Military veteran tears into MAGA for weaponizing religion

Many far-right Christian nationalists are saying that President Donald Trump's decision to go to war with Iran is about much more than attacking the Iranian government — they view it as a war for fundamentalist evangelical Christianity. Some are even calling it a "holy war," which is the same type of rhetoric that radical Islamist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS (Islamic State, Iraq and Syria) use in defense of their Islamist agenda.

In an op-ed published by The Hill on March 11, Jos Joseph — a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who now writes about the military — takes offense at the claim that Trump's Iran operation is a "religious war."

"There is messaging that this war with Iran is somehow a religious war tied to the Book of Revelations, the second coming of Jesus, and the end of the world," Joseph explains. "One of the stories was of a military commander who told his non-commissioned officers that Trump was 'anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth.' It would be easy to write this off as a single military commander off his rocker, who shouldn't be in command of a U.S. military unit. But the Military Religious Freedom Foundation said they received more than 200 complaints in a couple of days from service members being told in separate instances that their military mission was key to fulfilling Christian prophecy."

Joseph adds, "Add the fact that Israel is also at war with Iran, along with several high-ranking Trump officials being ardent Christian nationalists or devout evangelicals, and you have to ask yourself: What is the reason for this war?.... This is a cause of concern, because as the war evolves, there is a good chance that the objectives will change in a way suited to Christian nationalists' beliefs."

The claim that Trump's military operation in Iran is a "holy war" is by no means universally held within Christianity. In fact, many Mainline Protestants and Catholics find that claim deeply offensive.

Christian nationalists, however, continue to double down on their argument.

"Thousands, if not millions, of evangelical Christians hold the view that the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East will somehow trigger Christ's return," Joseph observes. "And it is their right to believe such things. But there is a major issue when Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, (Mike) Huckabee, and company start using those beliefs to justify waging, continuing or expanding an already unpopular war."

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