Ted Cruz decides who the real Christians are and what they believe

So Ted Cruz made quite a scene at the In Defense of Christians gala dinner the other night, getting booed off the stage for comments about the relationship between Christians and Israel. The Middle East-focused group invited the Southern Baptist senator to keynote its event, and it's no surprise that these representatives of distinct branches of the Christian tree have some differences. Lauren Markoe puts it mildly:

The episode highlighted a central tension between U.S. evangelicals, who strongly support Israel, and Middle Eastern Christians — including thousands of Palestinian Christians — who hold Israel responsible for expropriated Arab lands and the death toll in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Mark Silk is no doubt right that at least some of what Cruz had to say—that violent radicalism in the region threatens Jews as well as Christians—is a legitimate point to make, one Cruz might have chosen to put more diplomatically than "Those who hate Israel hate America." Of course, Cruz wasn't trying to persuade his in-person audience of Middle Eastern Christian leaders (a powerful political bunch!) to see things his way. He was, as ever, playing to the cameras.