The Religious Right Is Loving the Middle East Apocalypse
On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Chris Lehmann on the holy warriors excited at the world coming to an end.
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The Religious Right Is Loving the Middle East Apocalypse | Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer
On this episode of the Time of Monsters podcast, Chris Lehmann and Jeet Heer discuss Pentecostal beliefs about the Middle East, the Cold War, Trumpism, the prosperity gospel and the Americanization of the faith.
The news from the Middle East remains bleak, with the Israeli response to the Hamas massacre leading to more than 10,000 deaths, mainly of civilians. Most people regard the unfolding news with horror, but there is a subset of people who are not hiding the fact they are thrilled. A subset of evangelicals known as Pentecostals see the news as proof that the long awaited apocalypse, which will herald the creation of a new heaven and a new earth, is at hand. They are strongly pro-Israel because they believe that the return of the Jews to the holy land, to be followed by their mass conversion to Christianity, is a necessary fulfillment of God’s plan.
Nation columnist Chris Lehmann wrote about this influential religious faction in a recent column.
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Texas evangelist John Hagee of Christians United for Israel addresses a crowd of his followers and Israeli supporters at a rally at the Jerusalem convention center.
(Sebastian Scheiner / AP Photo)The news from the Middle East remains bleak, with the Israeli response to the Hamas massacre leading to more than 10,000 deaths, mainly of civilians. Most people regard the unfolding news with horror, but there is a subset of people who are not hiding the fact they are thrilled. A subset of evangelicals known as Pentecostals see the news as proof that the long awaited Apocalypse, which will herald the creation of a new heaven and a new earth, is at hand. They are strongly pro-Israel because they believe that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land, to be followed by their mass conversion to Christianity, is a necessary fulfillment of God’s plan.
My Nation colleague, Chris Lehmann wrote about this influential religious faction in a recent column. On this episode of the podcast, Chris and I discuss Pentecostal beliefs about the Middle East, the Cold War, Trumpism, the prosperity gospel, and the Americanization of the faith.
We also talk about alternative Christian traditions that don’t hanker after Armageddon but work for peace.
An earlier conversation I had with Sarah Posner took up the history of the religious right and is a good companion for this podcast.
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Pat Robertson’s Terrible Legacy
Pat Robertson, who died at age 93, was a much hated figure on the left and for good reason. For many decades, through his television show, The 700 Club, and in his frequent interventions in political debates, he’s been one of America’s most prominent voices for the religious right: a sexist and homophobic preacher with a wide audience.
Unfortunately, Robertson left a large legacy, which we need to reckon with. To do so, I spoke with the journalist Sarah Posner, who writes frequently on the intersection of politics and religion. She is the author of the book Unholy, about white evangelical support for Donald Trump. Sarah also wrote a very fine essay for Talking Points Memo about Robertson’s role in creating an infrastructure of right-wing lawyers who are pushing the religious right’s agenda through the courts and the policy ranks of the Republican Party.
On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Sarah and I talk about Robertson’s background as the son of Democratic senator, his distinctive brand of charismatic Christianity which has been gaining force, his conspiracy theories and sundry bigotries, and the support he gets from more mainstream institutions such as AIPAC.
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