Charlie Kirk and the Idea of Leaving the Pro-Israel Cause

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Factions in MAGA over Israel

Right wing media blew up yesterday with the release of the screenshot of a text, where Charlie Kirk in a group text chat typed these words:

Jewish donors play into all of the stereotypes. I cannot and will not be bullied like this, leaving me no choice but to leave the pro-Israel cause.

Candace Owens made this public first on her show.  Then TPUSA, Kirk’s organization, verified this text on the Charlie Kirk Show.  In my opinion, the biggest division on the right in the United States concerns Israel.

Just because Kirk in one private group text chat made that statement does it mean that he was leaving the pro-Israel cause.  People make statements in private that are not public commitments.  TPUSA is a bigger tent conservatism than Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson.  The largest part of that coalition is pro-Israel.  Charlie Kirk was pro-Israel, but he wanted to allow for the other, minority position on Israel.

Theological Presuppositions

I’m sure Charlie Kirk got pressure from Jewish donors over Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson and that America first position.  Let’s be clear though.  Candace chose Roman Catholicism and all that goes with it.  Tucker Carlson calls himself Episcopalian.  Again, this is a religious or theological position found in the Republican Party:  Roman Catholicism, Amillennialism, Postmillennialism, and Reformed Reconstructionism.  This also dovetails with Christian nationalism.

Mike McCoy, Charlie Kirk’s chief of staff and Rob McCoy’s son, is premillennial, like all the Calvary Chapel adherents.  Prepublication, Charlie Kirk’s book on keeping the Sabbath is the number one seller at Amazon for religious commentary.  That doesn’t fit with Owens’s Roman Catholicism.  Kirk blamed Roman Catholicism on changing Sabbath to Sunday.  How many times have you said you would leave or abandon something privately, essentially your inside voice becoming your outside voice, but you really didn’t mean it?  I’m guessing a whole lot, that you’ve done that.

Conservative Roman Catholics in general are the least supporters of Israel in the MAGA coalition.  For those who even understand Catholic theology, the majority that do believe supersessionism or replacement theology.  Historical Roman Catholicism believes that the Roman Catholic Church replaced Israel with its priesthood, its temples (cathedrals), its circumcision (infant sprinkling), its sacrificial system (the Mass), and its Sabbath.  Catholic priests whip around smoking incense akin to the Old Testament altar of incense.  There is an irony to how much Roman Catholic doctrine and practice corresponds to Old Testament Israel.

Frustration Over Disparate Viewpoints

Jewish strong advocates of Israel, the conservative Jews, or Zionists would hate what Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson said.  It was nearing a point of cracking the coalition.  On the other hand, many MAGA proponents enjoy the realist foreign policy of John Mearsheimer.  This also attracts even many Jews, such as Jeffrey Sachs and Dave Smith.  Charlie Kirk had to raise funds and meet TPUSA payroll.  I’m sure he became frustrated with the tension in the MAGA coalition.  Many young people embraced Owens and Smith, making this more difficult.

The frustration of these various factions exists in an organization so dependent on fund raising.  That’s not what God intends for gospel preaching.  He has a church, which unifies on biblical doctrine, not disparate cabals of quasi-conformity.  Charlie Kirk straddled wide chasms between viewpoints.  The gravity of the varied poles pressured him toward each of their selves.  Shift to one side and receive the threats of the other.  This is enough in hindsight to publish a private text to authenticate a likely false narrative.

Sensible Place of Unity

I take a strong and unapologetic position for Israel.  A one state solution for Israel and Palestine won’t work.  Maybe two states could, but it can’t without draconian security measures because of the overwhelming beliefs of the Palestinian people.  I also contend that good evidence exists that the United States would react in far more severe fashion than what Israel did to October 7, 2023.  A sensible place of unity among the MAGA factions would allow Israel to address its security with its own military in the way it chooses.  Leave Israel alone to defend itself against enemies.

The language of Owens and Carlson go too far.  It disrupts the unity necessary for reaching all the other agreed goals in the movement.  Everyone has freedom of speech, but they need to consider the cost of their particular speech.