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Christian Right
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Find It All In
The Jewish News
Classifieds
Call 354-5959
espite some setbacks in
1992, the Christian right
is alive and well. More-
over, most reports say it
is growing rapidly where it mat-
ters the most — at the grass
roots level, where evangelical
activists are trying to remake
the Republican party in their
own image.
- That's a matter of some con-
cern to a number of Jewish
groups. But it is a source of sat-
isfaction to Marshall Wittmann,
legislative director of the Chris-
tian Coalition, the fast-growing
organization created by TV
evangelist and former presi-
dential candidate Pat Robert-
son.
What makes this unusual, is
that Mr. Wittmann is Jewish.
What's a nice Jewish boy
from Waco, Texas, doing on Pat
Robertson's payroll?
"People ask it all the time,"
Mr. Wittmann said in a recent
interview. "But when you ex-
plain, it seems more normal.
Jews have taken part in a lot of
movements — and a lot of them
have been inimical to the Jew-
ish community."
The Coalition, he argued,
does not fall into that category
because of its strong commit-
ment to Israel and its "pro-fam-
ily" positions.
Mr. Wittmann, 40, came to
the Coalition after a stint at the
Department of Health and Hu-
man Services during the Bush
administration, and more than
a decade as a legislative spe-
cialist for several organizations.
Mr. Wittmann said that de-
spite his affiliation with the
Coalition, he remains a Jew. He
has not, he said, become a Mes-
sianic Jew or in any way altered
religious identification. While
not particularly observant, he
did say that the Coalition's em-
phasis on "values issues" has
encouraged him to think more
about his own Jewishness.
He suggested that he may
have avoided what he sees as a
widespread Jewish bias against
born-again Christians because
he grew up in Waco, Texas. "It's
not an overwhelmingly Jewish
community," he said. "I think
it's the fear of the unknown that
leads one to create prejudices
and biases. I felt very comfort-
able growing up in Waco, a
predominately Baptist commu-
nity!,
In describing his attraction
to the Christian group, Mr.
Wittmann keeps returning to
the undeniable fact that evan-
gelical groups such as Mr.
Robertson's have been among
Israel's staunchest defenders.
"The most pro-Israel media
outlet in the Untied States has
been the "700 Club," he said, re-
ferring to Mr. Robertson's na-
tionwide television show that
combines a slick talk-show for-
mat with evangelical religion
and conservative politics. "It's
very important for the Jewish
community to open up to the
evangelical community, and
vice versa; there's a lot of com-
monality there."
Mr. Wittmann also soft-ped-
dled Jewish concerns that fun-
damentalist Christian support
for Israel stems from little more
than a self-serving Christian
theological prophecies about the
"last days," that foretell Israel
serving as the last refuge of tiny
remnant of world Jewry after a
new Holocaust.
"Because it's theologically
based, the alliance with Israel
Most Jews
continue to view
Christian right
with suspicion.
is even stronger," he said. "The
motives are stronger."
Despite the importance of Is-
rael, most Jews continue to
view the Christian right with
suspicion because of old biases
about evangelicals, Mr. Witt-
mann maintained.
"The one group in America
that's fair game to stereotype is
evangelical Christians," he said.
`That stereotype is unfortunate.
Evangelical Christians are mid-
dle class people who love their
children, who are very commit-
ted to their families.
"This is not a threat to the
Jewish community."
But some Jewish activists
say that the gap between the
two communities is more sub-
stantive.
"It's not a question of stereo-
typing. These are fundamental
differences on issues," said
Lewis Roth, press and policy of-
ficer for the National Jewish
Democratic Council. "The fact
is the American Jewish com-
munity is scared to death of the
agenda of Pat Robertson and
his group. People who heard
Robertson speak at the Repub-
lican convention were really
taken aback by his positions
and his vehemence."
Mr. Wittmann insisted that
reporting about the speech was