Afrasianet - The United States and Israel have launched a war on Iran with declared goals related to its nuclear and missile programs and its regime, but President Donald Trump's administration is invoking religious manifestations and phrases in this battle as if it were fighting a holy war.
Trump is surrounded by religious leaders, some of whom put their hands on his shoulder, and prayers are held at the White House these days, in what appears to be a religious-Christian mobilization of the war.
In Israel, too, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been making biblical references since the war began on Feb. 28, as he did on the Wednesday before the Jewish Passover when he likened the war on Iran to the Israelites' survival from Pharaoh.
Iran, on the other hand, is an Islamic republic with the highest office held by a supreme leader who has both spiritual and temporal attributes.
The United States is officially a secular country, but the war with Tehran has brought religious discourse increasingly closer to the political orientation.
In Holy Week, which recalls the last days of Christ before His crucifixion, according to Christian belief, the White House again received religious representatives in a religious ceremony.
A video posted on the White House's YouTube channel, then deleted, showed an evangelical pastor reciting a prayer that read: "Father, you have lifted Donald Trump, you have prepared him for a moment like this, and we pray, Father, that you will give him victory."
The clip sparked a wave of criticism on social media.
'Crusades'
The religious discourse in this war is becoming more sensitive because the parties involved are divided into the three major monotheistic religions, all of which have emerged in the Middle East: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
One of the most prominent religious figures in this war is U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Higgseth , who at a news conference called for prayers for U.S. soldiers deployed in the Gulf "in the name of Jesus Christ," ignoring the presence of military personnel of other faiths in his military.
It is frequently quoted from the Bible. At the same conference, he recalled from the book of Psalms a prayer for the prophet David as he fought his enemies: "Blessed is the Lord my rock, who teaches my hands to fight and my fingers to fight."
In an interview on CBC, he said he was fighting "religious extremists who seek nuclear capability in preparation for Armageddon," a biblical expression of an end-time war between good and evil.
Prior to his tenure, Hegseth was an infantry officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and received two major military decorations. After his military career, he became a presenter on the conservative Fox News channel.
Hegseth had several tattoos on his body , including a drawing on his chest of the Jerusalem Cross, a Christian symbol that appeared during the Crusades.
He published a book in 2020 titled "American Crusades" against the American left, in which he made a plea to defend the Western civilization he sees in decline.
Lack of respect
This confusion between religion and politics raises questions.
Kenneth Williams, a former Pentagon military chaplain and professor at Georgetown University, said, "For a senior official to impose a particular religious vision at the expense of religious diversity within the military and the nation is at the very least a lack of respect and, at the very least, an abuse of power."
In his Palm Sunday homily, Pope Leo XIV said: "God does not like war, no one can invoke God to justify war."
White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt said praying for the military was "a very noble thing," dismissing the criticism.
The U.S. president plans to hold a rally on May 17 in Washington to pray "for America's rededication to God."
