The pronouncements of President Donald Trump these days are so outrageous that it would be a form of parody if it were not for the fact that he is commander in chief of the most powerful army in the world and has the ability, literally at his fingertips, to bring about the insanity he proclaims.
Not only is he blatantly threatening to violate international law by going after civilian targets, in a massive way, but he is threatened to destroy an entire country of 90 million people in one fell swoop.
Jonathan Kuttab
“I can destroy all of Iran in one evening. Maybe, tomorrow evening,” he declared. Then, he followed this with a threat to “destroy an entire civilization in one blow” if they do not meet his demands. Thankfully, he shifted the deadline and didn’t follow through on the worst of his threats.
Yet, one wonders how far he can go with this insanity if he is properly manipulated and his ego is stroked correctly. He already believes he can do anything he wishes to do and should not be constrained by anyone or anything.
What concerns me most about this insanity is that much of it is being promoted and condoned in the name of God by people claiming to be Christian, who are very close to Trump and have influence over his fateful decisions. In particular, I name Peter Hegseth, Mike Huckabee and Franklin Graham.
Those claiming divine sanction for war and destruction can be totally cynical politicians, like the president himself or Benjamin Natanyahu, who have little or no faith of their own and no religious credentials. More dangerous, however, are those who claim to be practicing Christians, even pastors and ministers, whose better knowledge of the Bible is used to offer a far more dangerous exploitation of holy language and sacred texts to provide a religious basis for war.
They may be totally hypocritical and lack exemplary personal ethics (Hegseth, for example, is an alcoholic who is said to have cheated on his wife with a married woman) but they do attend church, pray in public and are definitely more fluent with Scripture than the president.
“More dangerous, however, are those who claim to be practicing Christians, even pastors and ministers.”
Hegseth, the current Secretary of Defense (he prefers “Secretary of War”), has adorned his body with Crusader tattoos and their battle cry: Deus Vult (“God wills it.”) He holds monthly worship services in the Pentagon, to which Catholics were recently excluded, and he disdains the restrictions of military and humanitarian law, calling on his troops to “give no quarter” — that is to “take no prisoners” — but kill the enemy and refuse to accept their surrender. He asks people to pray every day for military victory, “in the name of Jesus Christ,” and he even prayed out loud for U.S. troops to inflict “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”
He also disdains diplomacy and the process of negotiations, proclaiming the U.S. “negotiates with bombs.” His words were so jarring that they drew a rare, direct rebuke from the pope, who had to remind him and others like him that Jesus never advocated for war or violence. Under Hegseth’s leadership, it is reported that commanders explained to their troops that their actions against Iran were part of God’s plans for Armageddon and the End Times, that God raised Trump just for such a purpose.
Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel and a Baptist minister, has openly supported Israel’s “divine claims” over all of Palestine and much of the Middle East, including parts of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq (from the river Nile to the Euphrates). He believes the Iran-Israel war is a fulfilment of prophecy and a necessary step toward the End Times. He sent a message to Trump (which the latter posted on social media) comparing the current situation to 1945 and President Truman dropping atomic bombs on Japan, urging Trump to listen to God’s voice (and implicitly do the same).
Franklin Graham also chimed in with prayers at the White House, where he claimed as well that God raised up Trump in order to confront Iran in its war on Israel, that he was raised specifically for this task. He prayed God would give Trump victory.
Also, the right-wing government in Israel, from Netanyahu to Ben Gvir, Smotrich and the settlers, use religious language, invoking God and Holy Scripture to justify their genocidal policies. Many of my Jewish friends are horrified by this and say such actions run against Jewish ethics and values.
But, as a Christian, I am particularly outraged that the message of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, could be so blatantly distorted and his name desecrated as it is invoked to justify war, violence, destruction and the utter disregard for human life and humanitarian values.
In the face of this insanity, FOSNA reasserts its commitment to just peace and nonviolence. We wholly reject such interpretations of Scripture and the use of religious language to justify evil policies that run against the spirit and message of Christ, those offering death and destruction rather than good news to a world that so desperately needs Jesus’ healing message.
Jonathan Kuttab serves as executive director of Friends of Sabeel North America. He is a Palestinian human rights lawyer who has devoted his career to promoting a just peace in Palestine/Israel. He is author of Beyond the Two-State Solution.