IT is something of an embarrassment to have to tell the rest of the world that our system of government is essentially based on the 16th century Reformation, which divided Catholics from Protestants.

Our increasingly secular society is still split by sectarian politics, which are derived originally from religious differences – although few of our politicians could put forward a plausible theological argument in favour of either side.

However, although our domestic politics harks back 500 years, there is another country which, in its foreign policy, is strongly influenced by religious events 1,000 years ago.

Step forward the United States and in particular Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

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His writings and speeches strongly suggest that he sees the Iran war as a re-run of the medieval Crusades, when European Christians attacked and often massacred Muslims in the Holy Land.

In 1095, Pope Urban II launched the Crusades and offered a plenary indulgence to those who took part.

When he announced his plan at the Council of Clermont, the crowd responded by shouting “Deus vult”, meaning “God wills it”.

According to press reports, Hegseth has a tattoo of that phrase, alongside the Jerusalem cross – a symbol also associated with the Crusades.

“Deus vult” appeared on some banners and flags carried by those attacking Washington’s Capitol Building in January 2021, after Donald Trump lost the previous year’s election.

The phrase has come to symbolise religious warfare supporting a white Christian supremacy.

Joe Kent, director of the US National Counterterrorism Centre, resigned this week because he said Iran posed no imminent threat to the US.

So was America’s latest attack on a foreign country influenced by religious prejudice?

There is ample evidence in what Hegseth has said and written to suggest that “religion” (if that’s not a misuse of the word) looms large in his thinking.

In his 2020 book American Crusade: Our Fight To Stay Free, he directly equates modern “American Crusaders” with Christian warriors of the 12th century, arguing that both required courage against Islamic enemies.

He describes “Deus vult” as “the rallying cry of Christian knights as they marched to Jerusalem”.

In an interview with the news network CNN, he said Iran should not doubt US resolve, because it is backed by the higher power: “The providence of our almighty God is there”, protecting US troops.

So God is on America’s side in the fight against Iranian leaders, whom the President has called “deranged scumbags”.

Trump says it is “a great honour” to kill them. Perhaps he believed he was smiting Muslims on God’s behalf when, for example, he decided he might bomb Iran’s Kharg Island “just for fun”.

In view of God’s ongoing silence on the matter, Hegseth quoted Psalm 144 at a press conference: “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.”

More than 200 complaints to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation included one where a commander told non-commissioned officers to tell their troops that attacking Iran “was all part of God’s divine plan”.

With God’s backing (and maybe even God’s bidding, for all we know) how can Hegseth’s mass bombing fail?

Perhaps he does not know that the US dropped over 7.5 million tons of bombs in Vietnam between 1965 and 1975. Despite that, the Americans were defeated by peasants wearing parts of car tyres for sandals and transporting munitions by bicycle.

Hegseth’s “religious” motivation comes from his belief in Christian reconstructionism.

It is a fundamentalist movement based on the idea that society should be reconstructed by restoring certain biblical laws. It appears to be the Christian equivalent of Iran’s Islamic fundamentalism.

It does not appear to include compassion, because Hegseth has yet to offer condolences to the families of the 160 people, mainly children, killed in a US air strike on an Iranian school.

We might reasonably conclude, therefore, that the increasing price of oil is all the work of God. Those shivering at home because they cannot afford heating oil can take some solace from the knowledge that their problem was made in heaven.

Most people regard religion (of whatever denomination) as a moral compass for human behaviour.

However, as we have seen in Ireland and elsewhere, its downside is that the cloak of religion can also offer some wonderful opportunities to do evil.

Samuel Johnson said that patriotism was the last refuge of a scoundrel. We might add that some scoundrels also find refuge in religion and we only have to look at the Trump administration for some of the best examples.

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