For those who missed Zion’s Christian Soldiers on 60 Minutes a while back, there is a clear reason why so many fundamentalist Christians support Israel to a fault: they believe that the rebuilding of the Temple and return of the Jews will bring Jesus back.

Recently, a reporter asked Scott McClellan about this at a White House press briefing:

Q Scott, on the Middle East , many evangelical Christians are supporting right-wing Jews in Israel who want to rebuild the temple on Temple Mount in Jerusalem . They believe this is a prerequisite for Christ’s return to Earth. They believe when Christ returns to Earth — they call this “the Rapture” — he will take back with Him the true believers, and the rest, the non–believers, Jews and Muslims, will be left behind to face a violent death here on Earth. My question is, as a born-again Christian, does the President support efforts to rebuild a temple on the Temple Mount ?

MR. McCLELLAN: Russ, we can sit here and talk about religious issues, but I’m not — I will be glad to take your question and if there’s more, I will get back to you on it.

Q Is he a born-again Christian?

MR. McCLELLAN: Thank you.

END 1:36 P.M. EST

If there has ever been any question about George Bush’s blind faith, McClellan’s response certainly makes that question mark a little bigger. He didn’t even issue a non-denial denial, a common tactic that spokespeople use to say “that’s not true” without actually saying “that’s not true.” It was a complete avoidance of the issue. This would be worth invegtigating further.