Evangelical and conservative Catholic Christians have notoriously bought into Zionist theology. This is the tradition that I have been resisting, recovering from and reconstructing for the past two decades. Unfortunately, most liberal Catholics and those in Protestant denominations stay silent about Palestine. As far as I can tell, guilt and fear are strong motivations. Guilt for what American Christians failed to do for Jewish people in Europe in the 1930’s and 40’s. Fear that speaking up for Palestinians will offend their Jewish friends and colleagues – and white folks in their congregation.
There’s also this. A multitude of middle-class people who were raised in either conservative or liberal Christian homes have left the church. They just stop being “Christian.” I am seeing a lot of secular, atheist and agnostic Jews organizing for Palestine right now. They do not attend synagogue, but being Jewish still matters. It is still a crucial part of their identity. Not so for many post-evangelicals and recovering Catholics and those who were confirmed, a long time ago, as Lutherans or Methodists or Presbyterians or Episcopalians.
These folks simply cut-off from Christianity. Most of them generically blend into society, describing themselves as spiritual-but-not-religious – or none-of-the-above. Some post-Christians are going public for Palestine. But I believe that many would not be interested in a movement organized by Christians. It is far less triggering for these folks to have a rabbi or imam at the mic than some pastor speaking any dialect of Christianese. And I totally get it.
A few of us who are post-evangelical or post-liberal have remained in the fold. We have followed Jesus to the left of the liberal denominations and the Democratic Party. We are committed to living for collective liberation, in the name of Jesus. We are anti-racist, anti-capitalist, anti-nationalist, anti-zionist, anti-supremacy-of-every-sort. Anchored in agape love, we are building a world that works for everybody. There are a few collective liberationist pastors doing this thankless prophetic work within institutional church structures.
However, most of us are conspiring outside the church to create new wineskins that pour out these fermenting possibilities. Many of us collective liberationists who are still rooted in the biblical tradition are also uncomfortable calling ourselves “Christian.” There’s just been so much supremacist baggage associated with it on North American soil since 1492. Some of us prefer to be called “followers of Jesus.” Others are just Jesus adjacent, without the labels.
All this to say, when it comes to Palestine, there are a few Christian voices in the wilderness who have been holding it down for decades. Their work has been overlooked and underappreciated - and often dismissed and demonized. Many Christians like me have benefited tremendously from their commitment to truth and justice. Because many Christians like me have been way behind on this issue. Many Christians like me are concretely going public for Palestine for the first time. Confession must be a crucial part of our Christian witness. Confession rooted in grief, not guilt.
This horrifying and humbling season, however, has given me hope that, someday, there will be a mass movement of North American Christians doing something serious about Palestine. Perhaps we are a decade away. Jewish Voice for Peace has been around since the early 90’s. One thing is for sure: the various work of Jewish activists, Black people and Palestinians in the US and on the ground in Gaza has done something to the souls of a lot of Christians like me – and we will never be the same.
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