Thread by @jackmjenkins

1. So about this: You know which religious groups seemed pretty exited about today's West Bank settlements decision?

Evangelical Christians.

You know who didn't?

Several major American Jewish groups, mainline Christian groups, and Muslim groups.

This is a recurring pattern.

https://twitter.com/jackmjenkins/status/1196580238131683328

2. Like, here's what Mike Evans told me about this conversation with Pompeo today. He was stoked.

Never ever heard of Evans? Well allegedly he's one of Pompeo's FIRST PHONE CALLS after a MAJOR POLICY CHANGE.

He's the "Israel guy" on Trump's informal evangelical advisory board.

3. And here's Paula White, a Florida pastor who Trump recently tapped to head up his White House faith initiative.

Note: She responds to this news *as an evangelical.*

https://twitter.com/Paula_White/status/1196564335423893504

4. She also tweeted this, which appears to confuse the new policy (no longer declare settlements illegal under international law) w/a tendency in evangelical circles to refer to the West Bank as "Judea and Samaria."

There's a lot happening here.

https://twitter.com/Paula_White/status/1196564332794064896

5. Now let's turn to other religious groups for a second.

Here's how the Union for Reform Judaism — which the largest Jewish denomination in the U.S. — responded to the news.

Notice a difference?

6. Or, heck, let's check with the National Council of Churches, a historic and largely mainline Christian organization which operates on behalf of 38 Christian groups that collectively claim roughly 45 million people.

Kind of a different tone, eh?

7. Oh hey and here's the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Again, a bit different.

8. That's not even counting reactions from groups like J Street.

You may recall J Street as a liberal Jewish advocacy org that attracted several presidential candidates this year…

…To discuss U.S. policy toward Israel, including criticizing settlements religionnews.com/2019/10/28/at-…

9. For the uninitiated, the alliance between evangelical Christians and supporters of settlements — including *directly funding their creation* — goes back a long way, and often has several theologies attached to it: thinkprogress.org/how-the-americ…

10. For a glimpse of one of these theologies: There was a evangelical, charismatic-inspired inflection of this at Trump's own hotel late last year, where this happened. religionnews.com/2018/12/10/at-…

11. You'll note the reference to the Trump's decision to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel/move the embassy there.

Those decisions were also lauded by evangelical leaders/groups and criticized by many others…

…Including Middle Eastern Christians: religionnews.com/2018/01/08/is-…

12. Anyway, watch this pattern: Trump's policies on Israel are praised by (often white) evangelical Christians who make up his base, but criticized/outright rejected by many Jews, Muslims, and other Christians who are *not* in his base.

Read more here: religionnews.com/2019/11/18/tru…

13. Note: Some may characterize this as "religious voters" vs. "secular voters."

As I hope this thread has made clear, that doesn't make a lot of sense.

i.e., White evangelical Protestants only make up around 15.3% of the U.S. population, per PRRI —> ava.prri.org/#religious/201…

14. (Also, as always, caveats apply: there are evangelical critics of Trump's policies in Israel, Jewish and Mainline leaders/orgs that are partially or wholeheartedly supportive of them, etc.)