Sherman Frederick/Properly Subversive
When Pete Hegseth invoked God while discussing the war with Iran, he drew a rebuke from Pope Leo XIV, who warned against using “the name of God in choices of death.”
Sherman Frederick
Hegseth said American troops were shielded by “the providence of our almighty God” and described the conflict as one involving “fanatics who seek a nuclear capability in order for some religious Armageddon.” In such circumstances, he said, troops “need a connection with their almighty God.”
I can see what the Pope is saying. In God’s world, there would be no war in Iran. Certainly, no need for nuclear weapons.
But the world isn’t perfect. American soldiers are in harm’s way. The stakes are life and death. It would be surprising if a defense secretary didn’t invoke God.
But push that logic a step further.
Is this a legitimate prayer of war?
“Dear Lord, guide our missiles toward their targets. May they strike with maximum effect and bring this conflict to a swift end.”
It’s uncomfortable—but it follows the same reasoning.
Would that logic apply to Dwight D. Eisenhower before D-Day? It’s not an easy question.
I don’t know. Where’s the line? Sometimes when I’m deep down that rabbit hole, the only clean answer is pacifism—the Quaker view. I never quite get there.
President Abraham Lincoln may have said it best when, during the Civil War, knowing that both sides read the same Bible, and prayed to the same God, and each invoked His aid against the other, he was asked if he prayed for God to be on the side of the Union.
He said, “I pray that we are on God’s side.”
So, does God take sides in such matters?
ONE MORE THING
