Trading in Souls

Abstract

In the years since 9/11, a group of prominent Evangelical Christian ministers has sought to capture the Islamic faithful and convert them to Christianity. Incendiary comments about Islam from religious leaders like Franklyn Graham, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Jerry Vines have drawn rebukes from Muslims and Christian groups alike, but many in the grass roots of Evangelical Christianity have absorbed their leaders’ antipathy for Islam. In Evangelical churches and seminaries across country, lectures, and books criticizing Islam and promoting strategies for Muslim conversions are gaining currency. Many of these groups view the US military and its wars in the Muslim world as the perfect vehicles for missionary work in the difficult ‘10/40 Window’, Evangelical speak for the portion of the Middle East that is oil-rich and waiting for conversion to Christianity. The same Evangelical political groups have dedicated themselves to financial support of ultra-orthodox Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories while advocating US government support of imperialist Israel. Chosen–ness is being crafted as a political term, smacking of imperialism, while the chosen people are the ones on our side.