• OPINION \ Nov 24, 2004
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    Evangelist warns against Mideast ethnic cleaning
Evangelist warns against Mideast ethnic cleaning "The evangelical community has gotten so pro-Israel that they've forgotten how to love Palestinians," Campolo told the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church, which is holding its annual meeting at Birmingham Southern College through Wednesday. Campolo will speak to the conference again today at 11 a.m.

In an interview after his speech, which drew loud cheers, Campolo explained his concerns about Christian views on the Middle East.

"Some evangelicals have gotten caught up in the theology that before Christ can return, the Holy Land must belong to the Jews," said Campolo, professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University in Pennsylvania. "They're really advocating ethnic cleansing. There's no justification for that in Scripture."

Campolo said that Christian leaders such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, as well as Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, authors of the bestselling "Left Behind" end-times prophecy novels, have spread the "evangelical Zionist" theme. "They're a very powerful group," Campolo said.

"They need to realize what a barrier their attitudes have become," Campolo said. "It's the extremist view that favors taking more and more land away from the Palestinians."

Christian theology requires sensitivity to the plight of Palestinians as well as Jews, he said.

"The church has to speak up and say we want justice for both groups," Campolo said.

"There's got to be a two-state solution," he said. "The land cannot belong exclusively to one group or the other."

Campolo, an ordained minister in the American Baptist denomination, said the one-sided view of the Middle East is prevalent among Southern Baptists.

"Southern Baptists are the most powerful Baptist group in America and they're growing stronger all the time," Campolo said, noting he disagrees with many planks of the Southern Baptist faith statement. "Their pushing women out of pulpits is a serious mistake," he said.

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