Wajahat Ali and scholar of American right-wing religious movements Julie Ingersoll discuss how Pete Hegseth's intent to mount a "new Crusade" underlies much of the rhetoric about the attack on Iran. Ali asks,

"What is Hegseth's endgame and those who are allied with him in some way, shape, or form who truly believe they're doing God's work but through secular means?"

#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #HolyWar #crusades #WhiteChristianNationalism
/1

https://thelefthook.substack.com/p/the-trump-administrations-modern

The Trump Administration's Modern Crusade

Pete Hegseth asks Americans to pray for victory against Iran "in the name of Jesus Christ." He is part of an increasingly dangerous & rising threat of Christian Nationalism seeking complete domination

The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali

Ingersoll:

"They want all of the nations of the world to be Christian. They want to institute theocratic governments across the globe. They think the whole world should be Christian. This ties into their eschatology. They are what we call post-millennialists. They believe the kingdom of God was established at the resurrection, and it's the job of Christians to build it."

#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #HolyWar #crusades #WhiteChristianNationalism
/2

@wdlindsy Nothing like Bronze Age ideologies to guide a 21st century global society…🙄😒
@JPummil Yet a primary point Ingersoll and Ali both make here is that religious traditions aren't monolithic. As a Muslim, Ali notes the wide divergence between how Islam is interpreted and practiced by adherents. Both note that Christianity has produced both Hegseth and Christian nationalism and Pope Leo, who is speaking out against Christian nationalism. We can, if we choose, to reduce it all to the crude stereotype of bronze age thinking.
/1
@JPummil And when we do that and ignore and scorn the contribution of religionists like Leo who pull against the misapplication of religion to make war and harm others, we then end up giving aid and comfort to the very people we claim we're pushing back against. I'm not inclined to give Trump and MAGA that kind of solace, myself.