"Conservative Jews who make common cause with Christian Zionists are overlooking an inconvenient truth: Despite all of their talk about their love for Israel, religious right zealots are motivated primarily by a goofy end-of-the-world scenario cribbed from the mad scribbling of Hal Lindsey, Tim LaHaye and other 'End Times' prophets," Rob Boston, Director of Communications for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told me in an email.

"In this scenario," Boston added, "Israel needs to do certain things so that the Apocalypse can be ushered in and the Book of Revelation will come to pass. Jews, in this vision of things, are merely cannon fodder who either convert to Christianity or get burned to a crisp in the final battle when Jesus confronts the Antichrist. I'm not seeing a lot of love and respect for the Jewish faith here."

Putting aside End Times prophesies and the issue of whether Christian Zionists actually support Israel and Israelis by being hand maidens to Benjamin Netanyahu, it may be something as unlikely as same-sex marriage that will rupture the Jewish-Evangelical Christian relationship.

A majority of Jews -- except for the most Orthodox -- profoundly disagree with evangelical Christians about LGBTQ social justice issues. According to the Pew Research Center, more than 8 in 10 Jews says that LGBTQ rights should be guaranteed by society. Evangelicals have the decidedly opposite point of view, although younger Evangelicals appear to be more tolerant of same-sex marriage than their older counterparts.

As the US Supreme Court held hearings on same-sex marriage earlier this week - it will render its decision in late-June - numerous Christian Right groups were actively petitioning the court to rule against same-sex marriage.

Jewish Leaders Protest Giving Award to Anti-Gay Pastor

Last week, several prominent Jewish leaders protested the decision by the Atlanta-based chapter of the Jewish National Fund to give its Tree of Life award to mega-church pastor Charles Stanley.

Apparently hoping to avoid further controversy, Stanley turned down the award.

This relatively minor kerfuffle may be indicative of how social issues could affect the relationship between Jews and Evangelicals.

Charles Stanley, senior pastor of First Baptist Church Atlanta and the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, was being honored "for his long support of the state of Israel," Christianity Today's Heidi Hall recently reported. However, "a number of local rabbis and other Jewish leaders ... protested the decision," because of anti-gay statements that Stanley had made in the past.

Opposing homosexuality is part of Stanley's Biblical worldview. Stanley has said that homosexual sex is immoral, and in 1986, he claimed that AIDS was a sign of God's judgment. Back in the mid-eighties that wasn't an unusual statement from Evangelical pastors.

"Those views are `incompatible with Jewish ethics and values,' said the Southern Jewish Resource Network for Gender and Sexual Diversity, in a letter protesting the decision to honor Stanley."

"Some proclaim they are living a gay lifestyle, but nothing is happy or gay about the destructive behavior of homosexuality," Stanley wrote in his 2007 book, Landmines in the Path of a Believer. "Anything that opposes the principles written in God's Word leads to one ending -- the end Solomon mentioned, a place of extreme emptiness where wind and sorrow breach the soul. Ultimately it ends in a place of extreme emotional sorrow and separation from God."

Although several Atlanta-area rabbis said they would not attend the event, and others asked the JNF to withdraw the award, the organization refused. Adam Brill, a JNF national spokesperson, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that, "Our honoree represents one of the largest Christian communities in the South which has always supported the Jewish people in times of peace and conflict."

Charles Stanley has been a consistent supporter of Israel over the years. "I think about one the most disastrous decisions we're going to make and you mark it down: When we turn back on Israel we will not his escape the judgment of God. We will not," he said in 2010.

The Stanley dust-up was one example of distinct differences between the majority of Jews and Christian evangelicals over such issues as LGBTQ, abortion, school prayer, sex education, proselytizing Jews, climate change, and the continued preference Jews have for voting for Democratic Party candidates.

Righteously Suspicious of Christian Zionism

The glue that appears to hold this odd coupling together is Christian Zionism. Over the years, Christian Zionists have professed their "support" and love for Israel. They provide financial support for Israeli organizations, lead regular tours of the country, and lobby US legislators on its behalf.

Pastor John Hagee, the San Antonio, Texas-based proprietor over the John Hagee Ministries, a multi-million dollar media empire, founded Christians United for Israel (CUFI) in 2006. In less than a decade CUFI has become the largest American pro-Israel organization.

But as Heidi Hall pointed out, "Evangelicals have ... stronger feelings toward Israel than American Jews. The vast majority (82 percent) of white evangelicals believe God gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people--a view only 40 percent of American Jews share. (One key factor is the number of Jews who don't believe in God, says Pew. But it's not the only factor: only 55 percent of theistic Jews agree that Israel was given to the Jewish people by God.)"

In a recent New York Times opinion piece, William N. Eskridge Jr., a professor at Yale Law School and the author of "Dishonorable Passions: Sodomy Law in America, 1861-2003," wrote that should the Supreme Court rule favorably regarding same-sex marriage, "Some congregations will double down, not only reaffirming their understanding of traditional marriage but denouncing gay people even more fervently."

Some of the most stanch Christian Zionist leaders dwell deep inside the anti-same-sex marriage camp. Should they "double down" and/or "denounce[e] gay people even more fervently," it is possible that more Jewish leaders will stand up and take notice. If that happens, where the odd-couple relationship of fundamental Christians and some pro-Israel Jewish groups will go is anybody's guess.