CLEVELAND, Ohio -- You probably heard that last week Donald Trump fulfilled a campaign promise to his Evangelical base and ordered the United States to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
But I bet you didn't know that the idea -- sometimes called Christian Zionism -- goes all the way back to the Protestant Reformation and the Puritans.
Increase Mather, John Cotton and later, Jonathan Edwards, were all in favor of the process, which was then called "Jewish Restoration."
I am not a theologian, but if I understand correctly, the idea is that the occupation of the Holy Land by the Jewish people, as prophesied in the Bible, must flourish to bring about the end times and the second coming of Christ.
And you know what that means: Armageddon, the final battle, the last days, the 1,000 reign and the rapture.
So it doesn't seem to matter to America's 50 million Evangelicals if Trump's decision leads to unrest in the Middle East or even to a world war -- because if you're trying to bring about the end of the world as we know it, peace is the last thing you're interested in.