Responding to Christians Who Believe Israel Can Do No Wrong

Horrific images of starvation are coming out of Gaza as pressure builds on the Israeli government to end the conflict. Phil, Skye, and Kaitlyn consider how we might respond to our brothers & sisters in Christ who continue to stand with Israel no matter what. Find the full conversation on Holy Post 680.

Phil: How do you talk to your aunt or your uncle who you know believes what they're hearing—that, well, Israel would not do that, and they've said they wouldn't do that, and they've said they don't target civilians, and they only blew up that hospital because there was a senior Hamas official underneath it? How do you talk to someone and say, Wait a minute. There's another side to this story that we're just ignoring because we're so fond of Israel's story?

Skye: I think the posture I'd want to take is: I understand it's difficult to discern what's really going on. Because—all the things Kaitlyn said about media biases and silos and things—the reporting coming out is difficult. But as Christians, we stand on the dignity of all human life. We advocate for the protection of the innocent. And even based on the laws of war, Israel has a moral obligation—because it has territorial control of Gaza now—to provide basic needs: medicine, food, shelter for the people there. And if they are refusing to do that, then they are guilty of a war crime, at the very least.

Phil: Yeah.

Skye: As Christians, we need to stand up for the rights of all people—even those that you may disagree with. And yes, there are clearly bad actors—Hamas, terrorists, others—who need to be brought to justice. But that does not include children starving in the arms of their mothers.

Phil: Kaitlyn?

Kaitlyn: I also think it would be really helpful to ask some questions — like why someone feels so strongly that Israel must be more in the right. Because, to the point of what we said earlier, there might be people who are going, I think this is part of an end-times plan. That’s a very different conversation—biblically, theologically, politically—than if someone says, I hear much more often than the dispensationalist thing... I just hear: it says people will be blessed if they bless Israel, and so we want to be a country that supports Israel. You can have a conversation about the difference between the people of God in the Old Testament and the modern nation-state of Israel. But you could also just go to Scripture and say: How often does Israel do things it's not supposed to do? God judges Israel for the things they’re not supposed to do. Or it could be a purely political thing. It could be: This is the way I grew up. We always thought Israel was really important. I mean, there were so many retrospectives written in the turnover from Biden to Trump about how different generations of Democrats have thought about Israel, depending on how close they were to the Holocaust and memories of the Holocaust.

So asking questions—you might end up with someone who feels really strongly about this for reasons that make sense to you. And you can start from there and just affirm: sometimes what people are looking for is just, I was taught this was important, and it seems like you don't think this is important. If you can find a way to draw out what they think is important that you can affirm, and then say, But here are some other things that I think are really important, or Here's some other information that might change your position—people just knowing that you don’t think they’re stupid or evil for the position they hold, I think, is a huge pathway to having a conversation where they might change their mind.

So even if you end up going like, Your reasoning is wacky, but you get to a place where they're like, My dad taught me to care about this, or As a kid, I remember us caring so much about Israel—then at least you can find something to affirm. And if people feel like you think they’re a good person with good values, you can help direct that into something that you think is a better conclusion. Not in a paternalistic way, but just in a, like, Let’s find some common ground, and let me treat you like a person I believe you to be. Especially if you're talking to a fellow Christian—someone who wants to do God’s will, someone who desires to know what the right thing is here. We deeply disagree, I think you’re really misguided—but if I treat you like someone I assume has good motives for what you’re doing, I think that’s a better way to a conversation that’s more productive.

Phil: Yeah, and I remember growing up and hearing of the wars that Israel had to fight to survive in its early days explained as, There is no other way Israel could survive except by the hand of God. You know, The hand of God is on the nation of Israel. I can’t criticize what Israel is doing, because obviously God wants them to exist.

Skye: It’s a circular argument, though, because what it’s saying is that success is evidence of God’s blessing, therefore you should continue to support their success. And it goes around and around and around. And there are so many passages of Scripture that totally debunk that. I mean, this is the essence of what Jesus was arguing with the religious leaders about all the time. If people were rich and successful and healthy, they were assumed to be righteous and in God’s good favor. And if people were sick and poor and homeless, they were seen as being judged by God for their sinfulness. So people’s circumstances defined God’s blessing or curse.

So you look at Israel and go, Well, they’ve won all these wars. It must be because God’s blessing them. Therefore we should be on their side. It’s like—no. Sometimes you can be rich and successful. That’s why Jesus said it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. He was debunking that whole way of thinking.

Phil: But we have to have the temple rebuilt in Jerusalem so that Jesus can come back.

Skye: No, we don’t. The temple’s already been rebuilt.

Phil: Where? The Mall of America?

Skye: No — it’s us.

Phil: Our temple is the Mall of America.

Skye: No, it’s us. We're the temple. The people of Jesus are his temple.