Killing in God’s name – America’s 20th century Crusade |
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,........