Are we in a "holy war"?

[Hodad]

In addition to being the least qualified person to ever hold the job, our "Secretary of War," is a fundamentalist Christian nationalist and follower of certified nutball pastor Doug Wilson. He's also tatted up with extremist icons and phrases tied directly to Christian nationalism--and indeed echo the cries of medieval crusaders. And now his military leadership are telling troops that... well, read for yourselves. 

 

Newsweek

Some U.S. military leaders are telling troops that the Iran war is part of "God's divine plan" featuring President Donald Trump and Jesus, according to a religious freedom advocacy group. In response to Newsweek's request for comment on the matter, the Pentagon talked about Trump's action in Iran.

Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said the nonprofit group has received more than 200 complaints from roughly 50 military installations since Saturday involving reports of U.S. commanders linking Christianity to the "biblically sanctioned" war in Iran.

"This morning our commander opened up the combat readiness status briefing by urging us to not be 'afraid' as to what is happening with our combat operations in Iran right now," one complaint reads. "He urged us to tell our troops that this was 'all part of God’s divine plan' and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ. He said that 'President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth.'"

All of that is objectively insane, but it's also not a joke. With this nonsense going on, are we any different than jihadists and crusaders? And do these nutters not recognize that contextualizing our military action as a holy war (in addition to being unAmerican) invites escalation and reprisal not just from Iran, but from the rest of the Islamic world? Are we not just becoming exactly what radical terrorists have accused us of being? Are we not just legitimizing more terrorism?

 

Edited March 6 by Hodad

[gatomontes99]

No. /thread

[Hodad]

4 minutes ago, gatomontes99 said:

No. /thread

Because only the Congress had the authority to declare a holy war? 

 

[gatomontes99]

18 minutes ago, Hodad said:

Because only the Congress had the authority to declare a holy war? 

 

Because you are using your prejudices to make assumptions that don't align with reality. 

[WestCanMan]

Of course it's a holy war for some people.

For some people eating food and the rising of the Sun are holy events. Do you think that those people don't see a war like this as a religious duty? Of course they do.

And islamic religious bigotry is 100% to blame for this war. So again, yeah.

Do you think that America would be at war with Iran if the ayatollah's religion wasn't causing death and chaos worldwide?

Do you think there's a single dingbat in the ayatollah's regime who isn't a religious zealot that thinks that death is ?

 

The reasons for this war are 100% grounded in reality, regardless of the religious aspects of it:

1. Real beatings, floggings and jailtime for women for not wearing hijabs (the common, non-muslims of Iran are our allies in this now)
2. Real deaths of Iranian civilians and Americans for the ayatollah's religious reasons
3. Real threats of genocide against all Jews and America
4. An actual branch of the Iranian military that's solely dedicated to a genocide
5. Real attempts at amassing enormous stockpiles of weapons to commit said genocide

 

The ayatollah's religion is 100% on par with Naziism. mohammed was a mirror image of Hitler (or vice-versa), both in his violent bigotry and genocides. The muslims commit genocides without remorse, and think of it as some kind of divine right.

You can call it what you personally want to call it, but it's impossible to say that this war isn't the result of violent islamic bigotry and genocides.

[Hodad]

19 minutes ago, gatomontes99 said:

Because you are using your prejudices to make assumptions that don't align with reality. 

Is literacy a prejudice? Because I'm simply reading the complaints in the article. 

Is lighting the signal fire in Iran to trigger Armageddon and the "return" of Christ somehow not the language of a holy war? You think I have prejudices that are causing me to misinterpret that as the language of a holy war?🤣

[robosmith]

12 minutes ago, WestCanMan said:

You can call it what you personally want to call it, but it's impossible to say that this war isn't the result of violent islamic bigotry and genocides.

"Impossible" to legitimately disagree with WCM, because he knows the entire history of the region and has a corner on logical thinking. LMAO

[Hodad]

15 minutes ago, WestCanMan said:

Of course it's a holy war for some people.

For some people eating food and the rising of the Sun are holy events. Do you think that those people don't see a war like this as a religious duty? Of course they do.

And islamic religious bigotry is 100% to blame for this war. So again, yeah.

Do you think that America would be at war with Iran if the ayatollah's religion wasn't causing death and chaos worldwide?

Do you think there's a single dingbat in the ayatollah's regime who isn't a religious zealot that thinks that death is ?

 

The reasons for this war are 100% grounded in reality, regardless of the religious aspects of it:

1. Real beatings, floggings and jailtime for women for not wearing hijabs (the common, non-muslims of Iran are our allies in this now)
2. Real deaths of Iranian civilians and Americans for the ayatollah's religious reasons
3. Real threats of genocide against all Jews and America
4. An actual branch of the Iranian military that's solely dedicated to a genocide
5. Real attempts at amassing enormous stockpiles of weapons to commit said genocide

 

The ayatollah's religion is 100% on par with Naziism. mohammed was a mirror image of Hitler (or vice-versa), both in his violent bigotry and genocides. The muslims commit genocides without remorse, and think of it as some kind of divine right.

You can call it what you personally want to call it, but it's impossible to say that this war isn't the result of violent islamic bigotry and genocides.

Eh, it's hard to take you seriously given your position on an actual chaos generating nuclear power destabilizing the world order and killing hundreds of thousands of people in Europe. 

If the US is justified going to war in Iran for secular reasons, why aren't you calling us to join the war in Ukraine for the same secular reasons on a much larger scale. 

I don't have any problem with the civilized world intervening in Iran to stop a humanitarian crisis, but it should have been an international coalition. But the double standard you're running kinda indicates that you kinda like it as a holy war. 

[gatomontes99]

12 minutes ago, Hodad said:

Eh, it's hard to take you seriously given your position on an actual chaos generating nuclear power destabilizing the world order and killing hundreds of thousands of people in Europe. 

See! You do it all the time. He came back with a reasoned, rational response and you jump straight to the ad hominem attacks. 

 

[User]

2 hours ago, Hodad said:

In addition to being the least qualified person to ever hold the job, our "Secretary of War," is a fundamentalist Christian nationalist and follower of certified nutball pastor Doug Wilson. He's also tatted up with extremist icons and phrases tied directly to Christian nationalism--and indeed echo the cries of medieval crusaders. And now his military leadership are telling troops that... well, read for yourselves. 

Least qualified?

You just regurgitate the same leftist talking points that we have long ago debunked on here already. 

Your notion of what a Christian nationalist is yet another leftst dishonest talking point where you are trying to conflate average Christians with extreme fundamentalists. 

"His military leadership" is quite the dishonest stretch. 

The chain of command for Hegseth starts with folks at the very top of every branch of service, the Joint Chiefs, and on down. There are so many levels of leadership under him it is absurd to sit here making this seem like Hegseth is somehow pushing this message down the chain of command. 

200 complaints... without more specifics how do we know if that is a lot or a little compared to normal complaints?

Left wing cry baby athiests have been crying about religion in the military for decades now. OMG, they had a Christian rock bank on base and the unit let people go! OMG my CO was talking about his faith! 

Stupid normal crap from the bigots who think the world must be secular and never have to hear anyone ever talk about their faith. 

 

47 minutes ago, Hodad said:

I don't have any problem with the civilized world intervening in Iran to stop a humanitarian crisis, but it should have been an international coalition. But the double standard you're running kinda indicates that you kinda like it as a holy war. 

These are such bogus arguments. So, you support Trump's actions with Israel against Iran, you just wish more nations were involved? Right?

[Hodad]

1 hour ago, gatomontes99 said:

See! You do it all the time. He came back with a reasoned, rational response and you jump straight to the ad hominem attacks. 

 

 

1 hour ago, gatomontes99 said:

See! You do it all the time. He came back with a reasoned, rational response and you jump straight to the ad hominem attacks. 

 

Maybe you should read that again. He argued that there were legitimate (non-holy war) reasons to attack Iran. 

I addressed that argument by pointing out that the same factual reasons he cited apply on a MUCH larger scale to a conflict he doesn't even think the US should support as a supplier, let alone a direct combatant.

I then posited that the cause for his double standard is motivated by religious intolerance--in effect, a holy war. 

You weren't able to track that? And none of it is ad hominem. 

[WestCanMan]

2 hours ago, robosmith said:

"Impossible" to legitimately disagree with WCM, because he knows the entire history of the region and has a corner on logical thinking. LMAO

Is it logical to say that:

• people who still want war because 450 people were killed in 1948 should be way angrier about 700,000 people were killed 8 months earlier, under the exact same circumstances.

Why do you think the people who made friends with Pakistan the day they killed 700,000 people all attacked Israel on the first dy of teir existence instead of making friends with them too?

Tell me what you think the reason is, robo, if you think I'm wrong.

[WestCanMan]

2 hours ago, Hodad said:

Eh, it's hard to take you seriously given your position on an actual chaos generating nuclear power destabilizing the world order and killing hundreds of thousands of people in Europe. 

Destabilizing? Are you referring to America's involvement in getting rid of a duly elected president in Ukraine? Organizing protests there? Selecting the candidates for the next election? America pushing NATO all the way to Russia's western border?

Quote

If the US is justified going to war in Iran for secular reasons, why aren't you calling us to join the war in Ukraine for the same secular reasons on a much larger scale. 

America is already involved in that war. It's their proxy war against Russia.

Quote

I don't have any problem with the civilized world intervening in Iran to stop a humanitarian crisis, but it should have been an international coalition. But the double standard you're running kinda indicates that you kinda like it as a holy war. 

There was never going to be an international coalition with wimps like Starmie-poo, Micronuts and the carney running the show.

Carney:

1. War good
2. No, war bad. Illegal even.
3. We might join war. 

[gatomontes99]

48 minutes ago, Hodad said:

 

Maybe you should read that again. He argued that there were legitimate (non-holy war) reasons to attack Iran. 

I addressed that argument by pointing out that the same factual reasons he cited apply on a MUCH larger scale to a conflict he doesn't even think the US should support as a supplier, let alone a direct combatant.

I then posited that the cause for his double standard is motivated by religious intolerance--in effect, a holy war. 

You weren't able to track that? And none of it is ad hominem. 

No you didn't. You went straight to the personal attacks. 

[Reg Volk]

This is so awesome.  Good job Iranians.  Showing up enmasse against the foolish losers supporting the myth of "Islamic Marxism".  True Iranians - you are the heroes of 2026.  The anti-woke pro-freedom heroes everyone else should look up to.

[Reg Volk]

5 hours ago, Hodad said:

In addition to being the least qualified person to ever hold the job, our "Secretary of War," is a fundamentalist Christian nationalist

 

good grief again with this bigoted nonsense about "Christian nationalist".  This made up phrase is just so bigoted and disgusting.  So evil too.

[John Stone]

.......so called Christian Nationalism is a political ideology with an objective of fusing specific Christian values with National  identify. 

Top of the list of 'Christian values' would be gender / sexuality and family structure......... def lean towards chauvinism.

Politically it embraces  populism,  i.e, the appeal to those people that feel their concerns are being  disregarded. 

A Christian Nationalist would definitely deem authoritarian control is essential for order and in particular divine favor. 

 

[Hodad]

8 hours ago, Reg Volk said:

good grief again with this bigoted nonsense about "Christian nationalist".  This made up phrase is just so bigoted and disgusting.  So evil too.

I assume there are soooo many words and phrases that you don't know. That doesn't mean they are "made up" or that they don't describe very real things. 

Let me help you out. Here is certified kook, Doug Wison, defining Christian Nationalism in an interview last year while explicitly calling for the US to become a Christian theocracy.

"Christian nationalism is the conviction that secularism is a failed experiment, that societies require a transcendent grounding in order to be able to function at all. And as a Christian, I believe that that transcendent ground should be the living God and not an idol." 

 

Did I mention that this lunatic is Hegseth's spiritual mentor and is now a regular presence in DC?

"We don’t want to fight, but like our fellow Christians one thousand years ago, we must. Our American Crusade is not about literal swords, and our fight is not with guns. Yet."

--Pete Hegseth

 

[Deluge]

15 hours ago, Hodad said:

In addition to being the least qualified person to ever hold the job, our "Secretary of War," is a fundamentalist Christian nationalist and follower of certified nutball pastor Doug Wilson. He's also tatted up with extremist icons and phrases tied directly to Christian nationalism--and indeed echo the cries of medieval crusaders. And now his military leadership are telling troops that... well, read for yourselves. 

 

Newsweek

Some U.S. military leaders are telling troops that the Iran war is part of "God's divine plan" featuring President Donald Trump and Jesus, according to a religious freedom advocacy group. In response to Newsweek's request for comment on the matter, the Pentagon talked about Trump's action in Iran.

Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said the nonprofit group has received more than 200 complaints from roughly 50 military installations since Saturday involving reports of U.S. commanders linking Christianity to the "biblically sanctioned" war in Iran.

"This morning our commander opened up the combat readiness status briefing by urging us to not be 'afraid' as to what is happening with our combat operations in Iran right now," one complaint reads. "He urged us to tell our troops that this was 'all part of God’s divine plan' and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ. He said that 'President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth.'"

All of that is objectively insane, but it's also not a joke. With this nonsense going on, are we any different than jihadists and crusaders? And do these nutters not recognize that contextualizing our military action as a holy war (in addition to being unAmerican) invites escalation and reprisal not just from Iran, but from the rest of the Islamic world? Are we not just becoming exactly what radical terrorists have accused us of being? Are we not just legitimizing more terrorism?

 

It's not really a war - it was just a quick and decisive ass kicking. Iran already wants play nice, so this is really just a nothing burger. 

[gatomontes99]

22 minutes ago, Deluge said:

It's not really a war - it was just a quick and decisive ass kicking. Iran already wants play nice, so this is really just a nothing burger. 

Let's call this thread what it really is; TDS trying to rationalize a reason to hate killing a terrorist state to prevent nuclear war. 

[John Stone]

33 minutes ago, Deluge said:

It's not really a war - it was just a quick and decisive ass kicking. Iran already wants play nice, so this is really just a nothing burger. 

Indeed. 

The Korean War was officially described as a 'Police Action' - not a declared war. 

The Korean War's legal status was framed as a UN sanctioned 'police action' to restore international peace. 

It allowed Truman to deploy troops without a formal declaration of war from Congress. 

 

 

[Barquentine]

2 hours ago, John Stone said:

Christian Nationalism...

...in the US is 'White Christian Nationalism'.

[Deluge]

20 minutes ago, Barquentine said:

...in the US is 'White Christian Nationalism'.

I like it. 

Just like In China it's Chinese Buddhist Nationalism, or in India it's Indian Hindu Nationalism, or in Africa it's African Tribalism. 

So stop being a whiny b*tch. 

Edited March 6 by Deluge

[Barquentine]

12 minutes ago, Deluge said:

Just like In China it's Chinese Buddhist Nationalism, or in India it's Indian Hindu Nationalism, or in Africa it's African Tribalism.

Except unlike those countries/continents The US is almost entirely a nation of immigrants of various ethnicities, languages, history, and religion. You are an immigrant, maybe a few generations removed, but still an immigrant.

So stop being a dumb, whiny b*tch. 

12 minutes ago, Deluge said:

 

 

Edited March 6 by Barquentine
grammar

[Deluge]

18 minutes ago, Barquentine said:

Except unlike those countries/continents The US is almost entirely a nation of immigrants of various ethnicities, languages, history, and religion. You are an immigrant, maybe a few generations removed, but still an immigrant.

So stop being a dumb, whiny b*tch. 

 

Wrong. 

The US was settled by the English and other Northern Europeans - none of them immigrated here - they conquered the land and settled it. 

My ancestors were immigrants - white and northern European, right in accordance with the 1790 act.  

Get it right, you whiny b*tch. 

 

Edited March 6 by Deluge