I reviewed a number of evangelical statements, declarations, and manifestos spanning more than fifty years in order to look at the orthopraxy to which we were called: Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern (1973); Lausanne Covenant (1974); The Manila Manifesto (1989); The Amsterdam Declaration (2000); The Health Of Our Nation (2004); An Evangelical Manifesto (2008); The Capetown Commitment (2010); For the Health Of The Nation 2014; and the Seoul Statement (2024).
- "we must challenge our misplaced trust of the nation in economic and military might – a proud trust that promotes a national pathology of war and violence which victimizes our neighbors at home and abroad."
- "Among the evils we deplore are destructive violence, including institutionalized violence, political corruption, all forms of exploitation of people and of the earth..."
- "We urge governments to pursue thoroughly nonviolent paths to peace before resorting to military force. We believe that if governments are going to use military force, they must use it in the service of peace and not merely in their national interest. Military force must be guided by the classical just-war principles, which are designed to restrain violence by establishing the right conditions for and right conduct in fighting a war. In an age of nuclear and biological terrorism, such principles are more important than ever. We urge followers of Jesus to engage in practical peacemaking locally, nationally, and internationally. As followers of Jesus, we should, in our civic capacity, work to reduce conflict by promoting international understanding and engaging in non-violent conflict resolution."
- "We acknowledge with grief and shame the complicity of Christians in some of the most destructive contexts of ethnic violence and oppression, and the lamentable silence of large parts of the Church when such conflicts take place. Such contexts include the history and legacy of racism and black slavery; the holocaust against Jews; apartheid; ‘ethnic cleansing’; inter-Christian sectarian violence; decimation of indigenous populations; inter-religious, political and ethnic violence; Palestinian suffering; caste oppression; and tribal genocide…"
- "We urge governments to pursue domestic, foreign and security policies that encourage justice and peace by preventing conflict. We urge governments to thoroughly pursue nonviolent paths to peace. If governments use military force, they should deploy it justly in the service of sustainable peace and not to serve narrow national interests. Governments should at a minimum restrain violence by applying classical just war principles, which are designed to clarify the limited conditions under which military action is justifiable, and establish standards of right conduct in fighting a war...As such, we urge the Body of Christ to engage in sober, practical peacemaking, nonviolent conflict resolution and citizen diplomacy at local, national and international levels."
- "We repent of our failures to condemn and restrain violence by remaining silent, by promoting nationalism, or by unjustly supporting conflicts through deficient theological justification. We condemn those who use their influence in world affairs to promote avoidable conflicts and wars, merely to further their economic and political interests. We are saddened by the immense suffering their actions have caused. We believe that they will be held accountable before God on the day of judgement. We call all Christians to serve the vulnerable in contexts of war by pooling our resources and supporting the relief efforts of churches and humanitarian organizations that are situated near conflict zones..."
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The Climate Of Violence
During a campaign rally on January 23, 2016, in Sioux Center, Iowa, to highlight the extreme loyalty of his base ahead of the Iowa caucuses, Trump stated, "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?" The crowd inside the 1,500-seat theater laughed and cheered at the remark. This kind of sentiment comes up a lot, though not always that extreme. Trump’s encouragement to exercise violence to solve problems has happened over and over again.During an August 9, 2016, campaign rally, then-candidate Donald Trump remarked, "If [Hillary Clinton] gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don't know."
On February 1, 2016, he told the audience at a rally in Iowa, “If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously, okay? Just knock the hell—I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise, I promise.”
In November 2015, in response to a Fox News host asking about a heckler at Trump’s rally in Alabama the day before, Trump said,“Maybe he should have been roughed up, because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing.”
“I’d like to punch him in the face,” he said on February 22, 2016, about a protester who disrupted a Las Vegas rally.
“I would bring back waterboarding. And I’d bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.” (February 6, 2016, at a Republican-primary debate.) Sixteen days later, at a rally in Las Vegas, he said, “They said to me, ‘What do you think of waterboarding?’ I said, ‘I think it’s great, but I don’t think we go far enough.’ It’s true, it’s true—right? We don’t go far enough. We don’t go far enough.”
“Any guy that can do a body slam, he is my guy!” (October 18, 2018, This was a reference to then-Representative Greg Gianforte on October 18, 2018, who had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge for physically assaulting a reporter.
On May 29, 2020, he posted this on Twitter during the protests and riots in Minneapolis after George Floyd was murdered: “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” (This is widely considered to be a racist "dog whistle".)
At a rally in Lancaster County in 2024, he said, "“I have this piece of glass here,” he said. “But all we have really over here is the fake news. And to get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news. And I don’t mind that so much.”
“Can’t you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?” According to former Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s memoir, Trump having asked this about protesters outside the White House. Trump has denied saying this, but it certainly tracks with previous sentiments. [1]
A recent survey asked for a response to this statement: "Because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country." The survey found that 23% agreed in 2023, up from 15% in 2021. But among white evangelical Protestants, 31% supported the statement—significantly more than non-Christians and religiously unaffiliated Americans (23%). Every other Christian group surveyed supported political violence at rates significantly lower than evangelicals.
“If you had one really violent day … one rough hour—and I mean real rough—the word will get out, and it will end immediately,” Trump said at a rally in September 2024, proposing a violent crackdown by police to deal with crime.
Perhaps it is no surprise that federal judges who've ruled against Trump administration have experienced threats against themselves and their families. Violence is not only permissible now; it's encouraged.
Before we look at specific war conflicts, it's important to note a change that Pete Hegseth made that has direct implications for civilians living in war zones.
So as you read of civilian deaths, keep in mind that the group designed specifically to keep civilians safe in war has been gutted by Hegseth.
Pete Hesgeth has used violent language of crusades and holy wars to justify the war in Iran, while advocating for war crimes. He disdains “stupid rules of engagement” and promised to give “no quarter” to the “barbaric savages” of the Iranian regime, an act prohibited by the Geneva Convention.
Hesgeth claimed that a soldier who dies fighting for the United States will inherit eternal life. “The willingness to make sacrifices on behalf of one’s country is born in one thing: a deep and abiding belief in God’s love for us and his promise of eternal life. The passage says, ‘For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.’ The warrior who is willing to lay down his life for his unit, his country, and his Creator, that warrior finds eternal life.” (Pete Hegseth, National Prayer Breakfast, February 5, 2026)
Nine months before a Tomahawk missile hit Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school in Minab, Iran, killing 175 (mostly children) the personal pastor of the US defense secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a sermon at the Pentagon. He included this: “If our Lord is sovereign even over the sparrow’s fallings, you can be assured that he is sovereign over everything else that falls in this world, including Tomahawk and Minuteman missiles... Jesus has the final say over all of it.” No one in the administration has taken responsibility or expressed remorse for the bombing, perhaps because Hesgeth is disdainful of the "stupid rules of engagement."
The U.S. took out drinking water reservoirs in Iran, which is a war crime. "On the evening of June 9, the USA, with what seems to be intent, attacked two reservoirs and a water treatment facility in southern Iran. Almost immediately afterwards, water was cut off to about 20,000 Iranian civilians who live around the southern Iranian town of Sirik."
Trump posted an AI generated image of himself pushing the nuclear buttons during the war with Iran.
The administration posted videos interspersing war footage with video game footage, as if the war was a game.
Meanwhile, the war with Iran does not meet the criteria for a Just War. Yet as the Iran conflict escalated, a group of 20 evangelical leaders convened in the Oval Office to pray over Trump, asking God for "overwhelming violence" against enemies. Perhaps it is no surprise that surveys demonstrate that traditional evangelicals are more likely than other Americans to approve of U.S. engagement in a preemptive war (60%-70%) and condone the use of torture (62%).SOMALIA AND YEMEN
Trump intensified verbal attacks by suggesting Canada could become America's "51st state," showing maps of Canada draped in the U.S. flag, and arguing that border treaties were no longer valid.
"Trump has himself threatened Canada time and again, calling for the US to absorb Canada and repeatedly suggesting that the border between the two nations should be erased. Nor is this just idle chatter; just last week we learned that that Trump administration officials had begun meeting directly with separatists in Alberta, who are keen to break their province off of Canada and attach it to the US." ("The United States is once again Canada’s biggest threat.")
The MP from Ontario told left-wing media outlet Meidastouch that he viewed Trump's tariffs and statehood pushes as an "act of war." "Well, I think Marco Rubio probably needs to be sent back to school because when you say that someone doesn’t have a right to have a country, that’s an act of war," he said. 'When you rip up, arbitrarily, trade agreements and threaten and say you’re going to break a country, that’s an act of war. And Canadians have responded in kind." ("Trump A US-Canada border 'artificial', Canadian MP calls statehood push ‘act of war.’")
In July of 2026, Trump posted a picture on Truth Social of poster of all of North America, including Canada, covered by an American flag. He showed this poster to a room full of European leaders.GREENLAND
"US President Donald Trump has doubled down on his threats to take control of Greenland, saying there is "no going back". Asked at a news conference how far he was willing to go to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory, he replied: "You'll find out..." Trump has not ruled out using military force to acquire Greenland. Asked by NBC News on Tuesday whether he would use force to seize the territory, the president replied: "No comment." ("Trump doubles down on Greenland ahead of Davos visit, saying there is 'no going back'")
At one point, Denmark and allied European nations deployed small numbers of troops to Greenland to reinforce the territory's sovereignty. However, following diplomatic talks with NATO, Trump reversed course, and officially abandoned the threat.
But...on July 3, 2026, I read this:
"U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Greenland says Trump “has not forgotten” about his desire to take over the Danish territory, saying it was raised as recently as last weekend.
In a podcast released Wednesday, Jeff Landry, who is also the sitting governor of Louisiana, said the U.S. could “bring them right into the fold” with “some little things,” like sending more military personnel and opening up more trade, which he claimed Greenlanders support.
“He was talking to me Saturday night, ‘We need to get Greenland,'” Landry said of Trump while speaking on Breitbart’s Alex Marlow Show. “He has not forgotten about it."
I laid out some things with the president,” Landry said later. “Let me tell you, from a strategic natural resources standpoint, that place is unbelievably important to us. I mean, there’s a great oil and gas reserve there. There are great rare earth minerals there. There’s great fishing there. I mean, it’s a great place, so we’re gonna get it.” (Trump ‘has not forgotten’ about threats to seize Greenland, U.S. envoy says.")
CUBA
"Added to these new sanctions are the recent threats from President Trump, who stated that he will 'take control of Cuba almost immediately.' According to Trump, once the conflict with Iran is over, he could send the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to the Caribbean, 'about 100 meters off the coast of Cuba.' On April 28, a group of Democratic senators attempted to pass a resolution that would limit Trump’s ability to launch a unilateral attack against Cuba, but the motion failed to secure the necessary votes." ("Trump imposes new sanctions against Cuba and threatens war.")"President Donald Trump and America's top diplomat on Thursday again raised the specter of U.S. military intervention in Cuba, a renewed threat that takes on greater weight a day after the administration announced criminal charges against the island's former leader, Raúl Castro. Trump said previous U.S. presidents have considered intervening in Cuba for decades but that 'it looks like I'll be the one that does it. Other presidents have looked at this for 50, 60 years, doing something,' Trump told reporters when asked about Cuba during an environmental event in the Oval Office. 'And, it looks like I'll be the one that does it. So, I would be happy to do it.'" ("Rubio doubtful of diplomacy with Cuba as Trump raises new threat of military action.")
"Miguel Díaz-Canel did not hold back over the taunts from the US President and said that Cuba was 'getting ready' for a possible war with its neighbour. Trump has been talking of military action in Cuba ever since ousting Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela and then ordering an energy blockade that choked off fuel shipments to Cuba. That has led to severe blackouts, food shortages and an economic collapse across the island. But Díaz-Canel said the Caribbean country was willing to 'fight until the very last drop of blood in order to defend our rights, our independence, and sovereignty'". ("Cuba defies Trump and says it is 'not afraid' to go to war with United States.")
ISRAEL AND GAZA
There is no doubt that Israel had a right to respond to the horrific attack from Hezbollah, but their response has resulted in approximately 73,000 civilian deaths in Gaza (another 10,000 are missing), and thousands more have died from disease, starvation, and a lack of medical care, 21,000 of whom are children. Meanwhile, powerful Israeli voices are calling for genocide.
"As Rabbi Eliyahu Mali, the head of a military program for religious students in Jaffa, said in March 2024:'If you don’t kill them first, they will kill you. The terrorists of today are the children of the previous operation whom you kept alive, and the women are those who produce the terrorists … Do not try to outsmart the Torah. The Torah tells you: ‘Do not keep alive any soul,’ so you should not keep alive any soul.'” ("In Israel, calls for genocide have migrated from the margins to the mainstream.")
The UN claims that Gaza’s health system for mothers and newborns has been ruined, with Israeli attacks destroying almost all hospitals, cutting off medical supplies and driving sharp rises in maternal deaths, miscarriages and newborn fatalities amid mass displacement and hunger. 94% of Gaza’s hospitals have been damaged or destroyed, leaving pregnant women and newborns without essential care."The Israeli blockade has also prevented the entry of objects indispensable to the survival of civilians, including medical supplies and nutrients required to sustain pregnancies and ensure safe childbirth,” the Office said. By late 2024, women in Gaza were three times more likely to die in childbirth and three times more likely to miscarry compared with pre-war levels, while newborn deaths also increased...The blockade has driven severe shortages of food and baby formula. As of October 2025, 463 Palestinians had died from malnutrition, including 157 children, the Ministry of Health reported."
("Gaza’s maternal and newborn health system ‘decimated’, UN warns.")
How has the administration responded?
"President Donald Trump shocked many critics over the weekend when he suggested what amounts to an ethnic cleansing operation of removing Palestinians completely out of their homes in Gaza... After Kushner left the White House when Trump was voted out of office in 2020, he founded a private equity fund called Affinity Partners that is focused on large real estate projects and that raised massive sums of money from Middle Eastern governments such as Saudi Arabia. He then points to comments that Kushner has made in the past about potential development projects in Gaza that could be accomplished if Palestinians are kicked off the land. "In a February 15, 2024, interview at Harvard's Middle East Initiative, Kushner described Gaza's 'waterfront property' as 'very valuable,'" observes Legum. "Kushner said Israel should seek to 'move people out' and then 'clean it up.' Further, Kushner said that the United States should pursue 'diplomacy' with Egypt to convince them to accept more Palestinians. He also indicated Jordan should accept Palestinian refugees, noting that Jordan had accepted Syrian refugees." ('Follow the money': Analyst connects the dots on Trump's 'radical' new foreign policy)
"President Donald Trump shared a bizarre AI video depicting a future vision of Gaza as a beach resort to his Truth Social account on Tuesday, 26 February. The AI video, which appears to be fan-made, featured a depiction of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lounging on a beach next to the US President, with the words “Trump Gaza” inscribed between the two men. Elon Musk eating hummus, gold statues of Trump, and Tesla’s cars also make appearances alongside bearded women dancing on the beach, somewhat incomprehensibly. The 78-year-old shared the video without including a comment. Earlier this year, Mr Trump announced his plans for Gaza, including developing the area into the “Riviera of the Middle East” and relocating two million Gazans to neighbouring countries." ("Trump posts bizarre AI video of Gaza vision as beach resort featuring golden statues and bearded belly dancers.")
Trump has echoed Kushner's comments about Gaza having prime waterfront property that's ripe for development. ("'Follow the money': Analyst connects the dots on Trump's 'radical' new foreign policy.")
Meanwhile, as this genocidal war continues, the U.S is moving to intertwine the militaries of the two countries more closely than ever.
UKRAINE
After campaigning on the promise to stop the war in 48 hours, Trump has refused to push Russia to stop their unjust war with Ukraine, coupled with decreasing help for Ukriane and special exemptions for Russia (such as not leveling any tariffs on them).
For example, Trump terminated a U.S.-funded initiative that contained "a sensitive database detailing the mass deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia..." The project was headed up by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, but that contract was recently scrapped by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. When the it abruptly ended, researchers reported losing "access to a trove of information, including satellite imagery and biometric data tracking the identities and locations of as many as 35,000 children from Ukraine." ("Trump may have just helped Putin cover up war crimes involving children: report.")
"It is with this background that you can surmise how I have felt about the President of the United States recently suggesting that Ukraine somehow bears responsibility for its own slaughter; about an American special envoy equivocating that Russia was “provoked” into war; about the Vice President of the United States telling Europeans that their own governments are more of a threat than a dictatorial nuclear power at their doorstep that slaughters indiscriminately; and the American representation at the United Nations refusing to condemn Russia for its actions—let alone the conduct of our President and Vice President at The White House this past Friday during their meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. These are not the actions of a staunch defender of democracy, human rights and freedom who upholds those values on the world stage for all to see. On the contrary, they are the actions of a transactionalist who peddles the fibs of an autocrat in order to try and strike a deal." ("On Ukraine.")
"Liz Cheney wrote on X following a meeting between Zelensky and Trump at the White House, “Generations of American patriots, from our revolution onward, have fought for the principles Zelenskyy is risking his life to defend. But today, Donald Trump and JD Vance attacked Zelenskyy and pressured him to surrender the freedom of his people to the KGB war criminal who invaded Ukraine. History will remember this day— when an American President and Vice President abandoned all we stand for.” ("Donald Trump Cancels Press Conference With Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky After Oval Office Shouting Match — Update.")
"A US fuel supplier has dramatically cut ties with the American military following Donald Trump's shouting match with Volodymyr Zelensky. In a strongly worded statement, Haltbakk Bunkers said it made the decision due to Trump and JD Vance's surreal spectacle with Ukrainian President Zelensky. It said it will no longer supply American military ships in Norway or those docking in Norwegian ports because it has a 'moral compass'. Haltbakk Bunkers praised President Zelensky and said in a statement: 'We have decided to immediately STOP as fuel provider to American forces in Norway and their ships calling Norwegian ports...'No Fuel to Americans!', concluding their statement with the slogan 'Slava Ukraina' in support of Ukraine. ("US fuel supplier cuts ties with American military in VERY strongly worded statement about Trump's Oval Office bust-up with Zelensky.")"Annoyed, apparently, that Ukraine’s democratically elected leader objected to negotiations to which he was not invited—negotiations over a war in which he is one of the two combatants—Trump literally blamed him and the country he leads for the war itself. “Today I heard, ‘Oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years. You should have ended it—three years. You should have never been there. You should have never started it. You should have made a deal.” You should never have started it. What madness, what cravenness, what repulsive factitiousness, is this?" ("What Did Trump Just Say About Ukraine? WHAT???")
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Historically, evangelicalism called Christians to be peacemakers, to exercise restraint in war, to grieve violence even when force became tragically necessary, and to refuse to confuse the Kingdom of God with the kingdoms of this world.
Today, in practice, many of its most influential voices celebrate aggression, excuse violent rhetoric, minimize civilian suffering, and speak about war with an enthusiasm that would have alarmed previous generations of evangelical leaders.
We once said: "We Evangelicals trace our heritage, not to Constantine, but to the very different stance of Jesus of Nazareth." (Evangelical Manifesto) I still believe that.
Governments bear responsibilities that individual Christians do not, and thoughtful Christians can disagree about the application of Just War principles. But there is a profound difference between recognizing that force may sometimes be tragically necessary and delighting in violence, threatening annihilation, mocking civilian deaths, or speaking as though military domination is the hope of the world.
The Kingdom of God is never spread by the sword. At best, the sword may restrain evil for a season. It cannot produce repentance. It cannot create love. It cannot reconcile enemies. It cannot usher in the reign of Christ. Jesus does those things.
That is why I cannot celebrate rhetoric that glorifies violence or theology that baptizes it. If modern evangelicalism increasingly does so, then it has wandered from the Jesus who blessed peacemakers, loved His enemies, and refused the sword.
I intend to keep following Him instead.
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