Genesis

Why would a Gentile, former Evangelical Christian, and now an atheist, define himself as a Zionist?

There are reasons others may speculate about: my family history hints at Jewish connections with a mother whose maiden name was Mann and on my father's mother's side, Neuman. However, questions over the years were met with evasion and denial. The only progress I made was to discover some of my relatives on my mother's side were indeed married to Jews, but to this day I have never met them. My father's family were true Eastenders and despite all the wanderings my father took us on, London was in his soul. One might speculate that this points to a Jewish connection, but I have no hard evidence, not even a vague lead to follow. On my mother's side there were suggestions of German origins, another indicator, but again, one which has led nowhere. I do know that my enquiries were not welcome and were met with a degree of horror at the thought of it. It was only in my mother's final months that I learnt there were indeed Jewish relations on her side. All of this would not be enough to compel me into the arms of Political Zionism. I am old enough to realise my years of storing up memories and experiences are numbered, and if there is anything which defines one as Jewish it is being able to draw on a well of Jewish memories and experiences. I am truly Gentile by experience and I realise that cannot be changed. So although I find the possibility that I may have Jewish genes somewhere in my DNA, fascinating and probably true, I am still as Gentile as a Gentile can be.

Another cause for my 'ailment' others may ponder about, may be discovered in my religious upbringing. My father came late to his religious convictions. Born into an Anglican family, his was a journey many English folks took in the dying years of Empire, God and Country. The Church was there to mark the watersheds of life, it defined and placed them within the structures of society, dad was happy enough to follow the same path so many of his countrymen took. For dad, there was no Anguish of the Soul, no Damascus Road Experience and definitely no religious zeal to interrupt his love of secular music, dancehall and cycling, that was until he met my mother. Her experience could not have been further removed from his. It was life as a member of the Plymouth Brethren which was to shape her religious experience, and subsequently, mine. Falling in love takes one in unexpected directions and dad, in order to stand a chance with Lena Mann, had to 'reawaken' his devotion to God before he could claim his bride. For those who know a bit about the Plymouth Brethren they will realise it was this Movement which was to redefine Christian/Jewish relations in regard to a Jewish national home, forever. John Nelson Darby founded a movement which recognised the largely apostate nature of much of Christendom throughout the centuries it has travelled. He felt the time was upon true believers to leave a Church fit only for the Judgment of God and to go back to its roots found in the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their fulfilment in Jesus the Jewish Messiah. It was J N Darby's insights which were to lead to Christian Zionism's greatest achievement (or its greatest indictment, depending on your point of view). Somehow, against all the odds, it briefly opened a door for Political Zionism to take its first steps in forming a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The Balfour Declaration owes much to the influence of Darby's ideas. Well, this all seems to be good grounds for explaining why I am a Zionist, don't you think? You would, however, be wrong. In all my years as a Christian I never once defined myself as a 'Christian' Zionist. Indeed, I would have said it was a contradiction in terms, both then and now. My faith was slowly crushed under the weight of Darwinism and Scientific Determinism and with it went any eschatological fantasies I may have harboured about the future state of the Jews in God's economy.

So, what gives?

Much of this blog is a search for an answer to that question.