Thanks to the understandable and inevitable superficiality of our media-driven culture, many American Jews gag when they hear the phrase “Evangelical Christians.” Instantly, stereotypes of politically moronic, easily manipulated and generally anti-intellectual masses come to mind. (Not “masses,” by the way in the Catholic sense.)

Well, we American Jews better get a little more sophisticated ourselves. There are 60 to 80 million Evangelical Americans, according to the Pew Forum. If all 6 million or so of us are on incredibly diverse spiritual journeys, then one need not be Talmudist to realize that characterization must be multiplied many times to characterize Evangelicals. In other words, there’s no such thing as “Evangelicals believe…” (although one can say “a majority believe….”)

That’s part of the message Rev. Jason Poling of Pikesville’s New Hope Community Church brought to this week’s Baltimore-hosted national convention of ARZA – Association of Reform Zionists of America. http://www.arza.org

“People like [Christian Zionist leader Rev.] John Hagee and [former Presidential candidate Rev.] Pat Robertson represent the old fundamentalist strain that is absolute and already passing away,” said Rev. Poling, whom in full revelation is a wonderful friend of mine. He added, “John Hagee is no more representative of Evangelicals than Rev. [Jeremiah] Wright is of the black church and the Lubavitcher Rebbe is of Conservative Judaism, let alone Judaism as a whole.”

And then the myth-buster for those of us who believe Evangelicals really want us all to return to Israel so that we can be converted or killed – the former helping throw garlands at a triumphantly returning Jesus (for whom the Hebrew street signs will be decipherable, unlike the experience the Revs. Hagee and Robertson would have).

“Evangelical support for Israel is not a theological matter for most [Evangelicals],” Rev. Poling explained. “Particularly I think we celebrate Israel for the same reason most Americans do, that it is the [region’s] only democracy … We see Israel as surrounded by hostile Muslim nations. One thing we know as Evangelicals is the actions of hostile fundamental Islam. When we hear about missiles being lobbed from Gaza, we think of the story of people riding by our churches in Indonesia on motorcycles and tossing bombs.”

(By the way, check out the Pew Forum’s interesting survey on Evangelicals and Israel: http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=80 .)

Do most Evangelicals want us to become Christians with their theological beliefs? Sure. They want that for other Christians, too. And as long as they don’t legislate that, so what? As Rev. Poling is fond of saying, “I’ll let God work out the details of how that happens. My job is to live a good life that I think is true to my tradition.”

In the meantime, let’s realize how complex we humans are and shove the stereotypes in the garbage can of history.

So I ask, how should we approach Evangelicals?

Hagee doesn’t represent all Evangelicals ...thank God. He’s just the media darling. We should speak with local Evangelicals. Heck, they might not even care about Israel.

We don’t have to love everything about everyone with whom we enter a political alliance. We do love Israel, though, and we should take help where we can get it.

How should we should approach Evangelicals? Pick and choose! I would suggest with the same guiding principles we already apply to friendships—with an openness we cultivate toward all other human beings, with the objective of truly getting to know, understand and appreciate one another as individuals (or communities): what are their deepest values, across the board, on all kinds of things I/we care about?  what is the basis of this relationship - does it elevate us as human beings/as a community? can we agree to disagree-without compromising our own core principles? and the ultimate test, would I/we ever be able to tolerate a weekend with this person as a house guest or at an intense inter-group retreat! If the answer is no, then leave such Evangelicals to the pro-Israel lobbyists who are paid to forge politial-utilitarian relationships—which ARE necessary in that arena where “shared values” are not expected nor required, merely coincidence.  All others of us in the Jewish community, we Jews who seek, whether as individuals or as part of our congregations (etc.) to engage Evangelicals, should feel comfortable being guided by the standards we would apply to any other indiv. or communal relationships.  We simply must understand when Jewish leaders, whose sole priority is pro-Israel advocacy, seek to forward their single-issue agenda (however worthy)by engaging (co-opting)us as their ‘outreach’ partners. We have every right to determine who is “good for the Jews” (or not) by our own criteria. Likewise, AIPAC has every right and, perhaps even responsibility, to forge alliances with the Hagees of the world and feature him in at their conferences. But we, who are not AIPAC’s staff, board, or its most dedicated members, have every right—and responsibility—to resist universally anointing Hagee and the like as “friends of the Jewish people”.  We who adhere to liberal Judaism are bound to stay far from anti-gay, anti-feminist, anti-whatever Evangelicals in our own personal and communal realms.