Why Freshmen Senators Should Rethink their Run for the Presidency

Ted Cruz was the keynote speaker for the IN DEFENSE OF CHRISTIANS conference, September 2015. No doubt he figured this would be a friendly audience. He should, however, have done some more homework before speaking.

The audience consisted of a wide range of Christians, mostly from the Middle East, and not your average Southern Baptist gathering in Texas. Attendees had worked hard over the previous 48 hours of the conference to unite to promote the well-being of persecuted Christians. It seems that Cruz was unaware that a large number of Christians do not have a friendly disposition toward Jews. I am no presidential candidate, but even I know this.

With all due insensitivity for his audience, Cruz repeatedly made comments that Israel is the greatest friend to Christians, that if you hate Jews then you oppose Jesus, and that if anyone opposes Israel then Ted will oppose them. He was booed off the stage.

Frankly, Cruz was sophomorish in this appearance. In light of audience protestations, a speaker should make concessions whenever possible, express a measure of understanding for the protesters’ concerns, and then proceed rationally. Cruz became flustered and abruptly ended his speech with an insult and a feigned “God bless you.”

I’m not sure that Cruz’s personal theology would have allowed a truly evangelical response to this crowd. Clearly, many in the crowd thought that Israel has been more at fault than not. An evangelical response would be to condemn Israel when Israel is at fault, and support Israel when in the right. Even the biblical prophets condemned Israel’s kings, prophets, judges, priests, teachers, and nobles when they were in the wrong (see, for example, Micah 2-3). Some deviant positions within the American church would suggest that the US should never condemn Israel, that the US should support Israel right or wrong.

In my perspective, Israel is the United States’ most reliable ally. It is the most democratic state in the region and upholds American values better than any other country in the region. It is also the region’s most stable country. All things considered, America would be wise to strengthen its ties with Israel and to provide all due protection for Israel’s security. This is a pragmatic perspective, and not an ideological perspective. If Israel was the problem, security agreements with Israel should be reviewed, by all means.

Some Christians allow a certain apocalyptic interpretation of the Bible to influence foreign policy.

Many questions remain about Cruz’s theology, especially in terms of End Times doctrine. Reliable analysis of Cruz’s theology seems unavailable. What we are left to say is that for whatever reason, Cruz left the IN DEFENSE OF CHRISTIANS conference in turmoil. Instead of advancing the conference’s goals of helping persecuted Christians, he did much to undo the reconciliation achieved in the previous two days of the conference.

The take away for this incident is that foreign diplomacy is tricky, and that Cruz is not quite ready for a prime time role as a peace maker.