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By Newspot Nigeria Editorial Desk
The world is watching with unease as fresh violence erupts in the Middle East. Just hours ago, American warplanes dropped powerful bunker-busting bombs on Iran’s nuclear sites — striking places like Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan. Iran responded with waves of missiles targeting Israeli cities, while families on both sides scrambled for safety. In the fog of war, one might assume that only generals, diplomats, and world leaders are making the calls. But behind these decisions, something else is quietly stirring — something that may seem surprising at first: the influence of pastors.
Yes — pastors.
From Church Pulpits to the White House
In the United States, especially among conservative Christians, pastors are more than preachers. They’re cultural guides, political influencers, and — in moments like this — powerful voices in foreign affairs.
Take Pastor John Hagee, the founder of Christians United for Israel (CUFI). With over 10 million members, CUFI isn’t just a church network. It’s one of the largest pro-Israel advocacy groups in the world, with deep ties to lawmakers in Washington. At its annual summits, U.S. senators and presidential hopefuls sit on stage beside pastors, quoting scripture while discussing national security.
Or consider Jentezen Franklin, a well-known megachurch pastor whose messages on fasting, faith, and family have reached millions — and whose political support has helped shape U.S. discourse around Israel and the Middle East.
For these pastors and many of their followers, supporting Israel is not just political. It’s spiritual. Biblical. A matter of obedience to God. That belief drives powerful advocacy efforts — and in turn, influences foreign policy.
When Theology Crosses into Strategy
Traditionally, countries define their foreign policy based on national interests: protecting citizens, deterring threats, upholding alliances, and maintaining peace. Scholar Graham Allison and others have long provided frameworks to guide such decisions. But in today’s America, especially among evangelical communities, those interests are increasingly reinterpreted through a religious lens.
Here’s where an important moral and legal tradition offers clarity: the just war theory.
This doctrine — which has guided thinkers from Augustine to international law — insists that war must meet certain ethical criteria before it can be justified:
- Jus ad bellum (justice in going to war): Was war a last resort? Is the cause just? Are the intentions right?
- Jus in bello (justice during war): Are noncombatants protected? Are attacks proportional? Are war methods humane?
And yet, in the case of the recent U.S.–Israel airstrikes on Iran, we must ask:
- Were all diplomatic channels truly exhausted?
- Was there an imminent threat that couldn’t be contained through other means?
- And are the lives of ordinary people — Iranian, Israeli, American — being taken into account as more than just statistics?
Because while bombs may be dropped in the name of defense or prophecy, moral clarity demands more than slogans. It demands restraint. Discipline. Humanity.
Obama’s Warning: From Mount Moriah to Modern War Rooms
Even former U.S. President Barack Obama, a man of faith and reason, once offered a profound reflection on the limits of religious reasoning in public decisions. In 2006, he revisited the Biblical story of Abraham preparing to sacrifice Isaac, and imagined the reaction if it occurred today:
“If we saw Abraham on a rooftop raising his knife, we’d call the police and expect Child Protective Services to intervene… because we do not hear what Abraham hears.”
His message? In a pluralistic democracy, we must translate personal faith into shared reasoning. Policy — especially one involving war — cannot rest on divine claims heard by one group alone. It must be grounded in principles others can understand, debate, and consent to.
In this light, war cannot be declared by revelation alone. It must pass the tests of law, ethics, necessity, and mercy.
What’s Really Happening Now?
Since mid-June 2025, tensions have boiled over. Israel struck over 100 Iranian sites. The U.S. followed with heavy airstrikes, causing major damage to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. Iran fired back with hundreds of missiles. Civilians in Tel Aviv, Tehran, and beyond have suffered. Families have fled cities. Hospitals have filled with the wounded. And still, in many American churches, these events are seen not as crises but as fulfillment — not as tragedy, but as prophecy.
But if we follow the principles of just war theory, such responses cannot be automatic. They must be weighed, not just believed. Because while prophecy may inspire faith, only ethics can protect people.
What This Means for Nigeria
Nigeria is one of the most religious nations on Earth. We love our pastors, our imams, our prophets. Their voices matter — in homes, in elections, and even in governance. But their influence must be handled with care. When religious rhetoric drives military action — abroad or at home — it can silence dissent, blur reason, and lead to violence.
We must ask:
- Are our spiritual leaders promoting peace — or unwittingly glorifying conflict?
- Are our policymakers using faith as a lens — or as a weapon?
- And are we — as a nation — building our foreign policy based on real national interests, or just following imported theological blueprints?
Final Reflections
War is not just fought with missiles. It’s fought with ideas — and sometimes, with sermons. But when pastors become policymakers, and pulpit declarations carry more weight than diplomatic cables, we must pause. We must ask the hard questions.
Faith can guide our conscience. But only reason, justice, and restraint can guide our response to war.
As the smoke rises in the Middle East, and the world wonders what comes next, Nigeria must chart its own path — grounded not only in faith, but in wisdom.
Newspot Nigeria stands committed to helping Nigerians think through the world with depth, dignity, and clarity — never swayed by fear, and never silent in the face of ethical questions.
