Charles "Chuck" Colson

Charles W. "Chuck" Colson

Founder, Prison Fellowship ministry

Charles W. "Chuck" Colson is founder of Prison Fellowship, a Christian outreach ministry to the prison population of this country, as well as to ex-prisoners and crime victims. The "On Faith" panelist's daily radio commentary, BreakPoint, is aired daily on over a 1,000 radio outlets nationwide. Colson also is a syndicated columnist, lawyer, and author of 25 books, most recently The Faith (2008). He served as special counsel to the late President Richard M. Nixon (1969-73). After pleading guilty to a Watergate-related charge of obstruction of justice in 1974, Colson served seven months of a one to three-year federal prison sentence. His 1973 Christian conversion was documented in the internationally best-selling book and film, Born Again. He founded Prison Fellowship in 1976. In 1993, Colson was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion and donated the $1 million prize to Prison Fellowship. In the last 28 years, Colson has visited more than 600 prisons in 40 countries and, with the help of nearly 50,000 volunteers, has built Prison Fellowship into the world's largest prison outreach, serving the spiritual and practical needs of prisoners in 93 countries including the U.S. Close.

Charles W. "Chuck" Colson

Founder, Prison Fellowship ministry

Charles W. "Chuck" Colson is founder of Prison Fellowship, a Christian outreach ministry to the prison population of this country, as well as to ex-prisoners and crime victims. The "On Faith" panelist's daily radio commentary, BreakPoint, is aired daily on over a 1,000 radio outlets nationwide. more »

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Support for Israel Does Not Forbid Criticism

The answer to both questions is a resounding yes. Israel today is a nation, a free democracy, with vital political contests for office. Like any other state, it can make mistakes, it can be wrong.

Anti-Semitism is a grievous offense for a Christian. God told Abraham in Genesis 12:3 that he would bless the Jews and bless those who bless them. Christians see this as a mandate for how believers are to act toward Jews.

But it is not a blank check for the state of Israel. For the very same reason that I believe that I could criticize Israel without being anti-Semitic, so too could a citizen of Israel, or a Jew be critical of the state of Israel.

The highest form of patriotism is to be able to call your own government to account when it is clearly in error. Israel’s citizens are a part of a democracy. They show no sign of being hesitant in criticizing their own governments.

To me, that makes them faithful Jews.

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