How Long Will 'Christianity Today' Defend Palestinian Deaths?

Evangelicalism's flagship magazine's excuses for civilian casualties in Gaza have worn thin.

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“Sometimes certain moments in history reveal in minutes what was concealed for decades. And sometimes those moments of revelation come with hearing oneself say the words, ‘Yes, but …’ or ‘But what about …’ The aftermath of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel is not one of those times.” 

Russell Moore wrote that on October 12, days after the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel that left over 1100 Israelis dead. He wasn’t wrong.

But while the rest of his piece goes on to viciously condemn Hamas for its attack (and he is right to do so), he also went on to disparage calls for a ceasefire: “I don’t think many of us would have responded to September 11 by suggesting we side with al-Qaeda, or that ‘both sides’ ought to call a ceasefire.” I found that morally offensive then and gobsmacking today. 

Now, Christianity Today has doubled down in a new cover story from Mike Cosper, who traveled to Israel to tour the wake of the October 7 attack. He wrote about this experience in an article titled “The Evil Ideas Behind October 7.” Much of this piece is gallantly devoted to condemning Hamas and antisemitism both in the U.S. and around the world, something all people of moral conscience should do. However, Cosper also implies that the entirety of what he characterizes as a leftwing ceasefire movement is part and parcel to Hamas itself. “Hamas uses an Islamist and nationalist ideology to demonize Jews, and the academic Left uses anticolonial ideology to do the same,” he writes. “And both embrace redemptive violence against Jewish bodies as a means to restore justice to the world.” [Emphasis mine]

I don’t really think I need to waste anyone’s time disproving such a simplistic and obviously untrue statement, but it’s certainly revealing about Cosper’s mindset. Why would he or anyone else listen to the actual arguments of the “academic Left” if they’re the moral equivalent of terrorists?

In fact, if you really think the ceasefire movement is the moral equivalent of terrorism, you might get pretty obsessed with shutting it down. Maybe that’s why Christianity Today at large and Cosper in particular has gotten so fixated on it.