The Guardian

In US evangelical capital, a new progressiveness and differing views on Israel

For many on the Christian right, the state of Israel has been seen as a key to fulfilling prophecy. A new generation has other ideas
Bruce McCluggage enjoys a coffee at the Wild Goose, in Colorado Springs. Photograph: Josiah Hesse

This week, the Trump administration completed its move of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

At the opening ceremony, two of the American speakers were evangelical superstars: Pastor Robert Jeffress, the author of several doomsday books about Israel, and John Hagee, who interpreted recent lunar eclipses as evidence that the end times were nigh. The Fox News personality Jeanine Pirro, meanwhile, declared that Trump had “fulfilled biblical prophecy”.

The ceremony coincided with massive protests, in which 60 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces.

Thousands of miles away, in her home outside Colorado Springs, Kimberly Troup sat in a cluttered basement office. She is an evangelical Christian who takes to heart the Bible verse in which God speaks

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