, I believe the reality of Black Christian Zionism deserves more attention. It contributes to a complete and sophisticated awareness of the complexities of our community and the world.
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