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Are You a Red Zionist or a Blue Zionist?Brother Carlton American politics is marketed as a stark choice, red versus blue, Republican versus Democrat. We’re told the divide is vast, ideological, and unbridgeable. But there is one subject where the divide collapses almost entirely, and that is U.S. policy toward Israel. So here’s the honest question: are you a Red Zionist or a Blue Zionist? Because when it comes to Israel, party labels mean very little. Whether the White House is occupied by Republicans or Democrats, the outcome is the same, billions in military aid, automatic diplomatic cover at the United Nations, and congressional resolutions that pass with overwhelming bipartisan support. On this issue, red and blue are cosmetic differences. That level of agreement doesn’t happen organically. AIPAC did not merely influence policy, it made dissent career-ending. With very few exceptions, such as Thomas Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and a small handful of others, Congress votes as a bloc. Washington, or what many now call the District of Criminals, ends up acting less like a place where real debate happens and more like a rubber stamp for predetermined policy. On Israel, the script is written in advance. The moral consequences of that conformity are becoming impossible to ignore. Since October 2023, the Gaza war has produced casualty figures that would dominate headlines if they involved any other country. According to figures cited by the Associated Press and Reuters from Gaza’s Ministry of Health, more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 145,000 wounded. Independent statistical modeling published in The Lancet suggests that when indirect deaths from starvation, disease, and medical system collapse are included, the real number may already exceed 100,000. Roughly 20,000 of the dead are children. That is not rhetoric, it is demographic data. In the West Bank, where there is no Hamas government, the United Nations reports that over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed since late 2023, including hundreds of minors. Even before the Gaza war, 2023 was the deadliest year on record in the West Bank, with more than 500 Palestinians killed, according to Amnesty International. These are not anomalies. They are patterns. International law, once treated as sacrosanct by Washington, has quietly been shelved. Settlement expansion continues despite decades of United Nations resolutions declaring it illegal. Collective punishment is normalized. Civilian infrastructure is destroyed. If another country were doing this, sanctions and tribunals would already be underway. But Israel is exempt. The silence from American churches may be even more revealing than the silence from Congress. Over the last few decades, many megachurches have grown large, wealthy, and politically connected. Along with that growth has come a reflexive pro-Zionist theology preached from the pulpit. Financial entanglements are rarely discussed openly, but they exist. Money has a way of shaping theology when institutions become dependent on donors who expect ideological conformity. Recently, roughly 1,000 pastors, mostly from churches with congregations exceeding 2,000 members, were invited on sponsored trips to Israel. These were not neutral educational tours. They were carefully curated experiences designed to reinforce a single narrative, modern Israel as a sacred political project that Christians must support. Many of those pastors returned home more confident than ever, but no more informed about what Palestinians, Christian and Muslim alike, actually endure. This certainty has a theological pedigree. Much of modern evangelical Zionism can be traced to the Scofield Reference Bible and the spread of dispensationalism in the early twentieth century. Scofield popularized the idea that history is divided into rigid eras, that God has two separate peoples, and that the church will be raptured into heaven while Israel resumes center stage on earth. Under that framework, modern Israel becomes untouchable, its actions immune from moral scrutiny. Jesus never taught this. When speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus said plainly that worship would no longer be tied to Jerusalem or any geographic center. “The hour is coming,” He said, “when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the Father, but in spirit and in truth.” That statement alone undermines the idea that a modern nation-state holds covenantal priority under the New Covenant. Jesus also warned repeatedly about deception. In Matthew 24, He cautioned that deception would be so powerful that, if possible, even the elect would be misled. History suggests that religious deception is most effective when it aligns itself with power, money, and empire. Rome understood this well. Rome claimed to bring peace, order, and civilization. It justified overwhelming force as necessary for stability. It labeled resistance as rebellion and dissent as treason. When Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70, Rome believed it was enforcing order. From Rome’s perspective, it was righteous. Empires always think they are. From personal experience, I understand how easy it is to accept the script. I was once firmly aligned with the Republican Party, a Red Zionist by default. Over time, through study and reflection, I moved away from party loyalty altogether and now consider myself independent, even libertarian. More importantly, my theology changed. I came to recognize that the modern state of Israel is not ancient Israel, not covenant Israel, and not following Christ. The vast majority of religious Jews today are still waiting for a messiah they do not believe has come. Salvation has not changed. There is no alternative covenant. Scripture is clear, there is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ. God judged ancient Israel in AD 70, exactly as Jesus foretold. The national covenant ended there. What exists today is a political movement, Zionism, not a continuation of biblical Israel. Supporting it blindly does not make one faithful, it makes one uncritical. Pastor Chuck Baldwin recently stated the obvious. Knowing what we now know about the modern state of Israel and how it treats its neighbors, a Christian cannot support it without compromising the teachings of Christ. That may offend many, but clarity often does. So the question remains: are you a Red Zionist or a Blue Zionist? Or are you willing to step outside inherited assumptions, examine facts rather than narratives, and align yourself with truth, even when it costs you social approval? History suggests that those who refuse to ask hard questions are usually the ones most thoroughly deceived. ### Brother Carlton About the Author: Brother Carlton, a former Hollywood actor, has been immersed in gold, silver and the stock market since the late seventies. As an inspirational speaker and author, Carlton offers a unique blend of financial wisdom and motivational encouragement. 321gold Ltd |
