My Aisling

Christian Zionists

That's a new term for me. I always wondered what I was.

I was raised Baptist but rejected, even as a child, the robes worn by the minister (who was my uncle) and the rituals. I was simply horrified as I observed Catholic Mass. I was confused by who the Catholics thought was God - they seemed to give so much importance to the guy in the collar.

I wanted to read the Bible, to study it. It was only then that I understood why I was in church, why God was important. Yes, I wandered from my roots for quite a long time. I eventually came back after the sobering effect of raising children, after my personalized version of "the life crisis" hit (btw, Psalm 31 is really good when it seems the world has an arrest warrant with your name on it and every person in the world is deputized).

But throughout my life I was always one thing - pro-Israel. Right, wrong, passive, aggressive, at peace, waging war, voting for democrats (horrors!) ... didn't matter. Israel could do no wrong in my eyes. And I still feel that way. If I don't agree with something they do, I accept that I just don't understand their reality. George Harrison said it best. He was asked what it was like to be a Beatle. He said, "I don't know what it is like not to be a Beatle." Never the two shall meet ...

An article popped up today. It's a fine if not breezy read. I don't care for the "nod's a good as a wink to a blind horse" put-down of Kosher food, but it must be his writing style. Don't think I ever read his work before.

The article is about the support of the Jewish people and nation by Evangelical Christians. The point, it seems, is that the breadth and depth of the support is news to the Jewish people. The guy goes on to say that perhaps the relationship is new and needs to mature. His article is generally accurate and I appreciate him putting up with Kosher food to get the interview.

My Dad, gone for a couple of years now, was born in 1930. The re-creation of Israel happened when he was a young adult. His formative years absorbed tense positions on Jewish people - a nebulous group of folks bound by a common heritage but not a physical border.

I was born in 1959. The Jewish people were defending their territory during my formative years. They have had a tough time. Someone help me understand - if your neighbor's dog keeps on coming over and defecating in your yard, what's the problem with putting up a fence? Do you really think the entire issue is that a fence demarcates a property line? If the Arab world took care of their own, the Palestinians would not be living like animals and the unrest would be diplomatic not terroristic ... anyway.

My point is this - as an Evangelical Christian, I will support the Jewish people in anything they do. I have always felt that way, and always will. It sure would be nice if they recognize that my generation of ECs are devoted ... and are Republican.