The False Prophets of Just War Theory

https://breakpoint.org/just-war-in-iran/

Both Stonestreet and his mentor the late Charles Colson provide ample evidence as to why Just War Theory is a malleable self-serving fiction. If the war is launched by a Republican president, they support it and provide (by means of sophistry) a theological and ethical justification.

Even if the war is based on lies, hype, and the manipulation of history - it doesn't matter. The American Empire can always count on its stooges to come up with an argument that provides an ethical cover for whatever it is the power-elites want to do. Whether it's bombing, assassination, kidnapping, or simply mass murder - history has shown there are always corrupt and morally bankrupt Court Theologians like Stonestreet ready to provide an argument and mislead the Church of Jesus Christ.

And so it is here as well - this time Stonestreet turns to Eric Patterson, a career government hack and propagandist who has spent his career in service to the Empire. I guess we're supposed to be impressed by his scholar-status in connection to Pat Robertson's Regent University - which is in reality a mark of shame. His name is also connected to the Right-wing project the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. As president of this non-profit propaganda network he rakes in a cool quarter-million dollars a year on paper, plus whatever other benefits he receives.

A quick look at his resume reveals why he is an advocate of war and conveniently he just happens to make a lot of money by running around teaching Christians to disobey the New Testament.

Just War Theory has absolutely no basis in the teaching of Christ or the apostles - something many scholars will admit. It's a post-Constantinian construct, a speculative philosophical exercise imagining a scenario the New Testament not only does not know - it cannot imagine. It's an attempt to put a religious gloss on a paradigm that is actually opposed to New Testament ethics and therefore to call it 'just' is certainly a misnomer. To call it Christian is blasphemy.

As expected, Patterson's justification vis-à-vis Iran ignores large swathes of history and views what little he does cover through a specifically Americo-centric (and self-serving) lens. The regime in Iran does not need to be defended. It's an evil government as is the United States - which has killed far more people, bombed more countries, and engaged in mass slaughter on numerous occasions. In other words the United States has no moral standing when it comes to Iran. Zionist Israel is of course also dripping in blood. The dynamics of the history between Washington, Tehran, and Tel Aviv are complicated and filled with treachery and violence.

As I repeatedly argue, I expect the beast-nations of the world to fight each other. It's to be expected over the course of this present evil age. What is obscene is the notion that we have counterfeit Christians running about (championed by apostate theologians and denominations) that teach Christians to take up the sword in these wars and suggest their participation is both warranted and even righteous. The same satanic spirit that produced the Crusades lives on it would seem.

We can answer point by point the arguments made about Iranian attacks in places like Lebanon and Iraq - but it's pointless because the Patterson's framing already demonstrates that he's either not interested in being truthful about the context of these events - or he is blind to them. Obviously Stonestreet knows no better but simply endorses this pseudo-historiography and heretical theology. This is all the more ironic given the fact that the Trump administration keeps changing the story and providing different narratives and justifications for the attack. But that doesn't bother Patterson - he's willing to help and provide a boilerplate argument. Just fill in the blanks.

Governments lie and the American government has lied about every war it has ever fought. Vietnam was a lie. Panama was a lie as was Gulf War I. The 2003 invasion of Iraq was based on lies but this didn't stop Colson from enthusiastically endorsing it. The invasion of Afghanistan was also based on a narrative of lies and deception going back to the 1970's. Libya was a lie. American intervention in Syria was based on lies. The Balkan Wars of the 1990's rested on deception and the current spate of Middle Eastern wars are also rooted in deceptive and manipulated narratives. Netanyahu is a butcher and Trump is well on his way to earning the mass murderer designation that seems to typify all US presidents.

No matter the war, the assassination, and genocide - there will always be corrupt, Biblically ignorant, and morally bankrupt theologians to justify the action. Stonestreet even went out of his way to justify Trump's assassination of Qasem Soleimani in 2020 - identifying it as in accord with Christian ethics. Clearly Stonestreet has little to no clue as to what New Testament Christianity even is.

This is but further testimony to the apostasy that is American Evangelicalism.

Stonestreet enjoins his audience to think like Christians. Indeed and one sure way to do that is turn away from anything he has to say. Bamboozled by the dissonance of Kuyperian Worldview and the flawed thinking of figures like Francis Schaeffer, Stonestreet believes he is a champion of the Kingdom. In reality he is a living Balaam, or another son of Azur akin to the Hananiah who opposed Jeremiah.

Stonestreet tells Christians to 'go up' and 'peace, peace' - you may kill, slaughter, and steal and yet God will not be angry with you. He will bless you even as you make a mockery of His commandments.

This is the word given to us by John Stonestreet, Eric Patterson, and the pseudo-theologians of Just War Theory.