When I last checked, the U.S. was still a majority-Christian country. So what's the world coming to when the Republican Congress seems more excited to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu than Pope Francis? The answer holds a lesson about the role of religion in shaping symbolic politics -- and helps make sense of some of the opposition to the Iran nuclear deal. In the U.S., faith often jump-starts a political movement or position -- but pretty soon, politics takes over the driver's seat and brings the religion along.
As natural as their support for Israel may seem today, American Catholics and Protestants alike were initially skeptical. In 1948, when Israel was founded, Pope Pius XII, like his two immediate predecessors, opposed the establishment of the Jewish state for essentially theological reasons. Even today, the official position of the Catholic Church doesn't fully embrace Israel. On his trip last year to the Holy Land, Francis visited Bethlehem, in the Palestinian West Bank, and made a point of praying at the wall/barrier (pick your name).
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