Zionism and Christian America: The Political Use of Reference Groups.

The article reports on the rise of Zionism and the political use of reference groups in the United States. Sociological theory and common observation both aver that large sections of every minority group are oriented in their daily lives and values toward the dominant, majority culture rather than toward their own groups. With so many Jews haunted by minority-group feelings of inferiority vis-&aagrave;-vis the possibly more attractive and rewarding "reference groups" of their Christian neighbors, the reactions of non-Jews to the Zionist program were matters of no small concern in determining the ultimate stand of American Jewry on the Zionist question. Not only could a Christian Zionist make his own financial, moral, or political contribution to the Zionist cause, but his example would serve as a potent influence on that considerable body of American Jews who feared any Jewish move likely to prove "distasteful" or "ill-advised" to the non-Jewish majority. These abundant manifestations of Christian concurrence with Zionist objectives are all the more impressive in the face of the relative paucity of anti-Zionist expression by non-Jews.