Free Republic

As Israelis and Palestinians take faltering steps toward ending Mideast violence, Christian groups in the United States have different stances on the U.S.-backed peace plan. The majority of churches - Roman Catholic, Orthodox, mainline Protestant and some evangelical groups - generally welcome the three-step plan called the "road map," which envisions the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005. A vocal segment of evangelical Protestants, however, is lobbying the Bush administration to abandon the peace plan. They say it rewards terrorism and violates God's promise in Genesis to give the Jewish people the historic land of Israel. "Christian Zionists" also...

Christian groups in the United States have adopted sharply different stances on President Goerge W. Bush's peace plan, which envisions the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005. While the majority of churches—Roman Catholic, Orthodox, mainline Protestant and some evangelical groups—generally welcome the "road map," a vocal segment of evangelical Protestants are lobbying the Bush administration to abandon it because of their belief that it rewards terrorism and violates God's promise in the Biblical book of Genesis to give the Jewish people the historic land of Israel. So-called Christian Zionists also see the modern state of Israel as a fulfillment...