Carter talk at bastion of pro-Israel Christians called worrisome
Just days after America’s embassy in Israel is set to open in Jerusalem on May 14 at the direction of President Trump, a former president with a less than stellar record of support for Israel is set to deliver a commencement address at Liberty University, America’s premier evangelical college.
The speech by President Jimmy Carter to future evangelical leaders is noteworthy due to his controversial accusations that Israel is an apartheid state, coupled with a longstanding feud between Carter and the late Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr., Liberty University’s founder and first president. The school is now run by Falwell’s son, Rev. Jerry Falwell Jr.
“This invitation is a slap in the face to Reverend Jerry Falwell Sr. and to all the evangelical Christians who support Israel,” said Laurie Cardoza-Moore, host of the Focus on Israel television program on Daystar, and founder and president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, an organization that urges Christians “to stand with their Jewish brethren and all Israel against the rise of anti-Semitism.”
In a letter sent to Falwell Jr. urging the university to cancel the lecture, Cardoza-Moore wrote: “Over and over, [Carter] has proven himself to be anti-Semitic and anti-Israel, and is not worthy to speak to the distinguished graduates of Liberty University, or their families. What kind of message does this send our future Christian leaders?”
While polls have indicated that support for Israel remains high across the United States as a whole, it’s waning among certain key segments, including millennials. As a group, they tend to be less connected to faith and see Israel only through the lens of the Oslo peace process, which for 25 years has failed to bring a negotiated peace settlement between Israelis and Palestinians. Many millennials blame Israel for not creating a state for the Palestinians. Their parents remember Israel’s struggle just to survive—the wars of 1956, 1967 and 1973—and view Israel in a very different light.
The declining support among millennials is equally prevalent among evangelical Christians, a segment in American society whose adult members exhibit the greatest support for the Jewish state nationwide, raising concern for the support of Israel in years to come.
According to Cardoza-Moore, students at an evangelical Christian university should be fully connected to their faith and be receiving a fully pro-Israel education. “Why should Christian parents send their children to a Christian university when they can get the same anti-Israel rhetoric at universities like Berkeley?” posed Cardoza-Moore. “We are now seeing Christian colleges following the dangerous trends of secular universities.”
In a statement announcing Carter’s upcoming address, Falwell Jr. wrote: “While Christians may disagree about what role government should play in serving those in need, the Liberty University community, along with all Christians worldwide, are united in the belief that we, as individuals, should provide food and shelter to the poor.” He commended Carter for “serving the poor and loving his neighbors,” and said “I am thrilled that he will be sharing the story of his life of faith in action to our graduates and their families.”
“They are not choosing him because of his views on Israel, so I think it’s a non-issue regarding the impact on the next generation,” Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, told JNS. “Now if Carter makes outrageous anti-Israel comments in his speech—which I seriously doubt—then it would be an issue.”
