this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2026
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It’s no secret that Israel is losing ground in American public opinion on both the left and the right, even as many American Jews feel newly besieged by rising antisemitism. On much of the left, activists and intellectuals increasingly interpret Israel and Zionism through anti-colonial and anti-racist frameworks, casting the conflict in the moral language of oppressor and oppressed.

On the right, a different but equally consequential shift is underway. Influential conservatives like Tucker Carlson have come to view Israel as a drain on American resources, setting up debates with Israel supporters like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee, a Baptist preacher and ambassador to Israel. But the criticisms go beyond the MAGA movement’s “America First” isolationism. The turn on the right isn’t just about geopolitics — it’s about theology.

“Christian Zionism,” as Carlson described it in his podcast interview with white nationalist influencer Nick Fuentes, is a “brain virus” and “dangerous heresy.”

For decades, one of the most reliable pillars of pro-Israel sentiment in the United States was not just Jews but conservative Christians. That support had a theological motor: Israel mattered not just as an ally on a Cold War map, but as a central actor on the map of the End Times. Put simply, Christians needed Jews to return to the homeland of Israel to usher in the second coming of Christ.

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[–] 1dalm@lemmings.world 9 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

First of all, Tucker Carlson is a propaganda pawn for Russia. He should never be cited for any reason. If he "makes sense" is only because that position is momentarily useful to Russia.

Second, while the Rapture is an even bigger part of the post-WW2 evangelical theology than this article presents. To understand Baby Boomer American Evangelicals you have to understand that the world they grew up in really did look like the end times. Consider their lives: they grew up during a time of absolutely unprecedented middle class wealth, AND they had a new unprecedented national mass media/advertising system telling them they are really special (if they buy the right stuff), AND they are growing up in the shadow of the atomic bomb, AND F***ing Israel was refounded! So yeah, the message that Jesus was going to come back during their lives was damn convincing.

In their minds, 9/11 was supposed to be the great Armageddon war. And there just happened to be an evangelical in the white house to lead the war. Except it was a quagmire, which they could not explain. Then a black man with African and Muslim names was elected president and they absolutely lost their minds. (Enter the tea party.)

And here is the real kicker that blows the minds of progressives: they know Trump isn't Christian. In fact there is a not small minority of American evangelicals that voted for him because they believe he's the Antichrist and that his ruinous presidency is necessary for Jesus' return.