Thursday, May 23, 12:00 PM EDT - Zoom
Confronting Christian Zionism: Episode 2 - Nationalism & Christian Zionism
We are living in a time of heightened nationalism around the world, from North American white Christian nationalism to similar trends in Europe and even across Asia in forms entangled with Islam and Hinduism. If we are to control and roll back the racism that accompanies ideologies of supremacy, we must understand the history of our own nation’s white supremacy and how it has enabled the rise of racism both here and abroad. The United States was created as “a new Zion” by Puritans who arrived on these shores and settled on a new continent, taking other people’s lands. Justified by the Doctrine of Discovery, American expansion westward became known as Manifest Destiny, an ideology that rests on white supremacy and claims of “civilizing” non-whites and non-Christians with the blessing of the church.
In an attempt to defeat centuries of systemic antisemitism, mainline Christianity has absorbed many doctrines from Christian Zionism that have come to be understood as theologically mistaken. Where are these theological mistakes, and why must we call them out? How have these Christian Zionist ideologies led to giving Zionism — a political ideology — a pass by mainline churches? How are Americans complicit in the impunity Zionism enjoys today, which has led to the demonization of an entire people — Palestinians — who are now paying for European sins against their own Jewish populations? And what role have American Christians played in creating a settler colonial mindset that operates in an oft-invisible and unacknowledged framework?
Moderated by the Rev. Dr. Cynthia Holder Rich, our confirmed speakers will be:
Rev. Jermaine Ross-Allam, Director of the Center for the Repair of Historic Harms, PC(USA)
Rev. Addie Domske, Steering Committee of the Israel Palestine Mission Network of the PC(USA).
Mr Jonathan Kuttab, human rights attorney, co-founder of the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq and of Nonviolence International.
To register: Webinar Registration - Zoom
Presented by the PC(USA)’s Christian Zionism working group, which includes PC(USA) national staff from World Mission’s Middle East and Europe office, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, the Office of Public Witness, and members of the Israel/Palestine Mission Network,
Resources: 1. The Presbyterian News Service article about the 1st webinar – click HERE.
2. The book by Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb that was referenced in the webinar is Decolonizing Palestine: The Land, The People, The Bible. It can be found HERE.
3. The PCUSA website of Israel-Palestine Resources is a curated collection of helpful items. It can be found HERE.
4. The Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Office of Public Witness has an Action Alert to urge congress to prevent genocide in Gaza – click HERE to send a message to your US Senator US Representative.
Instagram post: IPMN of the PC(USA) (@ipmn_pcusa) • Instagram photos and videos