Why do Evangelicals/Fundamentalists so vehemently support Israel? They feel guilty...

[bobbieinok]

because they were silent in Germany and the US during the Holocaust.

That was the answer I got from a man with a long history within the Pentacostal movement.

[njhoneybadger]

1. No,the temple must be rebuilt

[TheBlackAdder]

30. Yep, they love Israel. The people there not so much, but they are needed to convert for the rapture.

[muntrv]

2. They believe it fulfills Biblical prophecy.

[TlalocW]

3. They need Israel to be a nation

Because it ties into their interpretation of the prophecy of Jesus coming back. No Israel = No Place for Jesus to Return to.

TlalocW

[kydo]

4. I always thought it was to speed up the 2nd coming of Christ

By supporting Israel that temple might get built sooner and bring on the end of days, rapturing, fire brimstone all that.

Plus supporting Israel means not supporting Palestine cause they are Muslims or something.

But yeah the guilt from the Holocaust sometimes makes their list and sometimes it just sounds good.

[LostOne4Ever]

5. They support it because it is needed to bring about the Rapture and the end of the world. nt

[bobbieinok]

6. I've met many young Es/Fs who were desparately trying to find Jews in their family tree.

[Girard442]

7. Evangelicals want to use Jews as bait to bring about Armageddon.

If the Jews all end up dead and in Hell after that, well, whatever.

[MaryMagdaline]

8. If Israel happened to be the socialist country it started out to be

They would not support it.

But, their religion emphasizes Old Testament rather than new and therefore, there is identification with the Israeli State.

They also admire strong man rule and anti-Islam.

Plus Armageddon depends on Jewish control of the Holy Lands.

All things come together for pro-Israeli stance.

[Sophia4]

9. The US turned accepted some prominent Jewish refugees but rejected many others.

The US (and other countries in the Western Hemisphere) could have saved thousands of Jews from the Nazis. They didn't. At one point, the US literally turned away a ship of 900 German Jews. Shortly afterward, it rejected a proposal to allow 20,000 Jewish children to come to the US for safety.

At the time, the US didn't know how terrible the Holocaust would become. But Americans did know that Nazis were encouraging vandalism and violence against Jews — many Americans had been alarmed by Kristallnacht in 1938, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt had issued a statement condemning it. But America didn't feel strongly enough about the mistreatment of Jews to allow them to find a safe harbor in the US.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/27/14412082/refugees-history-holocaust

[ansible]

16. Holocaust denial is as old as WW2

The nazis went to great lengths to keep it completely secret, even releasing propaganda videos claiming that they had sent the jews to the east instead in humane, productive work camps.

[hedda_foil]

24. Theresienstadt ... the Potemkin concentration camp, where everything was made to look charming ...

The prisoner orchestra played and treats were served Until the concerned visitors left and the cameras turned off.

[Xolodno]

10. No, because they are stupid and too lazy to actually pick up the Bible and read it....

....Aside from the Chapter they read on their weekly Bible class.

They buy all the charlatan's literature, dvd's, etc. that says if all these "prophetical" events happen, then the Rapture....which has no significant history in Christianity...will happen and Jesus will return.

And the charlatans push it like a drug, because hell fire and brimstone gets people hooked and coming back for more.

In the Bible, it says Christ himself doesn't know when he returns. But the charlatans have convinced them that they can make it happen.

A Jesus preaching forgiveness, kindness and being Ghandi-esque, doesn't get people to empty their wallets.

[Runningdawg]

11. Things have changed A LOT in 50 years

From the 60's until the late 70's I was raised in a fundy cult. Frequently we heard about the "evil Jews". The message was don't treat them badly, just don't have anything to do with them. Don't talk to them unless you have to, don't work for one, certainly don't befriend one. No one talked about the State of Israel. No mention was made of supporting it. I never heard the word Zion.
Now here we are....
I watched the evolution through my Dad, who was a deacon up until his death in 2012. It seems to me it wasn't until they "discovered" Muslims in his world that they started liking the Jews. I think the evangelicals reason for support of Israel is more political than religious but like most things political, they need to justify their opinions with the Bible.

[Behind the Aegis]

12. HAHAHAHAHA!

Yeah, no. What everyone else in this thread said is correct. It is about their end of the world fantasy. Like the vast majority of people then (and now), they didn't (and don't) give a shit about Jews. Their support of Israel has nothing to do with their feelings of guilt about mistreatment of Jews, before or since. What he told you is just another myth to make themselves feel better about their end of the world nonsense. Much like the current "president', it isn't about the other only about themselves.

"They feel guilty because they were silent..."

I almost wet myself with laughter. I am still chuckling. As if most people give a shit about the Jewish people.

[still_one]

26. Many of those evangelicals every Sunday are preaching how Jews and other non-Christians are going

to burn in hell.

The Billy Graham/Nixon tapes spoke volumes

[Hekate]

13. Maybe for that one Pentecostalist, but there's ample evidence that for most fundagelicals...

...Israel is only the means to an end. The End Times, that is. Then all the Jews and other unbelievers can go fry in Hell for eternity, while the Evangelicals get Raptured into the arms of Snow White Jebus.

[jberryhill]

14. No that's ridiculous

They don’t feel guilty about a thing. They need Israel to fulfill end times prophesies

[mcar]

15. They want the Rapture to happen

They don't give a figure for Israel or Jews.

[Demsrule86]

17. No...when Israel is destroyed Jesus comes again...not really friends of Israel.

[GulfCoast66]

18. Well. As a person raised as an evangelical...

So wrong there is no where to go.

It’s all about Jesus finally giving them what they deserve.

They are about Israel. They could give a shit about Jews.

[JI7]

19. They don't feel guilty about anything

[D_Master81]

20. Its because

Its two-fold:
1) Prophecy - all the end times events from the Book of Revelation happen in Israel/Middle East
2) In the bible it says something along the lines of "those who support Israel will have God's blessing"

[former9thward]

21. Everyone was silent in the U.S. during the Holocaust.

FDR turned away Jewish refugee ships trying to land in the U.S. No one said or did anything.

[Snarkoleptic]

22. These folks are true believers and absolutely batsh!t crazy.

[rusty quoin]

27. I remember that video back then.

I always thought that it is comforting to be that crazy. When you give up the responsibility to think for yourself, and you are actually able to do it, which I could never do, it is a release to live your life and be happy. The burden of thinking logically is hard.

Just think about it. Religion is a drug, except it does not destroy your health or your family who thinks like you. Everything is a fantasy but it doesn't matter. The power that you follow uses you like a parasite in the insect world would use a host. But it does no affect you because you live in the moment. There is no planning except family and church things. You are told what to think about worldly things.

I actually kind of envy these people, though I don't recommend it for the sake of humanity.

[GrapesOfWrath]

32. Very insightful post

I agree. It seems they live in a happy little jebus bubble where they can be as children.

[LuvNewcastle]

29. I've known some people like that, unfortunately.

Nothing gives me the creeps worse than a bunch of brainwashed irrational fundies.

[sarcasmo]

23. End Timers.

[Dan]

25. If that is true

Then they must plan to put Blacks and Native Americans on pedestals - given the history of slavery and genocide.

[beachbum bob]

28. Biblical prophecies...you best study up as we are seeing

The antichrist leading the way right now in the white House

[hatrack]

31. Nah, just maintaining their Global Death Boner

The just can't wait for everybody to die (except for them, of course), 'cuz that will show how pure they are and how much God loves them.

[Gothmog]

33. These groups support Israel to try to hasten the second coming

Jews and Israel have accepted this support because Israel needs this support to survive. These groups support Israel to try to hasten the second coming. Part of this ideology is to also convert Jews and that can get nasty. I have a good friend whose daughter was targeted by a sanctioned school group. This group believe that if you convert enough Jews to christianity, then the second coming would occur. The ADL got involved and the teacher disbanded this group after he learned that he was going to be sued and that the school district would not defend him.

My friend's daughter was told that she was being selfish by not converting and that if she converted then the second coming would occur. It was sick,

BTW, this young lady is now a partner in a major downtown law firm