Two Haunting Visions

The past few days I have been haunted two separate images.

One is the image of a school full children that was bombed when the US and Israel attacked Iran. The missiles destroyed a girls primary school in Southern Iran killing an estimated 170 people, reportedly most being children.

The second is picture from the Oval Office showing white Evangelical Nationalistic clergy laying their hands as a form of blessing on Trump. The “laying of hands” is a form of blessing practiced in many religious groups. This was not a blessing. When a military action results in the death of children in a school there is nothing to be blessed. Let’s be clear, the group of clergy represented a small but powerful religious movement in the US. They did not include clergy from any other religions. The reality is if clergy from other religions who actually follow the teachings of Jesus had been there [Christian Nationalists do not follow the teachings of Jesus]] there would not have been a laying of hands. Rather there would been a group of men and women on their hands knees confessing their sins and begging for forgiveness.

While in college as part of my Religion degree, I read a number of books on ethical or just wars. Some were related to Mahatma Gandhi’s peaceful protests in India that eventfully forced the end of British rule. Others focused on the teachings of Jesus such as “love your enemy”. Often they focused on Mathew 5:38-48. Others concluded a just war can be ethical if it protects the oppressed, brutalized, and/or the innocent.

When I was in college Vietnam was at its height. WWII, where millions upon millions of civilians were killed not to mention the Holocaust, was still a fresh memory. Eisenhower understood the brutality of war for countries, civilians, and especially children.

War and build up to war is complicated stuff. That is one reason that Trump and Maga Republicans will fail the US. In 1953, led by the CIA the US and Great Britain initiated a coup in Iran overthrowing the recently elected Prime Minister of Iran Mohammad Mossadegh. The US was worried about US oil interests. The CIA/US installed the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi who brutally ruled Iran until he was overthrown by the Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini became the first Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Brutality and persecution continued, just by a different leader and political group.

Some would think the above is ancient history and not relevant today. Some would be dumb. I suspect that many if not the majority of Iranians are very familiar with the USs role in overthrowing the elected leader in the 1950s and all that followed. Speaking of ancient history, for many in the US ancient history is what they had for lunch last week. For Iranians, ancient history was the Persian Empire which was dominate in the region from over 500 years before the birth of Christ until roughly 650 AD or over 1,100 years. I would be surprised if one in a thousand Americans know any Iran/Persia history and I seriously doubt that Trump or any in his cabinet has heard of Persia not to mention Iran’s history going back to 1950s when the US overthrew their elected government. We may have forgot, but I doubt Iranians have.

So the question is was the bombing of IRA a “have to” or “choose to”. The US led coup that took place in 1953, this was a “choose to”. This was also a “choose to”. The US did not have to bomb Iran and intelligence reports have generally said Iran was not an immediate threat to the US. Many in the US believe Trump bombed Iran to take the public eye away from his role in the Epstein files. Certainly understandable why many would feel that way. If this is true, it means Trump bombed a bunch of children to take the public eye away from his role in sexually abuse a bunch of children.

So when the Evangelical clergy were laying on the hands, were they blessing Trump for killing a bunch of children? Were they blessing the total that have died since the initial bombing, but also US casualties, and casualties from other countries. How many will die if it becomes a regional conflict? It seems Russia is already helping Iran.

You cannot change history, but it is possible to learn from it. Where would the US, Iran, the Middle East be today if we have not interfered in their election in 1953? Would we still be bitter enemies or would we have become allies as we are with some other Middle East countries.

Its interesting and sad, Evangelicals will often quote some obscure passage from the bible totally out of context, but probably have never heard of Mathew 5:43:48.

It is clear the Islamic regime is evil. They have sponsored acts of terrorism in other countries and brutalized their own citizens. But has responding to evil with more evil ever worked? Iranians will never forget the children who died in from out bombing just as they have never forgot the US led coup that took place in 1953.

A cornerstone of being a follower of the teachings of Jesus is having empathy for all your neighbors including ones that do not like you or you them. This is a teaching from Jesus that Evangelicals seem to continually ignore. I often wonder if Evangelicals think God loves only their children. That is not correct. God loves all children.

So I am back to the haunting vision of children dying from US bombs and evangelical clergy seemingly blessing Trump for the action.