Evangelical Christians in America have long operated under a vaguely but firmly pro-Israel and anti-Palestine cultural consensus—for example, the Pew Research Center found 72 percent of evangelicals sympathizing with Israel and only 4 percent sympathizing with Palestine when asked to pick sides in the territorial conflict.
Now, reports the Washington Post, the Green family, known for starting conservative crafting mecca chain Hobby Lobby, is doing their part to make this consensus much more concrete: in partnership with Museum of the Bible (another Green family endeavor, set to open in 2017; see you there) and the Philos Project, young Christians will now be able to go on “Covenant Journey” and travel to Israel for a chill $500.
From the Covenant Journey website, which looks a little shoddy but is up and waiting for your payment information, no mistake:
Unlike most other Christian tours, participants will discover the vibrant meaning of modern-day Israel from a political, security, academic, business, technology, science, and trade aspect, which will enable them to contextualize Israel’s role, not just in prophetic teachings but also as an island of Judeo-Christian values and democracy standing in a sea of extremism and radicalism.
According to the Post, the trips were announced on Friday, with Steve Green saying, “[The trip] will create a foundational platform from which they can become goodwill ambassadors for Israel and the Jewish people, and the Covenant Journey participants will never be the same.”
I wonder how the Covenant Journey trip planners will dance around the existence of Palestinian Christians, many of whom have been pushed out of the region by Israeli military occupation—or, if they will let any Palestinian-American Christians come along for the ride! More about this at the Washington Post.
Image via AP
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