Very much in the news with the genocide in Gaza is the philosophy or ideology of Zionism and attempts by pro-Israel lobby groups to conflate antisemitism with antizionism, with the bogus ‘report’ to the Australian government by Jillian Segal being a case in point1.
Zionism, Jewish nationalist movement with the goal of the creation and support of a Jewish national state in Palestine, the ancient homeland of the Jews. Though zionism originated in eastern and central Europe in the latter part of the 19th century, it is in many ways a continuation of the ancient attachment of the Jews to the historical region of Palestine. According to Judaism, Zion is one of the hills of ancient Jerusalem, and is the place where god ‘lives’2.
Something I read recently while researching another rant was that there were likely more Christian zionists than there were Jewish zionists. This struck me as rather odd given that zionism was about a Jewish homeland.
Christian Zionism is theological and political movement that supports the return of the Jewish diaspora to a Jewish homeland in Palestine, based on readings of parts of the bible that suggest that Palestine is a sacred land promised to the Jews by God. Even more bizarre is that Christian Zionists believe that by blessing and supporting the Jewish people and the modern state of Israel, they themselves will be blessed by God3.
Now for the batshit extension: A significant driving force behind the rise of early christian zionism in the 19th century and subsequently, is the concept of dispensationalism, a reading of the bible popularised in America (where else?) by Anglo-Irish minister John Nelson Darby. Dispensationalists believe that there was a succession of eras of God’s interactions with humanity, and that the final dispensation, the ‘end-time’ is nigh (again!). They hold that the return of the Jews to Palestine is one of the prophecies that needs to be fulfilled in order for the second coming of Jesus to occur.
Religious nutters have been stating that the ‘end-time is nigh’ for almost two millennia and they never seem to learn when faced with the fact that all these predicted second comings haven’t happened4.
It is this idiotic belief that is driving the grotesque, amoral American support for the state of Israel and its genocide in Gaza. Polling in the US suggests that a majority of evangelicals, some tens of millions of them, believe that the founding of Israel is prophetically significant as noted above. There is a very large lobby group in Washington D.C. which claims to have over ten million members, most of whom are evangelicals; it is called Christians United for Israel5. They believe this religious drivel.
While nobody in their right mind would consider the paedophile Trump even vaguely religious (he only worships himself), it is the people behind him who are attempting to turn the US into a fascistic theocracy. As Voltaire said: ‘those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities’. Or, indeed, support those committing atrocities.
Sources
- https://blotreport.com/2025/07/16/bogus-report/
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zionism
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christian-Zionism
- https://blotreport.com/2019/07/22/the-numerous-second-comings/
- https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-american-evangelical-christians-have-deep-ties-to-supporting-israel
A week or so ago I read an eye-opening article about Huckabee and USA evangelical “christians” /Chirstian Zionsts (they aren’t Christians, they’re mindless, uncaring ideologues https://baptistnews.com/article/evangelicals-hypocrisy-is-sending-their-neighbors-to-hell-and-they-dont-care/ ). In part it dealt with unalienable CZ beliefs that their raison d’etre is completely dependent on Jewish /Christian tenure in Jerusalem and other parts of Palestine, along the lines of your comment above. In short, Jews are a necessary means to an end. Ironically these beliefs have been labelled antisemitism according to some Christian theologians. It’s no surprise that such groups are GOD, GUNS & TRUMP adherents.
Jon,
Yeah, I read a piece on Huckabee when reading up on the batshit story. These nutters will only be happy when the world is destroyed.
As Marv Knox wrote in my linked article above:
“Since evangelicals’ theology says all they owe another person is an invitation to heaven, they don’t even concern themselves with wondering whether their public lives consign fellow human beings to living hell. Inexplicably, they never seem to understand — or, sadder still, maybe they do understand but don’t care — how the actions they take in a voting booth completely undermine every kind deed or noble expression they make the rest of their lives.
That’s why evangelicals have become known as the group that props up politicians who hate women, particularly girls and poor women of color; who have no qualms about tearing children from their parents’ arms; who want to block and/or take away rights of all kinds of minorities; who want to make voting as hard as possible; who tear the fabric of public education; who think shooting guns designed to eviscerate human flesh is more important than protecting human beings; who want to ban books that help people understand what others think; who don’t care what happens to our climate as long as they feel comfortable today.
Jon,
It’s impossible to argue with that.
Thank you for those very intelligent words. Why are we being driven, by not only those that we voted for, but possibly a foreign country, that really has no allegiance to us anymore. It is just all about Trump and the US. Why do we, as a sovereign country accept these dictates from a failed state, a broken country. Do something Albo, speak out for us, not big business.
Marilyn,
Yep. We need to back away from the US at significant speed. It is now a fascist state and I don’t know if it can be saved.
Disclaimer : i have been an atheist since sunday school, albeit not as ‘committed’ (i just believed that i dinna believe) as i am now. However, some 50 odd years ago i was required to take some ‘elective units’ for my psch degree and not knowing what ‘possessed’ me (small jokette) at the time, i ended up taking on several theology units over a couple of years (probably thinking they’d be easy & yes they were!). However, what i believe i gleaned was the the old jewish books DID NOT promise a messiah (Mashiach) when the jews returned but RATHER the exact opposite in that the Mashiach would return FIRST to allow jews to return. Although there is one little nasty bit where the goy/infidels etc have to be cleansed of the ‘ancient’ tiny lands of Sameria & Israel (from a 50 YO memory) ….. bearing in mind that israel WAS NOT a place but a person. So the ‘land of israel’ was simply the place were israel lived, sorta like Frankston North or Ivanhoe or Badgerys Creek etc.
So the christian fundegelical wack jobbies have got it totally arse about, (surprising no-one), and the european ‘jewish’ (?) zioists probably couldn’t give a fuck because presumably most of them are as atheist as i am.
Clive,
Well! Who would haved thought that the zionists have got it all arse about! What an effing surprise! I suspect that many of the religious, of all persuasions, know that there is no bloke up in the sky, no afterlife, no heaven and no hell, and they are all about maintaining their power and privilege on earth. What is more important, is that many people seem to be realising this and leaving religion in their thousands. Long may that continue until the question is finally deleted from the census because it is irrelevant.