Rev. Dr. Munther Issac, a Palestinian Christian pastor, gives an impassioned 3-minute introduction to an Online Film Salon: "A Deafening Silence? US Church Leadership in the Face of Genocide" [click on the link to watch the 110-minute discussion described as: "Christian Faith leaders were pivotal in the civil rights movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, and the boycotts that ended apartheid in South Africa. And yet – after more than 77 years of harsh military occupation, Palestinian home demolitions and forced removal in the West Bank, and 18 years of a blockade culminating in Israel’s carpet bombing, starvation and genocide in Gaza – many U.S. faith leaders seem largely silent. Why? What is the explanation? Does their faith not ask them to speak out? Where do U.S. Christian denominations stand? How can concerned congregants empower their leaders to speak up? Let's talk.

Why have so many Christian leaders been supportive of Israel while ignoring the plight of Palestinian Christians who have been killed in Gaza alongside their Muslim neighbors?

Since October 7, 2023, Israel's response to the attack by Hamas, breaking out of the world's largest open-air prison (as described by Bob Simon of CBS's 60 Minutes in 2012), has been brutal on the population of Gaza. Over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed, and over 70% of Gaza has been destroyed, including schools, hospitals, churches, mosques, housing, and infrastructure. Yet, there have been very few Christian voices speaking out for peace and justice. Are they being held back by the false theology of Christian Zionism that has a grip on our nation's leaders? 

There are exceptions. Pastor Scott Korljan of the Sojourn Church in Scottsdale, AZ, delivered a powerful message on 2/1/2025 filled with sound, logical biblical references that put Jesus first, not Israel. It's a 35-minute message that needs to be repeated in pulpits across the United States for thinking, caring followers of Christ.

Israel knows that it is losing support from young people, including young Christians who have been watching the genocide in Gaza by Israel, live on social media. The Zionist state of Israel's latest attempt to bolster support among evangelical Christians was to bring over 1000 of their leaders to Israel for the Ambassador Summit 2025. Featured speakers at the event included the US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who serves Israel's interests above those of the US. This 7-minute review of the Ambassador Summit in Israel is explored by Vanessa, a young and astute Christian woman, on her YouTube Channel, Wholehearted Ness Podcast. We Hold These Truths has been challenging the false theology of Christian Zionism for over 25 years. We are encouraged to see young Christian truth tellers arising to expose this pernicious heresy.

Millions of American Evangelical Christians have believed that it's their patriotic duty to support the serial wars the US has been waging in the Middle East since 1991. They lean on the notion of "Just War" theory and blindly believe that Jesus would approve of this doctrine. We at We Hold These Truths are not pacifists, but object to those Christian leaders who explain away America's wars with the excuse that they are "just" wars and back up their claims by misusing the Bible. The "Just War" theory dates back to early Christian theologians such as St. Augustine (354–430) and St. Thomas Aquinas (1224/25–1274), whose Summa Theologiae (1265/66–1273) outlined the justifications for war and discussed the acts it is permissible to commit in wartime.

In this compelling podcast, Chuck Carlson, Tom Compton and Craig Hanson of We Hold These Truths delve into various aspects of "just war" theory based on a perverted form of Christianity promoted by many prominent evangelical Christian leaders like Henry Blackaby, Chuck Colson (deceased), Bill Bright (deceased) of Campus Crusade, D. James Kennedy (decesead), Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Conference, Ted Haggard, John McArthur (deceased), Dr. Wayne Grudem (author of "Politics According to the Bible"). Franklin Graham and John Hagee, among others. Their interpretations allow them to bless these "just wars". WHTT's founder, Chuck Carlson, warned his fellow Baptists in 1990 about not going to war against Iraq ("Iraq: Americans Prepped For War"')." Also, before the 2003 Gulf War on Iraq, WHTT opposed going to war again (see here). An excellent article in antiwar.com from 2004 that is still true today exposes evangelical Christians who support unjust wars:  Pro-War Christians Should Come Clean. 

Reporting from the Arab-American Festival in Phoenix, Arizona, Tom Compton with We Hold These Truths has some homework that you can do to educate those Christians who have turned a blind eye to their brothers and sisters in Christ in Palestine.

The graphics for the card to educate yourself and others mentioned in the video are available here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/54MGs71P25Dd6q5d8. You can order two-sided business cards from an office supply company like Staples. Use the JPG pictures of the front and back: https://www.staples.com/services/printing/business-cards/traditional-business-cards/

One of the Christian Zionist cheerleaders for Israel has been John Hagee of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, TX. Hagee's war prayer before the second war on Iraq in 2003 showed his war-willingness to turn his back on the teachings of Jesus (see: "John Hagee with Benny Hinn: Praying for War in the Name of Jesus"). This prayer was made by Hagee on October 8, 2023.

Members of We Hold These Truths have conducted a vigil in front

of John Hagee's Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, TX.

Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham has demonstrated that he is a Christian Zionist. On November 11, 2023, when he prostrated before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This 1 minute. 28-second video verifies this. Our post, "Franklin Graham Goes to Bat for Israel and Is Challenged" gives another look at Mr. Graham's fervent Christian Zionist theology.

Update: 2024: We Hold These Truths has challenged Christian Zionism for over 20 years. Christian Zionism’s influence on American politics is still powerful. The recent address by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin to the US Congress on July 24, 2024, corroborates this—for example, Speaker of the House. Mike Johnson (R – La) is a Christian Zionist who can’t do enough to fund Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

Lorrie Rutledge rejected Christian Zionist Theology

This interview with Lorrie Rutledge is over 10 years old but is even more relevant today with over 16,000 Palestinian children killed since October 7, 2023, by Israel. Lorrie woke up to the errors of her theology when she was convicted of the Israeli murder of 300 Palestinian children in Gaza during their Operation Cast Lead in 2008-9.

Lorrie Rutledge, from Michigan, was a Christian Zionist who didn’t know she was one because her pastors had told her that the modern state of Israel was the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy and deserved support by Christians, and, she never questioned them.  One day, a friend of Lorrie asked her to watch a video that showed pictures of murdered Palestinian children.  Lorrie went to work to find out if what she saw was true.  This podcast is about Lorrie’s journey out of Christian Zionism.  Don’t miss it. It’s very inspiring.  And, if you’re not sure about the Israeli treatment of Palestinian children, you need to watch the recent Australian Broadcasting Company documentary about the brutal and ongoing attacks against Palestinian Children.  Click Here

A powerful retelling of Jesus' parable of The Good Samaritan is made by Rev. Dr. Munther Issac from the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, at The Way Christian Center in Berkeley, CA on August 11, 2024. Several things are remarkable about Rev. Issac's message. He tells the parable as a follower of Christ and as a Palestinian to a predominantly Black, evangelical, inner-city church. Evangelical churches in America, for the most part, have turned their backs on the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Meanwhile, the US Congress hosted a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and gave him 58 standing ovations as the US continues to supply the munitions to sustain the genocide in Gaza. Please watch Rev. Issac's address: "Silence Is Complicity: A Palestinian Call to Action" while on tour with Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA).

Pastor Michael McBride of the Way Christian Center

welcomes Rev. Dr. Munther Issac to the pulpit

Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA), A Christian Voice for Palestine, presents Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac: "Empty calls for peace without a ceasefire and end to the occupation, and the shallow words of empathy without direct action, are all under the banner of complicity." Rev. Munther Isaac is on an eight-city speaking tour sponsored by FOSNA. This talk is his address at the Claremont Presbyterian Church in Claremont, CA on August 8, 2024. Rev. Munther addresses the silence of many U.S. churches in the face of genocide and Christian Zionism's support of apartheid in the West Bank and Gaza.

Rev. Munther Isaac is a Palestinian pastor and theologian. He now serves the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem and the Lutheran Church in Beit Sahour. He is also the academic dean of Bethlehem Bible College and director of the highly acclaimed and influential "Christ at the Checkpoint" conferences.

During the genocide in Gaza, Munther gained global attention for his sermon, "Christ under the Rubble," which was heard by tens of millions of people and subsequently quoted in South Africa's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. He has appeared on CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, MSNBC, CBS, TRT, and Democracy Now! Munther is passionate about issues related to Palestinian theology. He speaks locally and internationally and has published numerous articles on the theology of the land, Palestinian Christians, holistic mission, and reconciliation. He is the author of "The Other Side of the Wall," "From Land to Lands, from Eden to the Renewed Earth," "An Introduction to Palestinian Theology" (in Arabic), a commentary on the book of Daniel (in Arabic), and more recently a book on women's ordination, also in Arabic. He is a Kairos Palestine board member involved in many reconciliation and interfaith forums. Munther originally studied civil engineering at Birzeit University in Palestine. He then obtained a Master in Biblical Studies from Westminster Theological Seminary and a PhD from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies.