Schaeffer: 'Nuttiest' Evangelicals Support Israel

Author Frank Schaeffer, son of the late theologian Francis Schaeffer, can't seem to find anything good about evangelical Christians.

In his latest blog on the Huffington Post [1], Schaeffer criticized evangelicals' support of Israel. “Some of the nuttiest American religious leaders today (and in the past) have latched on to one form or another of Christian Zionism,” he said.

“To put it mildly, the evangelical theological/biblical 'reasons' have deformed US policy and made America act against self interest,” Schaeffer wrote. “This has also harmed the state of Israel.”

Schaeffer suggested that so-called Christian Zionists “would rather see an innocent Jewish or Palestinian child blown up in a rocket attack as long as the 'Promised Land' is 'fully reclaimed' to fulfill their harebrained ideas of biblical prophecy.”

He suggested that American Christians' support for Israel was driven by a desire to bring about Armageddon, but downplayed a quote he included from a Texas pastor, Rev. John Hagee, which seemed to suggest some of that support might stem from Biblical history as much as prophecy.

“Israel exists because of a covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob 3,500 years ago – and that covenant still stands,” Hagee told The New York Times. “World leaders do not have the authority to tell Israel and the Jewish people what they can and cannot do in the city of Jerusalem.”

Schaeffer also took the opportunity to attack what he called evangelicals' “unhealthy affinity with the idea of religion-based states,” criticizing those who believe America was founded on Christian principles.

It's not the first time Schaeffer has attacked Christians, including his late father. On Huffington Post June 17, he wrote that, “We need to eradicate fundamentalism [2] in all its forms,” specifically targeting fundamentalist Christianity. He called the Bible “nuts in many places” and said “no one” follows it.

In 2008, Schaeffer defended President Obama's controversial preacher, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, by criticizing [3] “right wing white preachers (following in my father's footsteps) [who] rail against America's sins from tens of thousands of pulpits.”

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