Trading in Souls
Terrorism and Tourism in the Middle East
Keywords:
Christian Right, evangelical, Islamic conversionAbstract
In the years since 9/11, a group of prominent Evangelical Christian ministers has sought to capture the Islamic faithful and convert them to Christianity. Incendiary comments about Islam from religious leaders like Franklyn Graham, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Jerry Vines have drawn rebukes from Muslims and Christian groups alike, but many in the grass roots of Evangelical Christianity have absorbed their leaders’ antipathy for Islam. In Evangelical churches and seminaries across country, lectures, and books criticizing Islam and promoting strategies for Muslim conversions are gaining currency. Many of these groups view the US military and its wars in the Muslim world as the perfect vehicles for missionary work in the difficult ‘10/40 Window’, Evangelical speak for the portion of the Middle East that is oil-rich and waiting for conversion to Christianity. The same Evangelical political groups have dedicated themselves to financial support of ultra-orthodox Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories while advocating US government support of imperialist Israel. Chosen–ness is being crafted as a political term, smacking of imperialism, while the chosen people are the ones on our side.
References
Adnkronos International, Adnkronosinternational: il portale dell’informazione globale, July 31, 2005. <http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Religion&loid=8.0.192088654&par=>.
Arkin, William M., ‘The Pentagon Unleashes a Holy Warrior’, Los Angeles Times, October 16, 2003.
Beale, G.K., The Book of Revelation (New International Greek Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999).
Cajee, Mas’ood, ‘Franklin Graham: Spiritual Carpetbagger’, Counterpunch, April 11, 2003: <http://www.counterpunch.org/cajee04112003.html>.
Christanty, Linda, ‘Is There a Rainbow in Islam?’, Latitudes [Bali], July 30, 2003: <http://islamlib.com/en/page.php?page=article&id=424>.
‘Christian Exodus from Holy Land: Bethlehem’s Fate Highlights Dwindling Community’s Woes’. NBC News, December 25, 2004. Producer Ara Ayer. <http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6746584/>.
Copans, Laurie, ‘Pat Robertson Warns Bush against Dividing Jerusalem’, Associated Press, October 4, 2004.
‘Evangelist Warns Bush over Jerusalem’, Al-Jazeera.net, 4 October 2004: .
‘Franklin Graham on Islam’, Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, Episode 549 (August 9, 2002): <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week549news.html>.
Goldstein, Laurie, ‘Seeing Islam as ‘Evil’ Faith, Evangelicals Seek Converts’, New York Times, May 27, 2003, Late edition, final, A1.
Graham, Franklin, ‘No Strings Attached: For Iraq’s Suffering People, Aid is Aid—Christian or Otherwise’, Los Angeles Times, April 3, 2003, B17.
Hadawi, Sami, Bitter Harvest: A Modern History of Palestine (Ithaca, NY: Olive Branch Press, 4th rev. edn, 2003).
Hart, C., ‘Feast of Tabernacles Celebrated by over 4000 Worldwide Believers’, Christian Broadcasting Network News, October 5, 2004: <http://www.700club.com/CBNNews/News/041005d.asp>.
Hyamson, Albert Montefiore, ‘Fulfillment in the Promised Land, 1917–37’, Palestine Exploration Quarterly 71 (1938), 48-49.
Iraqi Coalition Casualty Count, <http://icasualties.org/oif/default.aspx>.
‘Iraqis Dead: Should We Believe It?, <http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=15&ItemID=6565%20>.
Kutler, Glenn, ‘US Military Fatalities in Iraq: A Two-Year Retrospective’, Orbis 49.3 (2005): 529-44.
Lifton, Robert Jay, Superpower Syndrome: America’s Apocalyptic Confrontation with the World (Washington, DC: Nation Books, 2003).
Myers, Lisa, and the NBC Investigative Unit, ‘Top Terrorist Hunter’s Divisive Views: General Casts Military, Anti-Terror Efforts in Religious Terms’, NBC News, October 15, 2003 (<http://www.msnbc.com/news/980764.asp?cp1=1>).
Palestine and Palestinians Guidebook (Ramallah: Alternative Tourism Group, 2005).
Said, Edward W., Orientalism (New York: Pantheon, 1978).
Sennott, Charles, The Body and the Blood: The Middle East’s Vanishing Christians and the Possibility of Peace (Washington, DC: PublicAffairs Press, 2002).
Report of the Palestine Center, <http://www.palestinecenter.org/cpap/pubs/20020312ib.html>.
Rogers, Stephanie Stidham, ‘In Search of a Promised Land: American Protestants and the Holy Land at the Turn of the Century’, Koinonia 12.2 (2000), 219-45.
Spilsbury, Paul, The Throne, the Lamb and the Dragon: A Reader’s Guide to the Book of Revelation (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002). www.crescentproject.org
