 "Photo:")
"I go around trying to talk up Israel and Jewish-Christian understanding," said JoAnn Magnuson, the guest speaker at "Understanding Christian Support for Israel." The event was organized by the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning.
The Center's executive director, Philip Cunningham, spoke after Magnuson, and he joined her after the presentation to answer questions from the audience. Ruth Langer, the center's associate director, moderated the question-and-answer period.
Magnuson explored her personal relationship with the interfaith dialogue and other connections between Judaism and Christianity, and she addressed the history of conflict between the two religions.
She also discussed the Arab-Israeli conflict, although she admitted that due to time constraints she "really couldn't do it justice."
"I am motivated by the people who gave birth to my religion and my faith community," said Magnuson. She informed the audience that both her personal reasons for supporting the state of Israel and the Jewish people have to do with her view of the role Judaism played in the development of Christianity.
She explained that most of the people in the Gospels are Jewish, with the exception of a few Romans featured in the different books.
Magnuson saidthat Jewish people played an absolutely essential role in the early development of Christianity, but unfortunately, friction between the two religions developed over time.
While some of the early church fathers, men like St. Augustine, wrote beautiful things about God, Magnuso said they were significantly less kind when they discussed Jews.
She also discussed the impact of the passion plays, medieval plays depicting the death of Christ, which helped spread anti-Semitism in Europe. Passion plays were an "ingrained part of the culture," long before Mel Gibson made his film, The Passion of the Christ, she said.
"We have to give up the simple idea that all we have to do is sign treaties and give up more land," said Magnuson as she began her discussion of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Magnuson acknowledged the fact that the current situation in the Middle East is incredibly complex and needed to be studied carefully.
She defined herself as a Christian Zionist, and although many Americans associate Christian support for Israel with end-of-days theology, Magnuson pointed out that, "fewer people are excited about that [the end times] than you might think."
Her support for Israel stems mainly from her belief in the shared heritage of Judaism and Christianity and her belief in the State of Israel's fundamental right to exist.
Magnuson's remarks were followed by Philip Cunningham, the executive director of the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning.
He focused his presentation mainly on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Like Magnuson, he also stressed the complexity of the situation and the need to foster dialogue and understanding in order to create a real solution to the conflict.
To the students who were there, Cunningham stated that since they are, "situated in a Catholic university, [they] need to have the goal of peace foremost in [their] minds," when examining the Arab-Israeli conflict.
After the two speakers finished their presentations, there was a question and answer period. The audience was fairly small, a little less than 30 people, and was primarily composed ofnon students.
The majority of questions targeted Magnuson's presentation. The audience members who spoke were all extremely passionate about their views, prompting a guarded response from Magnuspm. Cunningham responded to most of the questions, as Magnuson was visibly uncomfortable after the questions began.
The audience members who found themselves in disagreement with the speakers ranged from a Christian born in Jerusalem, to a few Muslims, to members of the Jewish community.
A woman from Lebanon, whose husband is a Palestinian, challenged Magnuson's support of Christian Zionism as means of achieving justice, saying instead that it "taught hatred of Islam."
"As a Jew, as a lover of Israel, the coalition of Christian Zionists, the Christian right, and the Israeli right has a very devastating potential for Jews and Israel," said Martin R. Federman, the co-chair of the Boston chapter of the Jewish Voice for Peace.
Federman suggested that some of the positions of the Christian Zionist movement "creates divisions that she [Magnuson] claims to want to avoid."
The speakers were not without support from members of the audience. One man disputed the statement of an audience member who challenged the speakers before either Magnuson or Cunningham were able to respond to the challenge.
Another audience member, Susan Axe-Bronk, praised Dr. Cunningham's, "fair-mindedness and his ability to see the context of the whole situation."
She added that she thought that those individuals who disagreed with the speakers had "hijacked the discussion for their own anti-Zionist agenda," but she was quick to praise the ability of the speakers to respond rationally and clearly to their concerns. n
Be the first to comment on this article!