With God On Our Side is a documentary which claims to challenge Christian Zionism.
According to the official website:
With God On Our Side takes a look at the theology of Christian Zionism, which teaches that because the Jews are God’s chosen people, they have a divine right to the land of Israel. Aspects of this belief system lead some Christians in the West to give uncritical support to Israeli government policies, even those that privilege Jews at the expense of Palestinians, leading to great suffering among Muslim and Christian Palestinians alike and threatening Israel’s security as a whole… This film demonstrates that there is a biblical alternative for Christians who want to love and support the people of Israel, a theology that doesn’t favor one people group over another but instead promotes peace and reconciliation for both Jews and Palestinians.
The website caption reads: “In a land of a thousand stories, there is one not being told.”
Commenting on the film, Christianity Today remarked that “Christian Zionism is on notice…”
The film has been heavily promoted by Stephen Sizer, Gary Burge, and the organizers of the pro-Palestinian Christ at the Checkpoint conferences. These people are telling the “story not being told”, or so they claim. Their story is that Christian Zionists misuse biblical texts to unfairly promote an oppressive Israel, while ignoring the suffering of the Palestinians.
But is this really the case?
Notably one never finds these activists critiquing Hamas or the Palestinian Authority. Nor do they acknowledge Christian and Muslim suffering at the hands of these two regimes. We will explore more on this subject in later articles.
In October 2011 Dexter Van Zile wrote a critique of With God On Our Side (see below) called The Mis-Education of a Young Evangelical. Even though the article is four years old, the dynamics haven’t changed. The film is still being promoted and many churches have adopted an anti-Israel bias, while largely ignoring Christian suffering at the hands of Islamic regimes. Hence, Dexter Van Zile’s criticism is still valid and very timely:
For the past year, audiences of Christians in the United States and Great Britain have been treated to an anti-Israel extravaganza, With God on Our Side. Produced by Rooftop Productions in 2010, this 82-minute movie purports to be a documentary about Christian Zionism and its impact on the prospects for peace between Israel and its adversaries in the Middle East. ..The movie fails as an honest documentary about the Arab-Israel conflict but as piece of propaganda, it succeeds spectacularly. Not only does it portray Israel as born in original sin and singularly responsible for the Arab-Israeli conflict, it provides a model by which young Evangelical Christians in the United States can break ranks with their faith community which is largely pro-Israel and ignore Islamist hostility toward Israel in good conscience…keep reading
Note: The subject of two-covenant theology comes up in the article. This is the notion that Christian Zionists (or dispensationalists) believe that the Jews do not need Christ for salvation. This is plainly incorrect. While in rare cases misguided Zionists have taken this stance, the majority of Christian supporters of Israel teach that Israel will be redeemed once it recognizes its true Messiah (Hosea 5:15; Matt 23:39).
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