One of the National Review bloggers, Mark Krikorian, discusses an extremely interesting poll that shows 82 percent of American Christians feeling a “moral and biblical” obligation to support Israel. 89 percent of evangelicals. Not too much a surprise, exposed as they are to the Darbyesque dispensationalist drivel. But here’s the kicker: 76 percent of Catholics feel the same way. Oh dear.
This is clear evidence (yet again!) that American Catholics are more attuned to the sensibilities of the prevailing American culture than to the teachings of the Church on certain key public policy issues. As we all know, the unity of the human race is at the heart of Christian theology, and God does not play favorites. There are no special rules for certain secular states–Israel, or the USA for that matter. One of the many striking things that you observe upon coming to the United States is the zealousness of its support for Israel, crossing party lines, a support that is frequently one-sided, un-nuanced, and out of step with world diplomacy — including Vatican diplomacy. But it’s quite difficult to engage in a sober peace process between two groups, when you believe one of the groups has a divine claim on the land in question, and that this claim is manifested through the modern state of Israel.
Interestingly, Krikorian diagnoses correctly: “Christian Zionism is essentially a Protestant phenomenon, and a statistic like this suggests how thorough was the cultural (though not necessarily theological) Protestantization of American Catholics.” He then asks if the Catholic Hispanic immigrants can be similarly Protestantized, and is doubtful. But what for Krikorian is a lament is for me a sign of hope. It is really an argument against too much assimilation into the prevailing American culture, as so many seem to espouse today. For there is a good chance that these immigrants will lose a part of their core Catholic identity, as they don the Calvinist mantle that underpins so much of American culture.
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