"Thank you for your question regarding Charles Carlson's film showing in Christ at the Checkpoint and for your concern and for verifying from us about this. The short answer is no - we will not show the film. Though we initially considered having it part of an optional film night during the conference, we later decided that the message and goals of the film and indeed the work of WHTT are not compatible with the goals of our conference and do not serve our cause. Though one of our goals is to engage with Christian Zionism, we seek to do it in a friendly and constructive manner were both views are fairly represented and are respected."
In November 2011, I wrote an article, Liberation theology or Christian Zionism? Why not Reformed instead! It was about a Conference in 2010 called Christ at the Checkpoint. I was concerned because quite a few Evangelicals were involved as speakers at a conference that also included some heavy anti-Semitism by such people as Mitri Raheb and Stephen Sizer. I pointed out that Raheb insisted that immigrants from Europe to Israel are not genetically Jewish and Sizer, who believes that the Jews of today no longer have any connection to God's promises, continuously does ministry with those who deny the Holocaust.[1]
The coming 2012 Conference has quite a mix of speakers and presenters and is also using many Evangelicals. One man, who is not listed as a speaker, but whose film is supposedly going to be shown is, it seems, a part of this strange mix. The film, produced by Chuck Carlson, a man who has spoken at conferences put together by Holocaust deniers, is Christian Zionism: The Tragedy &The Turning, Part 1. I found this information on a very vile site that I have written about before, Veterans Today.[2] Chuck Carlson’s organization is We Hold These Truths Strait Gate Ministries. This is a preview of his video which he states will be shown at the conference, (warning there are several bad scenes) :
At Veterans Today there is a podcast of Tom Compton who works with Chuck Carlson interviewing him about the film and then there is an audio of Dr. Alex Awad of Bethlehem Bible which sponsors the conference. Awad is one of the Evangelical presenters at the Christ at the Checkpoint 2010 Conference. I do not believe that those planning the Conference are aware of the posting on Veterans Today, but they are surely aware of the speaker’s orientation, including Raheb’s words from the last Conference. In order for there to be a true attempt at peace making it is important for the planners to winnow out the anti-Semitism that overshadows the Conference.
For further indications of the kind of problems Compton and Carlson present see a poem linked to and placed on their site, "The Palestinian Statehood Sham: A Donkey Heads To The Den Of Vipers":
“Tell your Zionist masters sorry, you shouldn’t have been their deceitful starter...
Because Palestine isn’t just the West Bank, Al-Quds and bleeding Gaza...
Palestine is everything from the river to the sea...
All holy Arab land, no Zionism in between...
Palestine is Yaffa, Nasira, Akka, Safad...
Haifa, Lifta, al-Ludd, Isdud and Naqab...
We will not mince our words, we don’t care if they aren’t televised...
The usurping Zionist entity is something that we will never recognize...
We bleed for this land, so we repeat, go ahead and give us death or prison...
Eternal ‘no’ to the Zionist entity and eternal ‘no’ to its recognition...”
The poem is purposing that the State of Israel disappear all together. Another indication of the kind of information provided by Chuck Carlson & Tom Compton is an article suggesting that an Israel bus that was hit by Hamas on the Egyptian border was filled with soldiers and not civilians Why Arabs from Egypt Attacked IDF Soldiers Riding on an Israeli Public Bus.
And then there is their bookstore which has books such as Rothschild Money Trust, with its description:
May Amshel Rothschild, the founder of the Rothschild fortune, at the time of his death in 1812, created a trust of his estate, by will, for the elevation of the Jewish race and establishment of a Jewish world Empire. The estate has been preserved and managed since his death as a unit in pursuance of the provisions of his will. This 1940 classic examines the origin of the Rothschild Empire, gold, the Federal Reserve, and how the money trust arranged for World War.There are also DVDs by Holocaust denier Gorden Ginn.
And this is the most blatant problem with Carlson, his connections to those who deny the Holocaust. He has spoken at conferences arranged and set up by anti-Semites and Historical Revisionist (those who deny the Holocaust). He has also published articles in their journals. In Sacramento in 2004 he participated in a conference sponsored by The Institute of Historical Review the main organization of those who deny the Holocaust. At the time the IHR gathered with those considered neo-Nazis.
There should never be an excuse for Evangelicals participating beside those who are involved in such evil. While it may be that the people setting up the Conferences and engaging the speakers are unaware of some of the speaker’s proclivities toward evil rhetoric that does not erase the fact that it is happening. This mixing of evil with those who wish to do good will simply taint any good. I would suggest that those Evangelical speakers coming from the United States explain the difference between those who are seeking peace and justice in the Middle East for both sides and those who are simply spouting anti-Semitism.
I have sent several e-mails to members of the committee promoting the 2012 Christ at the Checkpoint Conference asking if this film is truly being shown. I have not received any reply. If I do I will update my posting.
[1]See footnote in original article.
[2]Veterans Today publishes articles accusing Israel of being responsible for 9-11, they use articles which insist that Rabbis in this country should be hung. They in fact insist that the government of the United States should be destroyed.
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