Many are still unaware of the eccentric, 180-year-old British theory underlying the politics of American evangelicals and Christian Zionists.
Journalist and historian Dave MacPherson has spent more than 40 years focusing on the origin and spread of what is known as the apocalyptic “pretribulation rapture” – the inspiration behind Hal Lindsey’s bestsellers of the 1970s and Tim LaHaye’s today.
Although promoters of this endtime evacuation from earth constantly repeat their slogan that “it’s imminent and always has been” (which critics view more as a sales pitch than a scriptural statement), it was unknown in all official theology and organized religion before 1830.
And MacPherson’s research also reveals how hostile the pretrib rapture view has been to other faiths:
It is anti-Islam. TV preacher John Hagee has been advocating “a pre-emptive military strike against Iran.” (Google “Roots of Warlike Christian Zionism.”)
It is anti-Jewish. MacPherson’s book “The Rapture Plot” (see Armageddon Books etc.) exposes hypocritical anti-Jewishness in even the theory’s foundation.
It is anti-Catholic. Lindsey and C. I. Scofield are two of many leaders who claim that the final Antichrist will be a Roman Catholic. (Google “Pretrib Hypocrisy.”)
It is anti-Protestant. For this reason no major Protestant denomination has ever adopted this escapist view.
It even has some anti-evangelical aspects. The first publication promoting this novel endtime view spoke degradingly of “the name by which the mixed multitude of modern Moabites love to be distinguished, – the Evangelical World.” (MacPherson’s “Plot,” p. 85)
Despite the above, MacPherson proves that the “glue” that holds constantly in-fighting evangelicals together long enough to be victorious voting blocs in elections is the same “fly away” view. He notes that Jerry Falwell, when giving political speeches just before an election, would unfailingly state: “We believe in the pretribulational rapture!”
In addition to “The Rapture Plot,” MacPherson’s many internet articles include “Famous Rapture Watchers,” “Pretrib Rapture Diehards,” “Edward Irving is Unnerving,” “America’s Pretrib Rapture Traffickers,” “Thomas Ice (Bloopers),” “Pretrib Rapture Secrecy” and “Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty” (massive plagiarism, phony doctorates, changing of early “rapture” documents in order to falsely credit John Darby with this view, etc.!).
Because of his devastating discoveries, MacPherson is now No. 1 on the “hate” list of pretrib rapture leaders!
There’s no question that the leading promoters of this bizarre 19th century end-of-the-world doctrine are solidly pro-Israel and necessarily anti-Palestinian. In light of recently uncovered facts about this fringe-British-invented belief which has always been riddled with dishonesty, many are wondering why it should ever have any influence on Middle East affairs.
This Johnny-come-lately view raises millions of dollars for political agendas. Only when scholars of all faiths begin to look deeply at it and widely air its “dirty linen” will it cease to be a power. It is the one theological view no one needs!
With apologies to Winston Churchill – never has so much deception been foisted on so many by so few!

[Also Google "David Letterman's Hate, Etc."]

One can always find individual extreme opinions, sure, but Christian Zionism is a mass, worldwide phenomenon. To define John Hagee as being “on the extremes” misses the fact that his religious tendency represents tens of millions of Americans. The religious ideology might be extreme but this is not a fringe phenomenon.

And, Jews with such opinions as you have cited do not, to my knowledge, possess the means to disseminate their opinions on a worldwide scale. Christian Zionists such as John Hagee do.

Hagee’s sermons are broadcast to over one hundred nations. Some of his books sell a million or more copies each. And, John Hagee is not the only Christian Zionist doing this on a grand scale.

My colleague Rachel Tabachnick has elaborated on some of the myriad ways Christian Zionists vilify Jews and Judaism. Here:
http://zeek.forward.com/articles/116247/
http://zeek.forward.com/articles/116367/

There are people on the extremes of uber-nationalism and anti-Zionism re. Israel in Christianity, and the same is true with Judaism – it’s just the way it works in religion.

According to John Hagee, Israel is the only home God ever intended Jews to have. Diaspora Jews do not move to Israel, Hagee says, will be first “fished” – encouraged and lured to move there. Then, they will be “hunted” by violent anti-Semites who will perpetrate a second, worse Holocaust… which, according to Hagee, will be initiated by a satanic, gay, “partly Jewish” antichrist figure.

John Hagee has broadcast video of that claim, quite literally, around the globe.

And, you might want to look at this article of mine:
http://zeek.forward.com/articles/116292/

Christian Zionists such as Hagee are rewriting the Holocaust to make Jews themselves the villains. It’s horrific.

In his book Jerusalem Countdown, which when I last checked was still on the shelf at my local Barnes and Noble bookstore, John Hagee claims Jews themselves “birthed the seed of anti-Semitism that would arise and bring destruction to them for centuries to come.” [page 93, Jerusalem Countdown] – Why ? Well, as Hagee explains on page 92, “It was the disobedience and rebellion of the Jews, God’s chosen people, to their covenantal responsibility to serve only the one true God, Jehovah, that gave rise to the opposition and persecution that they experienced beginning in Canaan and continuing to this very day.”

As Hagee explains on page 93, that “disobedience and rebellion” was “utterly repulsive, insulting, and heartbreaking to God.”

Talk about blaming the victim. It’s vile.

A. Zionists would argue that the Jews of Europe should have seen it coming, as opposed to Hagee, who lets them off the hook.

B. Hagee is a Christian who believes in God — he’s a Christian Zionist.

So how again is Hagee an anti-Semite? Because he believes in the Christian God, or because he believes in the Zionist historical narrative?

It seems like Jews have enough real enemies these days without trying to make our friends into enemies, too.

This is not the type of ally that Israel wants or needs. Hagee is an example of the worst of christianity, not its best. Suspicious? To quote one recent governor, you betcha. All Jews must return to Israel to be either converted or killed? This is an ally?

Better to cancel the 1600 new apartments in East Jerusalem and keep the USA, Canada, Germany and many other nations as allies. If Hagee is the best of our friends, we do not need enemies.

[page 133, Jerusalem Countdown: A Prelude To War - written by John Hagee, published in 2006 by Frontline]

In other words, as is plain to anyone with honesty, support for Israel is dead or dying among liberals, and primarily exists among Conservatives. If not for American Conservatives, the US would have the same antipathy to Israel as liberal Europe.

That Jews keep voting for and identifying with liberals in spite of this obvious fact is an embarrassment and disgrace.

In fact, most orthodox Jews, Hassidim, and other Jewish believers would agree with Hagee’s attempt to see the Holocaust as part of a divine plan, whether knowable by humankind or not.

While believing in God after the Holocaust may be obscene, Hagee’s version of divine providence is widely shared by Jewish believers. To use these beliefs to paint Hagee as an anti-Semite is a tiresome form of left-wing intellectual gymnastics that is intended to spook Jews into thinking that religious Christians hate them.

I have watched video of that sermon dozens of times. In it Hagee repeats almost verbatim what he wrote in his 2006 book Jerusalem Countdown. On page 133 (of my copy – there are several editions with different pagination) in a section titled “Fishers and Hunters,” which Hagee makes clear refers to the Book of Jeremiah, 16:16, he writes,

“The fisherman come before the hunters. First God sent the fishermen to Israel. These were the Zionists, men like Theodor Herzl who called for the Jews of Europe and the world to come to Palestine to establish the Jewish state… A fisherman is one who draws his target toward him with bait… Herzl was deeply disappointed that the Jews of the world did not respond in greater numbers.

God then sent the hunters. The hunter is one who pursues his target with force and fear. No one could see the horror of the Holocaust coming, but the force and fear of Hitler’s Nazis drove the Jewish people back to the only home God ever intended for the Jews to have-Israel.”

If that’s not horrific enough, consider what Hagee writes on page 185, in a chapter entitled “Who is a Jew”,

“God promised to be at war with the descendants of Esau and Amalek forever, until their remembrance was stricken from under heaven. (See Exodus 17:8-16.) Esau’s descendants would also produce a lineage that would attack and slaughter the Jews for centuries… It was Esau’s descendants who produced the half-breed Jews of history who have persecuted and murdered the Jews beyond human comprehension.

Adolf Hitler was a distant descendant of Esau.”

Readers who have accounts at Amazon.com can verify the accuracy of my quotes, above, by going to the paperback copy of Jerusalem Countdown that offers a “look inside” feature and searching on the terms “Esau” and also “Theodor Herzl.”

Best,
Bruce Wilson

History also teaches us that “philo-Semitic” millennialism can be very dangerous to Jews. The wave of British Israelism in the late 19th and early 20th century was initially philo-Semitic but with millennial disappointment the beliefs of these “Ephraimites” evolved into the extreme anti-Semitism of Christian Identity, the belief system of many of the white supremacists groups in the U.S. These virulent anti-Semites also celebrate the “Feast of Tabernacles” and take on “Hebrew” customs because they see themselves as the real Israelites and Jews as impostors. To base Israel’s legitimacy on biblical prophecy leaves all Jews vulnerable to the volatility of these end times narratives.

Last Monday night after Joe Biden arrived in Israel, Netanyahu attended a Hagee-led CUFI extravaganza that was clearly meant as a snub to attempts at peace talks. Meanwhile World Likud and members of his cabinet have supported an organization called Worldwide Biblical Zionists whose mission is to aid today’s “Ephraimites” to move into the West Bank. Christian Zionism is pro-Israel in the sense that it calls for the expansion of the boundaries of a “greater Israel” in preparation for a 1000-year Christian millennial Kingdom that will be headquartered in Jerusalem. Hagee writes, “In modern terms, Israel rightfully owns all of present-day Israel, all of Lebanon, half of Syria, two-thirds of Jordan, all of Iraq, and the northern portion of Saudi Arabia.” Of course, the repercussions from this kind of statement are okay for Hagee because his prophecy narrative requires that the rest of the world turn against Israel in a bloody war.

Lastly, the idea that Jews don’t have to worry about this futuristic and supernatural end times narrative is nonsense. Despite Hagee’s teaching of the rapture, the vast majority of his CUFI leadership and most of today’s Christian Zionist activists believe that they are mandated to move the hands of the prophetic clock in the physical realm, in the here and now.

See my articles on these topics at http://zeek.forward.com/articles/116367/ and http://zeek.forward.com/articles/116518/ and in the special focus box on John Hagee and Christian Zionism in the left panel of http://www.talk2action.org