We are united by our commitment to nonviolence and our reverence for the pacifist tradition, so our conversations since Feb. 28 have been consumed by concern over war and human loss. Our pain over the glorification of the U.S. bringing death to Iran and its people is doubled by the parallel tragedy in Sudan and with Russia’s war against Ukraine now entering its fifth year; we fear the proliferation of these unneeded and destructive wars killing God’s children across the world.
A few weeks ago, we felt compelled to speak to the horrors of war, the need for peace, and the demands we faith leaders and all citizens must place on our elected officials. With American missiles killing children at their elementary school, we felt compelled to raise our collective voice and, in the words of Chuck D, be “louder than a bomb.”
Now, another war has been waged by the American administration: a war of words and deeds against religion itself.
It began in March when Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, known for his tattoos celebrating the purportedly holy violence of the Crusades, invoked Psalm 18 in asking for his enemies — Iran — to be consumed through the war he launched. It became clear that the white Christian nationalists currently running our government see the appallingly named Operation Epic Fury as a holy war. Hegseth, in building his prayer around the words ascribed to King David, might have found a fitting role model: The biblical books of Samuel and Kings make clear David’s opportunism, nepotism and sexual exploitation, all of which seem to serve as role models for this administration. Hegseth’s proposal of a white Christian crusade led by America’s armed forces was raised to a horrific new level on April 7, when the president wrote on social media, “A whole civilization will die tonight.”
The president of the United States made an unabashed threat of genocide. Condemnations followed almost immediately, from almost every quarter, spanning traditional advocacy organizations and former Trump supporter and former member of Congress Marjorie Taylor Greene. Perhaps the most outspoken — and most important — of these critics is Chicago’s own Pope Leo XIV.
The pope took direct aim at the Crusader cape donned by the administration, saying that Christ is “never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.” These Christians and one rabbi could not agree more with this point.
But the American president and his Catholic vice president disagreed; the former mocked the pope, and the latter effectively told him “to stay in his lane.” People of faith are not so easily deterred from speaking truth to power, even to power unafraid to drop bombs on its enemies.
And so last week, Pope Leo XIV spoke this warning: “Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.” The pope added that the world is being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants” who spend billions on war.
In response, the president pulled $11 million in funding from Catholic Charities that goes to support migrant children. This warring administration made it clear — through word and deed — that dissent will be punished. To our eyes, it seems the administration cannot handle powerful voices of moral authority and can only default to their tactics of bullying and punishment. Punishment that, in this case, ultimately affects children. Just like the children on whom the same administration drops bombs.
We applaud Leo for using Scripture to address this contemporary American evil. We are appalled that, in response, the administration — in prayer, tweet and news conference — misuses and abuses that same holy text. Although originally a painfully antisemitic adage, we see in our age William Shakespeare’s words brought to life: The devil can quote Scripture for his purpose.
We worry what will happen to our faith communities that continue to voice their conscience, speaking nonviolent truth to power in this military moment of war. How deeply will the administration cut our programs, the very lifelines we offer? Will the president’s war of words and punishment of the dissenting faith community escalate further? Will there be any point when either Congress or the courts will hold this administration in check?
We worry what will happen if those who hold light to our morality fail to hold the line in the face of derision and punishment. If faith leaders are silenced, it is likely others will capitulate. This is a moment for all of us — the media, the business community, hospital systems, universities — to show moral courage. These discriminatory tactics can paralyze courage. We must remain unafraid.
We remain unafraid to speak against the war, to speak against the domestic and international horrors perpetrated by this administration. We need leadership unafraid to hold these warmongers accountable; we must be willing to fill that breach and raise our voices. We must continue to counsel for treaty and peace; we must remind the faithful along with the nonbelievers that the God in whom we believe is never on the side of those who raise the sword or drop the bomb.
From our perspective in the pulpit, we must continue to preach the words of the prophets, to beat our swords into plowshares, our spears into pruning hooks. In the face of American leadership hell-bent on a modern Crusade, we can also remember the wise counsel of Bob Dylan: With God on our side, we won’t fight the next war.
Chicago faith leaders Rabbi Seth Limmer, the Rev. Otis Moss III, the Rev. Ciera Bates-Chamberlain and the Rev. Michael Pfleger joined the Tribune’s opinion section in summer 2022 for a series of columns on potential solutions to Chicago’s chronic gun violence problem. The column continues on an occasional basis.
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