Iranian Memories, Jesus, and Christian Nationalism

The genocidal rhetoric of the Trump administration led everyone to fear that we were on the brink of “erasing Iran,” last night, and then, thankfully, a temporary ceasefire was announced. The world breathed a sigh of relief. But already, at the time of this writing, the ceasefire is collapsing. Israel and the United States’ continuing treachery is inciting justified hatred among the Iranian people and destroying trust, an essential commodity if there is to be a negotiated peace. We are being led by madmen and zealots.

Iranians have long memories. They have not forgotten that western imperial powers aligned with powerful oil companies have interfered in their society for generations. It bears repeating that the United States and Great Britain have already once engineered an external regime change in Iran. The CIA and MI6 staged a coup and overthrew the democratically-elected government of Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953 over oil, and installed the Shah to do the bidding of the United States and western oil companies, and to brutally repress dissent. The CIA and the Israeli intelligence service Mossad have long been active within Iran, especially in recent years, trying to topple the Iranian regime again, this time the Islamic Republic. In the run-up to the current war, Israel and the United States openly cited “regime change” as a strategic rationale for attacking and trying the destabilize Iran, pretending to be on the side of the Iranian people, pretending to help them realize their dreams of a better life. But this was pure propaganda. The Israeli/US goal all along was to destroy Iran, de-industrialize it, turn it into a shadow of itself, weak, on the verge of economic collapse, struggling to meet the needs of its people. It also bears repeating that external regime change is a blatant violation of Iran’s sovereignty, illegal and illegitimate under international law.

There’s no question that the harsh rule of the mullahs is deeply unpopular in Iran. Millions of Iranians want regime change. But regime change is their responsibility. Regime change is the work of the people of the nation, not outside powers imposing their will. Furthermore, the best chance for internal regime change is a strong middle class. Their economic power makes them less vulnerable to government threats and economic instability. Middle class people tend to be less consumed with financial survival, and have more time for the work of bettering their nation. Before US sanctions, Iran had a thriving middle class, growing stronger every year. But US sanctions, begun under Obama, then tightened under Trump, decimated the Iranian middle class. The sanctions caused millions of Iranians to fall into poverty. Between 2012 and 2019, the Iranian middle class shrank by 11% each year. Estimates are that 40% of the Iranian population now is living below the poverty line. As one economist put it, “A vast majority of Iranians are unable to meet even their most basic needs such as food and housing.” The Israeli/US horrific, illegal bombing campaign has been devastating. It has greatly exacerbated the growing sense of desperation in Iran. Much of this pervasive sense of despair among the Iranian people is the direct result of American and Israeli imperialism and persistent meddling in Iran’s internal affairs. We have caused untold suffering in Iran. Iranians have every reason to hate us and want nothing more to do with us. I am ashamed of my country.

We are witnessing two wildly different versions of Christianity. On the one hand is the true Christianity founded on the compassionate life and teachings of Jesus who rejected war. Jesus blessed the peacemakers and the merciful, modeled solidarity with the outcast, and taught nonviolent love of neighbor, indeed love of enemies. Pope Leo XIV has proclaimed these teachings, forthrightly condemning the bloodthirsty prayers and genocidal threats of the Trump administration, and calling for an immediate end to the violence. On the other hand is Christian Nationalism, a perversion of Christianity that pushes the idea that the United States was founded as a Christian nation, and should be a Christian nation now and in the future. The self-appointed “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth is an ardent Christian Nationalist. He believes God has selected the United States as an ordained instrument of the divine will. He worships a punisher god, who rains down punishment on “the enemies of God, “which just so happen to also be the enemies of the United States. He is an Islamophobe who believes Islam is a false religion and Muslim nations are inherently opposed to his God. He is an apocalyptic zealot who has a crusader cross tatoo across his chest with the words “Deus Vult,” (God wills it), a rallying cry of the 11th c. Christian Crusades. The Pentagon, under his leadership, has bristled at the Pope’s criticism of American foreign policy and its imperial violence. Rarely have the differences between the Christianity of Jesus and Christian Nationalism been so starkly revealed.