The relationship between Christians and Jews has been fraught for almost 2,000 years since the death of Jesus. Today, with a president who levels accusations about Jews and who encourages his fans to mistrust the mainstream media, a growing number of evangelicals are turning to the Internet for information, and finding anti-Jewish beliefs there.

Christians take their cues for what to think about Jews from many sources: From the long history of evangelicals’ support for the state of Israel. From fiery pastors who decry Jewish influence in their YouTube videos. From Trump, who this week declared that Jews who vote for Democrats – meaning more than 70 percent of all Jews in the United States – are “disloyal.”

In churches across America, evangelicals say they don’t believe they can get unbiased facts from any traditional news outlet that Trump has branded “fake news” (though many are fans of Fox News, and also watch other TV networks and read major news websites). Instead, they seek news from alternative websites and videos.

Pastors are aware of the conspiracy theories floating among their congregants, including a small number of virulently anti-Semitic and anti-Islamic beliefs that some Christians interviewed by The Washington Post this summer professed.

But leaders are often unwilling to address these beliefs head-on. After a churchgoing evangelical Christian killed a Jewish woman at a synagogue in Poway, California, earlier this year – an act he prefaced with a manifesto including both anti-Semitic tropes from the Internet, and Christian theology from church – some pastors called for a national conversation about how evangelical pastors can make clear that such beliefs aren’t acceptable in their pews…

Source: The Independent