WHTT Podcasts

Why have so many Christian leaders been supportive of Israel while ignoring the plight of Palestinian Christians who have been killed in Gaza alongside their Muslim neighbors? Since October 7, 2023, Israel's response to the attack by Hamas, breaking out of the world's largest open-air prison (as described by Bob Simon of CBS's 60 Minutes in 2012), has been brutal on the population of Gaza. Over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed, and over 70% of Gaza has been destroyed, including schools, hospitals, churches, mosques, housing, and infrastructure. Yet, there have been very few Christian voices speaking out for peace and justice. Are they being held back by the false theology of Christian Zionism that has a grip on our nation's leaders? There are exceptions. Pastor Scott Korljan of the Sojourn Church in Scottsdale, AZ, delivered a powerful message on 2/1/2026 filled with sound, logical biblical references that put Jesus first, not Israel. It's a 35-minute message that needs to be repeated in pulpits across the United States to challenge thinking, and caring followers of Christ.

Rev. Dr. Munther Issac, a Palestinian Christian pastor, gives an impassioned 3-minute introduction to an Online Film Salon: "A Deafening Silence? US Church Leadership in the Face of Genocide" [click on the link to watch the 110-minute discussion described as: "Christian Faith leaders were pivotal in the civil rights movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, and the boycotts that ended apartheid in South Africa. And yet – after more than 77 years of harsh military occupation, Palestinian home demolitions and forced removal in the West Bank, and 18 years of a blockade culminating in Israel’s carpet bombing, starvation and genocide in Gaza – many U.S. faith leaders seem largely silent. Why? What is the explanation? Does their faith not ask them to speak out? Where do U.S. Christian denominations stand? How can concerned congregants empower their leaders to speak up? Let's talk.

Israel knows that it is losing support from young people, including young Christians who have been watching the genocide in Gaza by Israel, live on social media. The Zionist state of Israel's latest attempt to bolster support among evangelical Christians was to bring over 1000 of their leaders to Israel for the Ambassador Summit 2025. Featured speakers at the event included the US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who serves Israel's interests above those of the US. This 7-minute review of the Ambassador Summit in Israel is explored by Vanessa, a young and astute Christian woman, on her YouTube Channel, Wholehearted Ness Podcast. We Hold These Truths has been challenging the false theology of Christian Zionism for over 25 years. We are encouraged to see young Christian truth tellers arising to expose this pernicious heresy.

Millions of American Evangelical Christians have believed that it's their patriotic duty to support the serial wars the US has been waging in the Middle East since 1991. They lean on the notion of "Just War" theory and blindly believe that Jesus would approve of this doctrine. We at We Hold These Truths are not pacifists, but object to those Christian leaders who explain away America's wars with the excuse that they are "just" wars and back up their claims by misusing the Bible. The "Just War" theory dates back to early Christian theologians such as St. Augustine (354–430) and St. Thomas Aquinas (1224/25–1274), whose Summa Theologiae (1265/66–1273) outlined the justifications for war and discussed the acts it is permissible to commit in wartime. In this compelling podcast, Chuck Carlson, Tom Compton and Craig Hanson of We Hold These Truths delve into various aspects of "just war" theory based on a perverted form of Christianity promoted by many prominent evangelical Christian leaders like Henry Blackaby, Chuck Colson (deceased), Bill Bright (deceased) of Campus Crusade, D. James Kennedy (decesead), Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Conference, Ted Haggard, John McArthur (deceased), Dr. Wayne Grudem (author of "Politics According to the Bible"). Franklin Graham and John Hagee, among others. Their interpretations allow them to bless these "just wars". WHTT's founder, Chuck Carlson, warned his fellow Baptists in 1990 about not going to war against Iraq ("Iraq: Americans Prepped For War"')." Also, before the 2003 Gulf War on Iraq, WHTT opposed going to war again (see here). An excellent article in antiwar.com from 2004 that is still true today exposes evangelical Christians who support unjust wars: Pro-War Christians Should Come Clean.

Reporting from the Arab-American Festival in Phoenix, Arizona, Tom Compton with We Hold These Truths has some homework that you can do to educate those Christians who have turned a blind eye to their brothers and sisters in Christ in Palestine. The graphics for the card to educate yourself and others mentioned in the video are available here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/54MGs71P25Dd6q5d8. You can order two-sided business cards from an office supply company like Staples. Use the JPG pictures of the front and back: https://www.staples.com/services/printing/business-cards/traditional-business-cards/

One of the Christian Zionist cheerleaders for Israel has been John Hagee of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, TX. Hagee's war prayer before the second war on Iraq in 2003 showed his war-willingness to turn his back on the teachings of Jesus (see: "John Hagee with Benny Hinn: Praying for War in the Name of Jesus"). This prayer was made by Hagee on October 8, 2023. Members of We Hold These Truths have conducted a vigil in front of John Hagee's Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, TX.

Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham has demonstrated that he is a Christian Zionist. On November 11, 2023, when he prostrated before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This 1 minute. 28-second video verifies this. Our post, "Franklin Graham Goes to Bat for Israel and Is Challenged" gives another look at Mr. Graham's fervent Christian Zionist theology.

During Operation Cast Lead by the Israeli Occupation Forces ending in January 2009, over 300 innocent, Palestinian children, such as this child from Gaza, were brutally murdered. Update: 2024: We Hold These Truths has challenged Christian Zionism for over 20 years. Christian Zionism’s influence on American politics is still powerful. The recent address by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin to the US Congress on July 24, 2024, corroborates this—for example, Speaker of the House. Mike Johnson (R – La) is a Christian Zionist who can’t do enough to fund Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Lorrie Rutledge rejected Christian Zionist Theology This interview with Lorrie Rutledge is over 10 years old but is even more relevant today with over 16,000 Palestinian children killed since October 7, 2023, by Israel. Lorrie woke up to the errors of her theology when she was convicted of the Israeli murder of 300 Palestinian children in Gaza during their Operation Cast Lead in 2008-9. Lorrie Rutledge, from Michigan, was a Christian Zionist who didn’t know she was one because her pastors had told her that the modern state of Israel was the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy and deserved support by Christians, and, she never questioned them. One day, a friend of Lorrie asked her to watch a video that showed pictures of murdered Palestinian children. Lorrie went to work to find out if what she saw was true. This podcast is about Lorrie’s journey out of Christian Zionism. Don’t miss it. It’s very inspiring. And, if you’re not sure about the Israeli treatment of Palestinian children, you need to watch the recent Australian Broadcasting Company documentary about the brutal and ongoing attacks against Palestinian Children. Click Here

A powerful retelling of Jesus' parable of The Good Samaritan is made by Rev. Dr. Munther Issac from the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, at The Way Christian Center in Berkeley, CA on August 11, 2024. Several things are remarkable about Rev. Issac's message. He tells the parable as a follower of Christ and as a Palestinian to a predominantly Black, evangelical, inner-city church. Evangelical churches in America, for the most part, have turned their backs on the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Meanwhile, the US Congress hosted a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and gave him 58 standing ovations as the US continues to supply the munitions to sustain the genocide in Gaza. Please watch Rev. Issac's address: "Silence Is Complicity: A Palestinian Call to Action" while on tour with Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA). Pastor Michael McBride of the Way Christian Center welcomes Rev. Dr. Munther Issac to the pulpit

Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA), A Christian Voice for Palestine, presents Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac: "Empty calls for peace without a ceasefire and end to the occupation, and the shallow words of empathy without direct action, are all under the banner of complicity." Rev. Munther Isaac is on an eight-city speaking tour sponsored by FOSNA. This talk is his address at the Claremont Presbyterian Church in Claremont, CA on August 8, 2024. Rev. Munther addresses the silence of many U.S. churches in the face of genocide and Christian Zionism's support of apartheid in the West Bank and Gaza. Rev. Munther Isaac is a Palestinian pastor and theologian. He now serves the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem and the Lutheran Church in Beit Sahour. He is also the academic dean of Bethlehem Bible College and director of the highly acclaimed and influential "Christ at the Checkpoint" conferences. During the genocide in Gaza, Munther gained global attention for his sermon, "Christ under the Rubble," which was heard by tens of millions of people and subsequently quoted in South Africa's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. He has appeared on CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, MSNBC, CBS, TRT, and Democracy Now! Munther is passionate about issues related to Palestinian theology. He speaks locally and internationally and has published numerous articles on the theology of the land, Palestinian Christians, holistic mission, and reconciliation. He is the author of "The Other Side of the Wall," "From Land to Lands, from Eden to the Renewed Earth," "An Introduction to Palestinian Theology" (in Arabic), a commentary on the book of Daniel (in Arabic), and more recently a book on women's ordination, also in Arabic. He is a Kairos Palestine board member involved in many reconciliation and interfaith forums. Munther originally studied civil engineering at Birzeit University in Palestine. He then obtained a Master in Biblical Studies from Westminster Theological Seminary and a PhD from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies.

When two young American Jews raised to unconditionally love Israel witness the brutal way Israel treats Palestinians, their lives take sharp left turns. They join a movement of young American Jews battling the old guard to redefine Judaism’s relationship with Israel, revealing a deepening generational divide over modern Jewish identity. "ISRAELISM" is directed by two first-time Jewish filmmakers who share a similar story to the film’s protagonists. The documentary uniquely explores how Jewish attitudes towards Israel are changing dramatically, with massive consequences for the region and for Judaism itself.

Most people say, “If I had been alive in the 1940s and known about the Nazi death camps, I surely would have done something to stop that slaughter.” Sing A Little Louder is a short film portraying how one small church in World War II Germany dealt with the cries of Jewish prisoners, trapped in cattle cars and headed for the death camps. They just – “Sang a little louder.” Proverbs 24:11-12 states: "Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, 'Behold, we did not know this,' does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will He not repay man according to his work?" Today, we have the slaughter and genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, some of whom are our Brothers and Sisters in Christ! This time, social media and instant communication capture the horrors, even if FOX, CNN, MSNBC, and PBS choose not to. We also see an unholy alliance between the Zionist State of Israel, the US Government, and the Evangelical churches. Ask a Christian this question:

Rich Siegel was raised Jewish and was an ardent Zionist growing up who became the president of a student Zionist organization. He moved to Israel in his twenties and worked there for a while. A job offer brought him back to the US and led him to ultimately reject Zionism and become an activist for peace and justice for Palestinians. In 2008, Rich led a We Hold These Truths' Project Strait Gate vigil in Paramus, NJ assisted by Chuck Carlson, founder of WHTT. You will find Rich's journey out of Zionism remarkable and inspiring. You can read his article. "On Gaza & Being Jewish" (Here). Also, more about Rich is on our website. (Here)

Israel's genocidal war on the Palestinians in Gaza has renewed support among Christian Zionist churches. They are holding special events to support Israel. Evangelical churches that are not overtly Christian Zionist from the pulpit are unwilling to hold prayer sessions for peace and a ceasefire in Gaza. They might be accused of supporting Hamas and upset those Christian Zionists/Super Patriots in their congregation who might be offended and cut their tithes or leave. Chris, Craig, and Tom from We Hold These Truths discuss and show examples of this phenomenon like Franklin Graham's meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu in Israel to pledge his undying support. Never mind the killing of innocent women and children in Gaza.

Regis Tremblay of Dateline News & Conversations interviewed Tom Compton of We Hold These Truths on Christian Zionism. With over 23,000 Palestinians murdered in Gaza at this point, the situation is becoming a human catastrophe there while American churches are silent, for the most part, in calling for peace and a cease-fire in Gaza. Learn why this is so in this interview. Tom met Regis in 2013 when he hosted a film showing of Regis' remarkable documentary, The Ghosts of Jeju in Phoenix, AZ. Regis describes his film: "This is my award-winning, blockbuster film about the people of Jeju Island, S. Korea who had been protesting the construction of a large naval base in the village of Gangjeong to accommodate Obama's "pivot to Asia." Now completed, it has destroyed this pristine, UNESCO-protected environment as well as the livelihoods of the farmers and fishermen who have lived there for 500 years. What I discovered was shocking! The US Government of Korea which occupied S. Korea at the end of WWII, feared a peasant uprising against this occupation and rose up against it in massive protests. Fearing a "communist" uprising, the US military organized, trained, armed, and commanded a militia of Koreans and ordered a crackdown on these unarmed peasants. From 1946-47, as many as 50,000 peasants were massacred in what was essentially a free-fire zone on the entire island.

Palestinian Pastor Munther Ishaq of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem was interviewed by Katie Hallper and Aaron Matte of the Useful Idiots on January 4, 2024, and revealed how Palestinian Christians are being ignored for the most part by Christians in the US. Pastor Munther's video "Look for Jesus Under the Rubble in Gaza" went viral and exposed people to the reality of what is going on with the genocide in Gaza. In this interview, Pastor Munther reveals that the conflict is not about religion as the Israeli government and the mainstream media tell us. The irony of this interview is that the interviewers are Jewish with a genuine heart for peace and justice for the Palestinians. Any Christian who watches this and is not affected by this must have a heart of stone. What will you do with this information? Tell other people or hide it under a bushel? Pastor Munther Ishaq beside his Christ in the rubble Nativity scene.

This video was made 14 years ago when We Hold These Truths held a vigil at the Christians United For Israel (CUFI) "Night to Honor Israel" event in Phoenix, AZ. Back then attendees interviewed told us they supported the wars in the Middle East to protect Israel. Nothing has changed since then, Zionised Christians still believe that wars are necessary to protect Israel. After the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel when they broke out of the world's largest open-air prison the rhetoric has now changed to "We must eradicate the evil Hamas". Of course, there is no concern by Israeli supporters about the now over 19,000 Palestinians that have been killed by Israel's vindictive siege on Gaza. About 70% of the victims are innocent women and children. To prove their continued support for Israel, Cornerstone Church led by John Hagee held on October 22, 2023, a "Night to Honor Israel" event described in the article "A San Antonio Megachurch Plays an Outsized Role in Supporting Israel's War Efforts" in the Texas Monthly.

This is quite a remarkable story, With the support of the Fresno mayor, Israeli activists were allowed to raise the Israeli flag in Eaton Park. Palestinian activists took up the challenge with help from a Fresno City Councilman were allowed to raise the Palestinian flag as reported from GVWIRE: Fresno City Council Members Clash Over Palestinian Flag Raising at City Park

Around the world, Christians will celebrate the birth of Jesus in 2023 pretty much as they have in the past. But in Bethlehem, there will be no community Christmas celebrations. Munther Ishaq, pastor of a Lutheran church in Bethlehem, Palestine explains: "Christmas is the solidarity of God with those who are oppressed, with those who are suffering. and if Jesus is to be born again this time, this year, He will be born in Gaza under the rubble in solidarity with the people of Gaza."

Israeli journalist, Yuval Abraham. who writes for +972 and was interviewed by Owen Jones, explains that Israel's IDF now defines "Collateral Damage" as allowing 200 civilian deaths to attack one Hama target. Previously it was allegedly 5 civilians per Hamas target. Yuval's article, "'A mass assassination factory’: Inside Israel’s calculated bombing of Gaza" explains the permissive airstrikes on non-military targets and the use of an artificial intelligence system that has enabled the Israeli army to carry out its deadliest war on Gaza. Civilian deaths in Gaza far outweigh Hamas fighters deaths.