The Un-Christian Callousness of Anti-Palestinian Christians

How do Christians reconcile supporting Israel’s extermination of the Palestinian people? How do a people proclaiming to follow in the spiritual and ethical path of Jesus, a theoretically real person who promoted a philosophy and lifestyle based in charity, compassion, and peace, support the destruction and slaughter that’s been taking place in his homeland? Putting aside the hypocritical, and heretical, animosity that many Christians hold for Muslims, what of the Palestinian Christians? They’re a minority community, but they’re being murdered en masse all the same. Is there no kinship between Western Christians and those in the “Holy Land,” who could well be the spiritual descendants of Christ’s original followers?

For the second Christmas in a row, Christ has been in the rubble. While about 90% of Americans and billions of others around the world celebrated Christmas this past week, with comfort and joy and rampant consumerism and gluttony, people in Gaza and the West Bank were dying from starvation, cold, and of course military barbarism. Innocent people are being killed, children are being slaughtered, and much of the world’s Christian population doesn’t appear to give a shit.

We all know evangelical Christians’ take on the issue. Desperate for the armageddon to come about, because the imaginary afterlife they believe themselves to be entitled to is so much more valuable than this world and the people in it, they’ll accept any atrocities which set the conditions for that to happen. If there were a hell, the fanatics who condone and encourage violence and death with the aim of somehow selfishly attaining salvation in paradise through this macabre accounting process would be bound for its deepest pit.

Not all Christians support the Palestinian genocide, of course. Pope Francis has spoken out against it and called for peace multiple times. Granted, it’s not as though the Catholic church has a spotless record as a benevolent institution and a force for good and justice. The Holy See has drenched its hands in blood over the centuries, including through the enabling or active participation in genocides. The amount of trauma, violence, and death inflicted in the name of Catholicism is horrendous. Historically, they have zero credibility as a moral authority. However, as popes go, Francis is one of the better ones, and has generally been on the right side of moral issues. As the father of the faith, or whatever, it should follow that the world’s Catholics would, you know, follow him. Yet the majority of Catholic US government officials (about 27% of Congress and 100% of the Presidency for the last four years) haven’t done a damn thing to stop the genocide.

But is the whole point of this to shame Christians?

Yes.

You all should absolutely be ashamed. Anyone who supports the genocidal actions of the Israeli government and military is shameful, and those that do so while purporting to be followers of Christ are disgraceful hypocritical frauds. Jesus would be ashamed of you.