Deus Vult. God wills it, in Latin. That was a rallying cry in 1095 when Pope Urban made plans to dispatch a Christian army to expel Muslims from Jerusalem. It was the first Crusade.There were seven Crusades in all over the next 200 years, most of them failures. But the rallying cry — Deus Vult, God wills it, lived on, reinforcing the certainty, self-righteousness, and ultimately the cruelty of a protracted and misguided Christian witness.
Nearly a thousand years later, Deus Vult lives on. The Latin rallying cry is tattooed on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s bicep. His rhetoric, while offered in English, casts Operation Epic Fury as a 21st century Crusade when he exhorts people to “get down on bended knee in your schools, in your churches, in the name of Jesus Christ” to support the bombardment of Iran as it rains down death and destruction.
Deus Vult. God wills it? Really? That level of spiritual certainty, which then becomes justification for an immoral and illegal assault, is, for me and so many others, an assault on the Christian Gospel. On one level I get it. Presenting the operation as a response to God’s will provides theological cover for the lack of coordination, collaboration, clear articulation of goals, and the absence of preparation for the consequences of the bombing, all of which are creating economic, seismic and spiritual shockwaves around the world. God wills it, so everything falls under that — which makes it OK. Yet not only is all this an assault on the Gospel, it is a serious breach of the third commandment: “Thou shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.” (Exodus 20:7) Most of us were taught that the third commandment meant that we shouldn’t use bad words. That is only part of it. The third commandment is a directive that we should never use God to support our own agenda. Never do that. God is not some sort of tool that we take out to advance our own purpose. It leads to a dangerous arrogance and error: the thought that God is on my side. The only side that God has ever been on is God’s side. President Trump has not given theological justification for his orders as Commander in Chief, but we have learned – over and over again – that he will readily glom on to anyone and everyone who supports his words and actions. He may not be making the case that Epic Fury is an extension of Deus Vult, but there are plenty of people who are.
I took Secretary Hegseth’s comments with me on a three day retreat this past weekend. I spent a lot of time in silence, much of which was spent praying before an icon of the crucifixion of Jesus. For years I have tried to avoid the gruesome image of Jesus nailed to the cross. It seemed like an unnecessary reminder of violence, and an almost glorification of death. This weekend’s pilgrimage was different. While I could readily see the violence depicted on the icon, which immediately brought me back to the story of his arrest, so-called trial, and torture, all of which are historical facts and horrific displays of human cruelty, displays which have continued often unabated in the 2000 years since, I saw something else. I could see the pain on Jesus’ face, which is understandable given all that he was put through, but I also saw weariness. Weariness over the fact that he experienced, yet again, how inhumane we can be to one another. This identification of weariness may be a kind of projection on my part. I recognize that tendency, but that is what I saw and felt. What I also saw and felt — and this is clearly a claim from my faith, is that Jesus’ outstretched arms were an embrace of humanity. In the moments of extreme anguish he could embrace the whole world. With love. he whole world. Christians, Jews, Muslims, supporters of Operation Fury and those who oppose it. Everyone. At the end, at the bitter end of his life, he demonstrated l that love with outstretched arms. Hard to imagine then. Hard to imagine now.
That is the charge I take away from my retreat. That is the charge I pass on. Love never ends. Even in death. In these days when the powers that be twist the faith into a crusade to deny, dismiss, and destroy those lives which don’t fit what is a dangerously limited and repellent conception of humanity, a commitment to love — which is fundamental to the roots of every major religion, needs to be embraced. And demonstrated. Over and over again. In big and small ways. Even when it seems too hard. Love is a life-giving weapon. It can help heal – ourselves and the parts of the world where we demonstrate our love. Love is what we can bring to counter the ideological certainty and arrogance that is driving this war. It is a much needed weapon. Let’s use it.
