Haaretz
Cheshvan 8, 5765
David Parsons isn't particularly interested in
talking about a looming apocalypse, the biblical end of days, or the
greatly popularized Armageddon. But as spokesperson for the International
Christian Embassy in Jerusalem (ICEJ), he doesn't have much
choice.
Parsons, an evangelical Christian from North Carolina, has
one of the more difficult jobs on the embassy's 55 person staff. As the
public persona behind much of their work, he deals with the skepticism of
Israelis and Christians alike, who question the group's unwavering support
for Israel and their traditional alliance with the country's political
right. And though it's difficult to convince many that he and the millions
of believers like him are "not thirsting for an Armageddon" that's exactly
what Parsons intends to do.
"There are attacks against us, Lord
knows, from all sides, from all angles, and so it's time to clarify our
stance, and explain that our love for Israel is pure," he insisted this
week in ICEJ's headquarters in the capital's Greek Colony. "The
accusations against us have come to the point that they aren't harmless
anymore. Nothing has changed in our policy, but the need for clarification
has been heightened. There are Israeli leaders who see us as telling them
not to withdraw from Gaza and urging them not to seek peace and they start
to wonder if we're trying to force them into some kind of confrontation.
People are trying to assign evil motives to us and they label us and
dismiss us as crazed."
There's an urgency to his message, he says,
that hasn't existed before.
And so Parsons has decided to take the
embassy's reputation head on and use their public festival earlier this
month to set the record straight: the ICEJ does not proselytize, he says,
nor does it pray for the realization of dark prophecy and a violent end of
days when two thirds of Jews will be slaughtered in a
convert-or-die-scenario. No, Parsons explains in a 46-page theological
monograph the embassy distributed at the press conference featuring Pat
Robertson earlier this month, the ICEJ's philosophy is not as
sensationalist and violent as the headlines suggest. "You should start
taking us seriously," he warned the members of the media gathered at the
International Convention Center in Jerusalem. "Before you go mocking us,
understand who we are and don't go lumping us together. We live here now
and we're on the front lines; we're not living in some future period," he
later added.
Parson's strategy is simple: after the press
conference, he distributed booklets, including a brief description of what
he calls "the media's bias" against Christian Zionists, hoping local
journalists will take note of his appeal. The monograph is scholarly, with
footnotes and a table of contents aimed at putting the "Armageddon in
context" and outlining the history of Christian Zionism, in order to
discount the claim that it is nothing other than a recent outgrowth of the
American Christian Right, complete with its own political aims. "The
Battle of Armageddon foretold in the book of Revelation is to be
understood as one final act of humanity's rebellion against God and will
never be initiated by or result from some dark hidden agenda espoused by
Christians Zionists," Parsons wrote in his final appeal, a copy of which
the ICEJ will soon post on their Web site. He's not convinced many people
will read it, but its distribution is just one step in the organization's
new-and-improved public relations campaign.
The ICEJ, which is
directed by Malcolm Hedding and has a budget ranging from 6 to 10 million
dollars a year, boasts membership in some 125 countries. "It's our great
hope that God gives you the messiah He promised you, and as a Christian I
believe that it's Jesus," Parsons says. "Who the messiah is, and whether
he's come once or twice I believe God will reveal to the Jewish
people."
An estimated 300 to 500 million evangelical Christians
worldwide have become powerful political allies of the Jewish state. But
some leaders in the interreligious circuit are cautious. "The problem is
that the International Christian Embassy can't speak of a coherent
ideology because it's made up of diverse denominations and perspectives
that all share a love of Israel and the Jewish people," says Rabbi David
Rosen, head of interreligious affairs at the American Jewish Committee.
"Some people [affiliated with the ICEJ] are motivated by an aspiration to
see the Jewish people convert [now], but they're a minority. For many
others, their motivation comes from an ultimate vision of the second
coming and the eventual conversion of all Jews."
According to
Rosen, a "genuine love of Israel" is the primary motivation behind the
ICEJ, but he warns that it would be "foolhardy" for any Jewish
organization to ignore the movement's "eschatological anticipation for
conversion of Jews." Still, he insists that their ultimate religious goals
should not interfere with Israel's appreciation for the support - both
political and financial - that they consistently offer.
Representatives from the ultra-Orthodox anti-missionary group Yad
L'Achim, though, are less kind in their assessment of the ICEJ, and say
that the ICEJ's distancing from the vision of Armageddon and their
professed love for the Jewish people are part of a larger ploy aimed at
converting Jews. "For hundreds of years, Christianity tried to convert
Jews, but were unsuccessful," Aharon Rubin a representative of the
organization in Jerusalem said. "They've finally begun to realize that
they can't stuff Christianity down people's throats with violence and
pogroms. They start to love us and support us so that we won't be afraid,
and then they try to convert us."
Parsons says that he understands
the Jews' collective "wounds" and cannot expect to regain their complete
trust overnight. "It's understandable that Jews have a suspicion when
Christians say `hey, we love you'. But you don't have to be afraid of us,
and we're trying to prove that our love is genuine." Besides, he adds,
"we're the only true friends Israel has left."