Does God Choose Sides in War?
US-Iran Conflict Bears the Question Yet Again
Krishna at the Side of Arjuna
It has been said that several millennia ago, on the Indian subcontinent, a great fratricidal war raged that pitted brother against brother, father against son.
The war brought together the greatest fighters of the day, none greater than the esteemed warrior, Arjuna.
As he stood in his chariot on the edge of battle, he looked across enemy lines and saw the faces of his kinsfolk he was set to kill. Reduced to great sadness from this predicament, the otherwise fierce warrior lost heart and decided not to fight at all.
It was then that the supreme godhead himself, Krishna, personally spoke with Arjuna, sharing the wisdom needed to convince him to forge ahead in the fight. Krishna was on Arjuna’s side and even though Arjuna was unsure about his situation, he was nonetheless confident that his great aide would not lead him astray.
The result of this divine conversation between wise deity and warrior is the ancient text, The Bhagavad Gita, which is the basis of modern yoga practice today.
Aside from giving us the basics of sun salutations, the story tells us a lot about a fairly consistent phenomenon that has arisen seemingly as long as human beings have been around to fight war:
We claim that God is on our side.
In fact, here in the example of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna being on a given side is not so much a claim as it is an actual fact of the matter. This is likewise observed in Homer’s Iliad in which Athena famously went full deus ex machina on the Trojans in her efforts to help the Greeks win their decisive victories in the epic tale.
Modern American Claims of God on Our Side
So, okay, we see these claims in ancient literature featuring mythical gods.
But what about in the modern age which includes the monotheistic understanding of the all-everything being known as God?
Immediately, it is important to note that the respective developments of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have all been due to military conquest with various degrees of explicit claims that God is indeed on their side.
Take that notion into the existence of the modern nation, and the same holds true. It is actually quite common for national leaders and whole nations to implicitly or even explicitly claim that God is in fact on their side.
Consider the words of President Trump last week when he announced the armed conflict in Iran.
After making his case for the imminent threat that forced his hand, he stated,
“...we ask God to protect all of our heroes in harm’s way. And we trust that with his help, the men and women of the armed forces will prevail.”
With his help.
Looking at that quote in further detail beside just hearing it is fascinating in relation to the question at hand. What he is saying here is beyond a simple implication of God supporting or assisting soldiers in their personal quest to do their duty.
This is an explicit suggestion that:
God is in fact on the side of the American army.
God will demonstrably help the American army in some way in achieving their military goals.
If you concede that God, the all-everything creator of the universe, is in fact on the side of the American army, the way in which that help will be done is a curious thing to ponder.
Will God literally guide bullets and missiles to precise locations?
Will God provide the US military with superhuman knowledge to know enemy locations?
Or is this just a euphemism basically acknowledging that we have a theistic history and we are hopeful that the prayers and worship of our God will steady the nerves of our soldiers and give them peace as they go about their arduous task?
Clearly, it seems that it is just a euphemism but I would caution against just writing it off automatically as such.
Bush and the Divine Gift of Freedom
Like so many people, this US-Iran situation reminds me of the US-Iraq situation of the 2000’s.
I remember where I was when 9/11 occurred and I certainly remember where I was on March 19, 2003 when President Bush told the nation that we would be going all in on Iraq.
Here is his speech - it is definitely worth the watch:
Far beyond Trump’s approach to God, Bush is forcefully explicit in his claims that God is so clearly on the side of the US.
The US is, after all, the perfect extension of God on earth.
As he said:
“Freedom is not America’s gift to the world; it is the gift of God to humanity.”
Using the basic logic of that statement, Americans should have all concluded the following:
Freedom is a gift from God.
America is the embodiment of freedom.
America must share that freedom with the oppressed.
America is doing the work of God in Iraq.
In this sense, God isn’t just on the side of the Americans - the Americans are essentially God’s military of justice, peace, and freedom.
Crusaders wrapped in red, white, and blue.
Now, for how forceful the claims of God being on the side of the Americans are in these references, more radical, notorious examples of this question come from the complete opposite side, too.
9/11, and modern Islamic terrorism as we know it, finds its roots in a religious fundamentalism that absolutely claims God is on the side of the “martyr” doing this work.
Concerning Iran, the ‘79 revolution, the establishment of their government, the subsequent hostage crisis, and the general way of life in Iran were all driven by religious zeal.
Allahu Akbar (God is Great) is scrawled across the flag, cementing the phrase as the perfect expression of the Iranian state fighting against the heathen secular West.
So, whose Side is God Really On?
In a literal sense, it is easy for the US citizen living in Philadelphia to reject the Iranian claims that God is on their side as ridiculous. However, it is quite easy for the Iranian citizen in Tehran to reject the same American claims as ridiculous as well. So, does this answer just get reduced to some sort of religious relativism - wherever you’re from or whatever country you support, that’s who God is with?
To be clear, claiming God is on your side is a much higher theological burden to prove than simply trying to answer the all-important question of who possesses moral authority in an armed conflict.
Disagree with Trump and the US decision to take direct military action all you want but you have an immense burden of proof to show that the Iranians hold moral sway in any way here.
Their government is repressive, unjust, and derelict in providing for basic rights of their citizens.
From a moral perspective, the US has the upper hand.
BUT…
Does that mean that God is on our side and actively helping us?
Maybe - but probably not.
Let’s just err on the side of each individual citizen honoring each other, their country, and their God in doing their duty.
Anything more than that starts getting into Bush circa 2003 or even worse. That, as history has shown us, is a circumstance we should avoid.