While the newly-elected Speaker says he supports aid to Israel, he’s tying granting that aid to far-right social sending cuts in the U.S. Doesn’t sound like someone who really cares about the Jewish people.
MIKE JOHNSON, Republican Speaker of the House and evangelical Christian, says he supports Israel, yet he is holding hostage aid to that nation unless it is accompanied by spending cuts elsewhere in the Federal budget.
If that sounds familiar it’s because it’s the same position the far-right flame-throwers in the House have taken in negotiations to approve Federal spending and avoid a government shutdown.
Of the $14.3 billion President Joe Biden wants for Israel, as it fights back against HAMA terror and murder, Johnson told Fox News’ Sean Hannity “We’re not just printing money to send it overseas. We’re going to find the cuts elsewhere to do that.”
All that is Republican trigger language for saying they want to gut things like the EPA, any kind of support for lower income families and, well, basically anything they feel Democrats might support and their corporate owners might not like.
Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who is Jewish, fired back at Johnson in a statement.
“Support for defending Israel should not come with conditions, be it cutting foreign military financing by 30 percent or offsetting aid in a time of crucial need. I am deeply disturbed by Speaker Johnson playing political games with Israeli emergency funding, something our nation has never done in a time of crisis.
“This extreme tactic undercuts our credibility and feeds the absurd notion that America must choose between providing for our neighbors and pushing back against genocidal terrorists who kill and kidnap Israelis and Americans. When your neighbor’s house is on fire, you don’t haggle over the price of the garden hose.”
All this is prelude to an observation. Johnson’s religious beliefs, made known through his own words and deeds, are evangelical to the point he believes the Bible rules the United State and the Constitution and government flow from that. The Evangelical block of Christianity is a powerful force in the U.S., or at least in the Republican Party. Recent polling indicates they will determine who wins the Republican Primary in Iowa in 2024.
The current Israel-Gaza conflict has as a backdrop a history going back thousands of years to a time of nomadic Tribes, the arising of major religions and colonization to note the big influences. The issue of free states, who is entitled to what homeland and how that will happen is not going to be determined while bombs are falling and bullets are flying.
THERE IS, THOUGH, one question that can be asked, and answered: Do Evangelicals like Jews? You might think so given their unwavering support for the State of Israel. But that is a different question really than “do they like Jews.”
I am going to commit the sin of putting all Evangelicals into one bucket and say that as a group they don’t care a lick about Jews as a people. What they do fervently care about is the Bible and most specifically Revelations. Depending on how you read the verses on End Times, the ultimate confrontation between good and evil happens during a conflict involving what today is Israel.
In short: Jesus comes back to earth. There is a final blood battle at Armageddon. Jesus is sitting on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. In this war the Christians vanquish evil and those who have accepted Jesus as their savior rise from the dead and join Christ in eternal life. To Evangelicals this war is not something to try to prevent, it’s critical to them entering heaven. It’s God’s ultimate will.
In other words, it’s not a love for the Jewish people that drives Evangelicals, it’s pure Christian Nationalism. Jews are a means to a Biblical end.
Over the years Evangelicals have not kept this feeling a secret; it’s more a case of most of us having been paying attention. Listen, for example, to Christian Nationalist John Hagee (from Texas of course) who has said repeatedly that this battle is coming, it will be the bloodiest in the history of the world and when it’s over there will only be “one king and leader, Jesus Christ the Son of God. One law, it will be his law.”
Against that backdrop there are Evangelicals who feel the current conflict could be a precursor to Armageddon. If not, at least Israel must survive until that glorious day arrives.
There are Evangelicals who are so convinced that End Times will come in their life times that they actually make no plans for the future. Concerns over the state of the planet? Why. Doesn’t matter. End times are coming. Seeking a way to world peace? No need. End Times will end with Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, in fact all faiths other than Christianity, going up in flames.
Let’s add Jews to that list. Note that Evangelicals believe the only people left on earth and in heaven will be those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. The End Times will represent the end of the Jewish people because they will either forsake their faith and become Christians, or, well, you know…..
Not all Christians by into this because not all Christians are Evangelicals. The most recent studies of Evangelicals as a percentage of Christians put the number around 40 percent. But, when you look a little more into that number you will find most are at some point on the far-right scale, which is not surprising. As a block they represent around 40 percent of those who identify as Republican.
DOES THIS MATTER? Well, yes. It matters because we have an Evangelical who believes everything in the Bible is literal and a lot of those in his party feel the same way.
You could ask if that’s the case, why is Johnson attempting to use aid to Israel as blackmail to get mostly social program spending cuts in the U.S. My answer? Because he thinks it will work and he gets both.
But whatever is going on his head, I think it’s important to note that for a lot of Evangelicals supporting Israel has nothing to do with liking Jews. In their eyes when the End Times comes the Jews burn just like everyone else in the world who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior and want him to rule one world.
Don’t be fooled. If you want Jews to survive in this world, and indeed want all humans to survive and maybe live in peace, each celebrating their own culture and beliefs, reject the Mike Johnsons of the world.
Rich Heiland, has been a reporter, editor, publisher/general manager at daily papers in Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio and New Hampshire. He was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team at the Xenia Daily (OH) Daily Gazette, a National Newspaper Association Columnist of the Year, and a recipient of the Molly Ivins First Amendment Award from the Walker County (TX) Democrat Club. He taught journalism at Western Illinois University and leadership and community development at Woodbury College in Vermont. Since 1995 he has operated an international consulting, public speaking and training business specializing in customer service, general management, leadership and staff development with major corporations, organizations, and government. Semi-retired, he lives with his wife in West Chester, PA. He can be reached at heilandrich1@gmail.com.