Evangelicals have shaped some of the country's most controversial domestic policy debates, from abortion to gay rights. A growing coalition within the larger evangelical movement has also begun to quietly shape a much different debate involving the future of Israel.

It's an axiom that presidents lead us into wars, while Christians provide the flags and the crosses. So it may seem the deck is stacked against American evangelicals organizing into a comprehensive peace movement.

The "Christ at the Checkpoint" conference hosted more than 600 evangelicals from around the world. But before it opened, the conference was the subject of multi-pronged attacks.

However, as a political force Christian Zionism's power is facilitated by Israel and by American Jewry itself; on its own, it cannot survive. It needs Jewish Zionism, because without it, Christian Zionism can't make a sufficiently strong political case.

Most peacemakers on both sides are discouraged as they watch the inability of Israeli, Palestinian and American politicians to move toward peace. I share their sadness.

Can Christians, especially in the U.S., discern the extent to which their own nation is an economically and militarily exploitative power in the Middle East, and then organize?

There is no way to get on the inside of the who-is-chosen question without unpacking the quirky relationship Evangelicals have with Jews, both embracing them and condemning them to eternal damnation.

Our debates over Israel have become coarse and divisive. One reason is that in our zeal to express tough love, we have forgotten about pure love. But how better to fight unconditional hatred than with unconditional love?

War mongering in the name of "protecting Israel" has everything to do with Evangelicals' ideas about what will hasten the "return of Christ" and nothing to do with what is actually good for the Israelis, Palestinians and Arabs.