Christian Zionism in the United States

Résumé du document

Lift To Experience is a contemporary rock band from Texas and are gaining popularity across the world. If we look close at their message, in accordance to their lyrics and the artwork, one might get a feeling that they are not like the other usual American bands. They represent the popular and musical aspect of a tendency from a large part of the American Christians (around 50 million people ), and especially among the fundamentalists, to restore the Jewish sovereignty in the Holy Land . This movement seems paradoxical, as Christianism is historically opposed to Judaism and as many "Christian Zionists? had an anti-Semitic background.

Extraits

[...] They are three Texas boys “willing the people to reach the Holy Land” They represent the popular and musical aspect of a tendency from a large part of the American Christians (around 50 million people[2]), and especially among the fundamentalists, to restore the Jewish sovereignty in the Holy Land[3]. This movement seems paradoxical, as Christianism is historically opposed to Judaism and as many “Christian Zionists” had an anti-Semitic background. What does that “Zionism” reflects? Can we compare it to the actual Zionism? This movement is ambiguous because it is based on religious but also cultural and political grounds. [...]

[...] C.Mansour. op.cit. p.249 M.Ben Barka, op.cit p.138 The Fateful Triangle, The United states, Israel and the Palestinian, N. Chomsky, London, ed.Pluto Historical Dictionnary of Zionism, op.cit. [...]

[...] Is this really Zionism? Though “Christian Zionist” claim their support for the restoration of Israel, can we properly call them In the First international Zionist Congress, Zionism has been defined as an aspiration for a “publicly secured and legally assured homeland for the Jews in Palestine”[21] and five principles have been defined : the unity of the Jewish people and the centrality of Israel in Jewish life; the in-gathering of the Jewish people in its historic homeland, Eretz Israel; the strengthening of the State of Israel; the preservation of the identity of the Jewish people; and the protection of Jewish rights.[22] In that respect, Zionism is based primarily on political grounds: giving a land to the Jews to escape the persecutions, and getting them back to their homeland. [...]

[...] Christian Zionism in the United States Christian Zionism was not born in the US. We can find roots of the movement from the Montanist controversy in the 2nd Century to the Jewish mystical Kabbalistic movement and the long tradition of Millienarian tradition, or even in the French revolution![4]. But it is the US that it grew most rapidly because the ground was favoring. This was made possible notably by Cyrus Scodfield who rewrote the Bible, incorporating historical events, most of which were centered on Israel[5]. [...]

[...] Noam Chomsky also thinks that the present American policy towards Israel reflects the desires of the Christian Zionists[38] The political results of these actions. In 1916, for the first time, Christian Zionists may have influenced sensibly the American foreign policy. Blackstone, the Chicago businessman Christian Zionist, sent a pro-Zionist petition to Woodrow Wilson, concerning the Establishment in Palestine of a National Home for Jewish people, a concession to the Jews made during the WWI. Though it has not been proved, has been suggested that President Woodrow Wilson's favorable disposition towards the Balfour Declaration may have been influenced by Blackstone's petition”[39]. [...]