Dispensational militarism

Bacevich notes the connection between premillennialism and support for Israel, and goes on to suggest that this leads in turn to support for American militarism: “as a result of the Religious Right’s fetish for the Jewish state, the distinctive Israeli strategic style – the way that Israelis conceive of military power and its uses – has colored conservative Christian thinking about these same subjects. By extension, this evangelical appropriation of Israeli strategic precepts has altered the terms of religious discourse about war and the use of force in ways that have contributed to the militarization of U.S. policy.”

Two thoughts: First, this provides clear illustration of the real-world consequences of bad theology; second, is disaffection with dispensationalism one of the factors in the shifts in political theology taking place among evangelical intellectuals?

Next
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Letters

We welcome letters to the­ editor. Letters appear two issues after the article to which they are…

Visiting an Armenian Archbishop in Prison

Joel Veldkamp

On February 3, I stood in a poorly lit meeting room in the National Security Services building…

Christians Are Reclaiming Marriage to Protect Children

Katy Faust

Gay marriage did not merely redefine an institution. It created child victims. After ten years, a coalition…