Roberts, who previously adhered to dispensationalist theology - and support for the state of Israel - now rejects both dispensationalism and U.S. support for Israel.

"Take your people over there until they become embarrassed they were on the wrong side," Roberts advised to church activists confronting support for Israel in churches.

CMEP is an ecumenical advocacy organization composed primarily of Mainline Protestant and Orthodox churches, including some Catholic orders. The Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the United Methodist General Boards of Church and Society (GBCS) and Global Ministries (GBGM) are all members of the coalition. The decision to spotlight Roberts, who appeared at the Bethlehem Bible College Christ at the Checkpoint conference last year, signifies the mostly oldline coalition's interest in broadening their support to allies in other traditions.

Amiable and folksy, Roberts shared about his congregation's experience building schools, orphanages, agricultural projects and other humanitarian ventures in Afghanistan.

"The result is that I became very close friends with those imams," Roberts explained, adding that those friendships gradually affected how he saw the world. "Had I not discovered the world and understood the world outside of an American and Texas context, I never would have understood how the Gospel goes into a place - what it looks like for Jesus to be a positive word and a blessing to people verses something that is negative , destructive and counter particular cultures."

Roberts did not address reasons apart from eschatology for which American evangelicals might support Israel. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life estimates that no more than 10 percent of U.S. evangelicals are devoted to dispensational premillennialism, a significantly lower percentage than the strong majorities who still express support for Israel.

"A lot of times we come to conclusions that really go beyond Biblical interpretation and go to cultural understanding of how we respond to specific things. The number one thing I am always asked is 'why do you evangelicals love the Jews so much, but you despise us Arabs and Muslims so much?'"

Declaring that "dispensationalist theology builds a wedge between you and the Arab world," Roberts revealed that he did not shift his theology on the second coming of Christ because of scripture, but rather because of relationships.

"I began to realize that all the things I built into scripture - that my tradition added and my background added - what that did is it forced me to look hard at 'what does the Bible really say?'. I also began to discover something else that I never really understood: the impact theology has on foreign policy. How people relate to one another and get along. It's just massive.

Roberts encouraged the gathered church activists, set to lobby members of Congress the following day, to "bypass Congressional staffers who see the U.S. role in the Middle East as one-sided defense of Israel."

Describing his own experience taking 15 pastors to the West Bank, Roberts advised the mostly oldline Protestant audience not to approach the West Bank as a political issue.

"You aren't going to change these people, I am," Roberts said of interactions with Evangelicals who support Israel. "And I won't be able to change the old guys, it's the younger guys."

*****

Middle East Peace Coalition Sees Worsening Conditions for Christians
(2nd of two articles)

By Jeffrey Walton
http://juicyecumenism.com/
May 29, 2013

Activists representing over 20 denominations including the Episcopal, United Methodist, and Presbyterian (U.S.A.) churches gathered May 20-21 at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. (photo: Churches for Middle East Peace).

Dissatisfied with the U.S. Administration's response to the Syrian conflict and the worsening plight of Christians in the Middle East, speakers at an annual conference of U.S. churches looked beyond their traditional focus of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This year's Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) advocacy conference neither displayed the sunny optimism of two years ago, when the "Arab Spring" revolutions were touted as movements away from violence and radicalism in the pursuit of Middle East peace, or the outright dour appraisal of the peace process last year. Instead, conference attendees heard an acknowledgement of the seemingly intractable difficulties of the region while holding out some hope for the possibility of resumed peace efforts.

Diffuse Power, Uncertain Populaces

No longer optimistic at the consequences of the "Arab Spring," panelists observed the revolutions had left "weak civil society in all states in the region" and "messy power situations" in their wake.

Leila Hilal, Director of the Middle East Task Force at the New America Foundation, described an "amplified demand for social justice" among the Middle Eastern populace. The former legal adviser to Palestinian negotiators classified changes in the region as "epic" with old powers such as former Egyptian President Mubarak dislodged, and power now "diffuse" in the region.

Hilal noted that the Muslim Brotherhood that now holds the levers of power in Egypt was accustomed to being in opposition, not in a governing role. Christian Copts, Hilal warned, were now undermined by the Muslim Brotherhood and an Islamist political scene.

"Other minorities in the Middle East look on nervously," Hilal reported.

"Every country in the greater Middle East is in turmoil," appraised former U.S. ambassador to Israel Sam Lewis. Noting that borders largely drawn in the aftermath of World War I do not take into account tribal connections that frequently transcend those borders, Lewis observed that "much of what is boiling comes out of the past."

Speakers at the morning panel discussion also acknowledged that Syria and Iran are an increasing focus, with Phil Wilcox of the Foundation for Middle East Peace observing the Israel and Palestine are "not on top of the regional agenda."

CMEP Executive Director Warren Clark also noted that the regional troubles meant Christians were suffering worse in Iraq, Egypt and Syria.

Lewis shared his disappointment with the U.S. approach to the Syrian conflict. Suggesting what was needed is an "LBJ-style" leader who would not admit defeat and "push Syrian intervention on people."

"Many Middle Easterners don't want to fight any more, they want peace. But when there is no prospect for peace, hardline sides fight," Lewis determined. "If there is no prospect for peace, there is no incentive to hold back."

A Renewed Effort?

Panelists had mixed views about a recent initiative by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to ascertain if peace talks could resume between Israelis and Palestinians.

"I'm quite pleased he [Kerry] is making another effort, but pessimistic that it can lead anywhere," Lewis exclaimed. "But it is important to try."

The former ambassador to Israel determined that President Obama "got off on the wrong foot" in regards to Middle East peace, but was now "on the right foot." In contrast, Lewis charged that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "not an advocate for the peace process, although he knows he must give lip service."

"I don't think Kerry has high expectations, but he's on God's work," Lewis assessed, adding that in time something may take place to give a ray of light. "Peace has to be a desire, we can't impose it."

Panel Potpourri

During a question-and-answer period, panelists were asked if it was Americans' duty to seek "quid pro quo" for U.S. assistance to Israel.

Lewis reported that 70 percent of the American public and 90 percent of the U.S. Congress believe Israel to be a strong, strategic U.S. ally.

"It's gotten to the point where it is unchallengeable," Lewis determined of the prevailing wisdom, especially in light of the Iranian threat to the region. Arguing that U.S. assistance was "not a very useful lever," Lewis quoted former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin "If you cut off the butter, we'll eat margarine."

"You can persuade, but don't try to twist our arm," Lewis interpreted of Begin's words.

Hilal argued that the American public was beginning to question "the unbreakable bond" between the two nations as constraining.

Asked about a "one state" and "two state" solution, Lewis flatly stated that a one state solution was "not conceivable" and that the only alternative to a two state solution was Israel raising walls and "becoming like Sparta."

"We have a de-facto one state solution where Israel controls all the key levers of power," Wilcox chimed in.

Hilal raised the point that neither Hamas nor Fatah want to be unified, and that the Palestinian Authority doesn't have the independence to form a unity government between the two with a blockade of Hamas.

Hilal also broached the topic of refugees, saying that the Palestinian Authority hasn't demonstrated an intention to include them, or the territorial capacity to absorb them.

"No other refugee movement has maintained the claim that third-generation refugees have right to return," Lewis observed of the Palestinian refugees unique claim.

END