Pope Leo And The Hypocrisy Of Vatican Censure - Trump, Iran, And The Crusades

 'God does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war'

In this disingenuous statement, Pope Leo has conveniently ignored Catholic history. The Crusades were not just armies of the West marching to Jerusalem to rid the Holy City of its Muslim infidel; but a militant statement of the power, glory, and rightful place of Christianity in the world.  They were different from the marauding armies of Genghis Khan who rode out of the steppes with a hundred thousand horsemen, laid waste to and then conquered the world from Europe to Asia.  

They were the instruments of God’s will, and as such they would be unstoppable.  Over a period of two hundred years, three Crusades marched out of Europe to the East, each to be the final one, the scattering of Islam and the establishment of the one true church.  While the Crusades ultimately failed in their military objective (the last Christian outpost in Palestine fell in 1291), they accomplished much, much more.

Of course the Crusades were of more than religious purpose.  The popes were as territorial and power-driven as any secular leader, and the agenda of the Crusades was as least as much geopolitical as spiritual.  Nevertheless, the Middle Ages was a profoundly religious period, as close to the imperial church and Constantine as England is to the Norman Conquest, far enough removed to engineer a new, historical Church, but close enough not to have lost missionary zeal.  

The Crusades were at once cultural expressions, political and military expeditions, and the consolidation of papal power. Yet they consolidated the collective identity of the Latin Church under papal leadership; and constituted a replenishable source  for accounts of heroism, chivalry, and piety that galvanized medieval romance, philosophy, and literature.  Most wars are fought by conscripts, and the Crusades were certainly no different, but in an age of militant Christianity and unquestioned belief they were just as certainly led by true believers.

The War of the Eight Saints (1375–1378)  arose between Pope Gregory XI and the Italian city-state of Florence, which opposed papal expansion in central Italy. The war was marked by Florence inciting revolts in the Papal States and the Pope retaliating with military action. The war ended with a compromise peace in 1378, contributing to the return of the papacy from Avignon to Rome.

The Holy Roman Empire - Papacy Wars primarily occurring from the 11th to the 13th centuries stemmed from power struggles between the German emperors and the papacy, particularly over the issue of lay investiture. Key events included the Investiture Controversy, where popes sought to establish ecclesiastical independence from imperial authority. Significant battles and political maneuvers characterized this period, culminating in the Concordat of Worms in 1122, which sought to delineate the roles of church and state.

 

This historical ignorance is just the most obvious reason to wonder whether the new Pope has come loose from his moorings. His deliberate omission of the intricate philosophical debates concerning the nature of just wars is nothing more than political grandstanding, a thinly-veiled criticism of the American war in Iran. 

Philosophers and theologians have always been concerned about the concept and nature of a just war.  Most believed that there was such a thing, and tried to fit conflict within larger religious and ethical constructs. In Ancient Rome, war was always potentially nefas ("wrong, forbidden") and risked religious pollution and divine disfavor.  

A just war (bellum iustum) thus required a ritualized declaration by the fetial priests More broadly, conventions of war and treaty-making were part of the ius gentium, the "law of nations", the customary moral obligations regarded as innate and universal to human beings. 

Augustine, perhaps Christianity’s most influential theologian was one of the first to assert that a Christian could be a soldier and serve God and country honorably. He claimed that, while individuals should not resort immediately to violence, God has given the sword to government for good reason (based upon Romans 13:4).

 

In Contra Faustum Manichaeum book 22 sections 69-76, Augustine argues that Christians as part of government should not be ashamed to protect peace and punish wickedness.



Nine hundred years later, another influential theologian, Thomas Aquinas set forth the conditions under which just wars should be fought:

• First, just war must be waged by a properly instituted authority such as the state. (Proper Authority is first: represents the common good: which is peace for the sake of man's true end—God.)
• Second, war must occur for a good and just purpose rather than for self-gain (for example, "in the nation's interest" is not just) or as an exercise of power. (Just Cause: for the sake of restoring some good that has been denied. i.e., lost territory, lost goods, punishment for an evil perpetrated by a government, army, or even the civilian populace.)
• Third, peace must be a central motive even in the midst of violence. (Right Intention: an authority must fight for the just reasons it has expressly claimed for declaring war in the first place. Soldiers must also fight for this intention.) 

New York Times journalist Jeff McMahan has written about the origins of the just war theory and how it is being challenged by the changing nature of war.  The principles of right wars and right conduct were developed and applied when wars took place between nation-states; but now that armed conflicts rarely pit countries against each other and more often set factions in opposition within a country or a region, these principles may no longer be applicable or appropriate. 

Enshrined in the principles of the Geneva Convention, such wars must adhere to the following principles:

In most presentations of the theory of the just war there are six principles of jus ad bellum [undertaking just wars], each with its own label: just cause, legitimate authority, right intention, necessity or last resort, proportionality and reasonable hope of success.  

Jus in bello [conduct in just wars]comprises three principles: discrimination, necessity or minimal force, and, again, proportionality. These principles articulate in a compressed form an understanding of the morality of war that is, in its fundamental structure, much the same as it was 300 years ago.

The moral argument comes when superpowers have to decide whether to intervene or not.  Surely there was a moral case for a just war for the United States to intervene in the Rwandan genocide and wage war against the Hutus; or to send in expeditionary forces into Sudan to stop the killings in Darfur; or to have intervened far earlier in the war in Bosnia.  

Many argue that in failing to fight that just war, America and its allies were immoral.  Justness or rightness have to be defined within the context of sins of omission as well as sins of commission.

What exactly is the Pope’s ‘wage war'?  America's decision to defend itself after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and to fight Nazi aggression in Europe was a decision to wage war and few historians or philosophers have criticized Roosevelt and Truman for their decisive actions.  Israel has fought not only for its political independence but for the survival of the Jewish state and the Jewish people. 

Leo's simplistic take on conflict is directed at Donald Trump for attacking Iran. Yet from a moral perspective, the pre-emptive military removal of an existential threat - a regime determined to develop nuclear weapons to destroy Israel and threaten the United States - is justified within any of the legal, moral, or philosophical codes of behavior set down in early Christian history.   

The more the Pope wanders in the weeds of geopolitics, the more of an out-of-touch caricature of faux holiness he becomes. 

No Kings, The Ecstatic Moment Of Meaning - Donald Trump As Women's Personal Savior

Vicki Adams felt mopey, listless, and traipsed through the house with an unfamiliar lassitude, flopping around in her slippers and robe. The silk Kimono given to her by her late husband had always picked up her spirits, but today it had none of its old magic.  She felt empty, a shell, a shadow of her old self. 

She shuffled to the kitchen, bumbled through the makings of her morning tea, nibbled an old piece of toast sitting in the toaster, looked out at the empty birdfeeder, and sighed.  It was another day like all the rest - purposeless and empty.  

The oomph and zip had gone out of her step. The angry harridan of her protest days was a woman of the past. Gone were the righteousness, the fellowship, the police dogs, truncheons, and paddy wagons of her youth, and the feeling of joy and fulfillment.  She had been making a difference, making her life count and now nothing. 

She felt insatiably angry at Donald Trump, a man who stole the White House from its legitimate occupant, Kamala Harris, a black woman who would have governed with compassion, consideration, and wisdom.  Now the usurper, the predator, the maniacal autocrat sitting where she should be sitting, was wreaking havoc, taking revenge on those righteous partisans who had opposed him, and destroying democracy. 

For months after his election Vicki festooned her lawn with macabre caricatures of the new President, ghastly, ghoulish, bloody images of him feasting on the bodies of the fallen black, gay and transgender.  She arranged kaffeeklatsches, teas, chat groups, and informal home seminars to discuss the state of the nation, the horror of Donald Trump, and the need for concerted action. 

The ladies of Bethesda were energized by these meetings and left with a new commitment to action.  The evil in the Oval Office must be removed and the country returned to compassionate, progressive rule. 

'I hate him', said Amory Phipps, garden club chairwoman, longtime supporter of the Democratic party, and a very agitated woman, at Vicki's tea party. She stood up, raised her fist, but words would not come.  Choking, splurting, and gasping, she was animate but silent.  The ladies around the table shook their heads in commiseration.  'See what that man has done to us ' Betty said to Sue, who nodded in agreement. 

When poor Amory Phipps finally had gained her composure, but was too moved to speak, sat down, other, calmer but no less passionate women took the floor and denounced the President and all he had done to destroy the very fabric of democracy. 

 

The women all left the tea party happier and more satisfied than when they arrived, but a sour taste lingered in their mouths.  They were still a bunch of old, post-menopausal women kvetching and grousing.  Sound and fury meaning absolutely nothing. 

Then came No Kings - and the brilliance of the idea was mesmerizing. Its core principle - that Donald Trump had imperial ambitions and was a dictator worse than Hitler or Stalin and was the embodiment of all the murderous despots that had come before - was unifying.  Disaggregation into separate liberal causes - the climate, gays, blacks, immigrants, Wall Street, etc. - was unnecessary.  'No Kings' said it all with everyone united under one banner. 

This brightened Vicki's whole outlook on life. This was what she had been waiting for.  No more sketchy, windy protests at the gates of the White House, no more rancid letters to the Washington Post, no more lawn signs, tea parties, and neighborhood camaraderie. This was The Big One, the great protest of the Sixties redux, the one that would spark a nation and force a resignation as stunning and significant as that of LBJ or Richard Nixon. 

The ladies were excited, happy, and expectant as they stepped on the school bus to take them to the National Mall for the nation's premier No Kings demonstration.  On this day hundreds of No Kings protests would take place from coast to coast, but this one in the heart of the nation's capital would be the mother lode, a beacon, the centerpiece. 

The atmosphere on the bus was heady and thrilling.  This was what they had been waiting for, an event that would not only help to remove The Tyrant of 1700 but would revitalize their lives.  This protest of thousands of likeminded women together in one place, united by purpose and passion would be epiphanic and salvational. 

The ladies clucked and crowed with pride and happiness, ready to sing Ninety-Nine Bottles Of Beer On The Wall, so happy were they.  They couldn't wait to get off the bus, set their feet on the grass of the Mall, look eastward to the Capitol and westward to the Washington Monument and feel the pride of protest. 

'Ginny!', shouted Vicki across a clutch of women just off the Gaithersburg bus to her college friend, now a florist and veteran of the protests of the old days.  'Wow!' said Vicki as she made her way through the crowed to give her friend a hug. 'Isn't this wonderful?'

The day couldn't have been better.  The spirit of camaraderie was in the air, a thousand soprano voices singing in unison, a Bach chorus, an Ode to Joy, perfectly orchestrated and choreographed. Vicki felt like a young girl again.  

 

She hugged and kissed strangers, embraced the many women she knew, shouted like a Southern Baptist at a revival meeting, whooped and hollered like a soccer mom at her daughter's first game.  It was more than a gathering.  It was more than a protest.  It was an epiphany and an an experience closer to what she felt at her First Communion than anything else in her life. 

She remembered her First Communion clearly.  All dressed in white, holding a posy of lilies of the valley, looking up at the cross above the altar and feeling the presence of Jesus Christ, she felt close to God himself as the priest put the wafer on her tongue. 

Today was no different.  Her feelings were celestial, beatific, and holy.  She felt a spiritual presence, a soul-residing beauty, a miraculous joy.  She didn't hate, she loved!  She loved her sisters, she loved America, and she loved the world. 

Not surprisingly the sense of joy, belonging, and spiritual purpose faded in the ensuing months.  The No Kings rallies had absolutely no impact whatsoever on the President who went on waging war, herding brown men into cattle cars for deportation and incarceration in Latin gulags, castrating black men, and enriching his Wall Street cronies.  

Alone, disconsolate, missing her husband, and her joints hurting, Vicki returned to her morning shuffles and crust of old toast.  The letdown was unremitting.  She felt emptier than ever, more despondent, hopeless, and dispirited.  

She filled her watering can and carefully watered her geraniums, careful not to spill a drop. Somehow extreme care of things was what her heart required. 

'Where's Vicki?', an old tea party roue asked when the next No Kings rally came around.  

'Moved to Florida', said her companion. 

'Where?' the woman shouted.  Florida? DeSantis, 'The Free State', the heart of the new Confederacy. 'Impossible', but the rumor was true. Vicki had packed up and moved into a condo in Sarasota overlooking the Gulf. 'She must have gone dotty', the woman said, 'otherwise...otherwise....'

There she stopped, thought of palm trees, sundowners on the deck, warm breezes, and retirement. 'Otherwise, nothing' 

The New Era Of Royal Democracy - Donald Trump, Darwinian Imperialism, And The American Empire

The No Kings protests recently concluded around the country - inchoate, disassembled, joyful affairs of liberal camaraderie - expressed concerns that Donald Trump was overstepping his constitutional authority, arrogating imperial power to himself, and threatening to turn the country into a monarchy. 

 

Nonsense of course.  Those protesting were simply unhappy that the President was putting the American house back in order, returning it to its foundational principles, and rejecting the fanciful, disruptive notions of gender reassignment, open borders, identity politics, and socialist economics. 

The American Left, still reeling from their electoral defeat in 2024 in which Donald Trump handily defeated Kamala Harris, a candidate who ran only on her racial identity and 'proud womanhood', is still licking its wounds. With no coherent, sensible, objective set of policies to counter the President's conservative agenda, protestors have  taken to the streets to howl, cry, and beat their breasts in frustration - as if those outcries make any difference whatsoever to a determined, willful, and self-confident president.

'What about the black man?', protesters cry, insisting that Trump's SS storm troopers are about to round up black people, pack them into cattle cars, and consign them to brutal gulags.  Gay men, lesbians, and transgenders will be sent to the gas chambers in a social purge no different than carried out by the Nazis - racial and gender purification in the extreme. The vision of a world run by women, surrounded by gay acolytes, celebrating a brave new world of diversity has disappeared in the wake of the Sturm und Drang of Donald Trump's juggernaut. 

Donald Trump has in the few short months of his presidency redefined executive power.  A man who cut his teeth on the mean streets of New York real estate, for whom legal action is child's play, and whose cutthroat, no-holds-barred victory at all costs creation of a building empire, has no intention of being civil, compromising, or accommodating.  

 

The world since the first human settlements has been violent, combative, territorial, and self-defensive - not surprising since those characteristics have been hardwired into human DNA since apes came down from the trees; but Joe Biden insisted that with love, hope, and charity a new utopian future was possible.  Through understanding, compassion and modesty the world could indeed become a better place. 

Presidents Putin of Russia and Xi of China licked their chops when they heard these nostrums, undaunted and unintimidated by America's admonitions. China made good on its promise to bring the Uighurs to heel, to secure Tibet within the Han orbit, and to make sure that Taiwan did not get too ambitious.  Russia sent its tanks into Ukraine fulfilling a millennia-old prophecy about Russian territorial sovereignty.  

Iran, happy beneficiaries of Obama's nuclear treaty which did little to slow the enrichment of weapons grade plutonium and the building of intercontinental ballistic missiles to deliver them and which did nothing to address Iran's support of terrorism and the building of an Islamic caliphate, were delighted when Biden took over the reins of government. 

Trump has joined the new world triumvirate of power, equal to Russia and China in their hegemonic principles.  All three nations are now unabashedly Machiavellian, advocates of Clausewitz, emperors and imperial regents.  

Each president is imperial in his own way given culture and history.  Xi rests on millennia of powerful Chinese dynasties which ruled the empire with authority, cultural integrity, and absolute will.  Putin recalls the storied history of Tsarist Russia, Peter the Great, Alexander the Great, Nicolas I and many more. There is nothing surprising in Putin's desire not only to recall but recreate Russia's imperial past. 

'We are entering a new era of royal democracy' wrote one political observer of American politics - 'a hybrid of imperial intentions within a traditional democracy'.

Donald Trump is neither a dictator who commands the loyalty of army and can call them out of their barracks at will; nor is he the product of Communist statism which has central authority and executive power enshrined in its canon.  

He must use the levers of power, the checks and balances of the democratic system, and stretch executive authority to the limits of the Constitution to achieve his ends. 

A foreign policy based on Darwinian confrontation, but within the sanctions of American governance, is the expression of this new royal democracy.  Trump wants Iran out of the way and Venezuela neutralized to keep their oil reserves out of the hands of Russia and China.  He wants to re-establish American hegemony in its backyard, Latin America, and has no intention of backing down on his promises to establish American control of the region.   

A crackdown on illegal immigration will restabilize America's borders and restore a modicum of cultural homogeneity - the re-establishment of an ethical and moral center so lacking in the progressive era.  The reopening of American lands to energy and rare earths exploitation will add to the country's geopolitical strength.

The waiving of wokism and a return to millennia-old principles of human normality will further contribute to America's solidarity.  And patriotism which will replace divisive multiculturalism will be the overriding, unifying ethos. 

A king in fact? Hardly, but a Darwinian imperialist in reality. What are world wars, civil conflicts, tribal rivalries, family disputes, ethnic demands, and religious aggression if not examples of Darwinism?  Human nature, that innate, hardwired, ineluctable foundation on which all action is predicated, is found in both newborns and nations.  Machiavelli anticipated Darwin, understood the basis of human activity and pronounced it indissoluble and permanent. 

Where does progressive idealism come from?  How can millennia of history be ignored.  Those who insist that the world is becoming a more peaceful, accommodating place are just whistlin' Dixie.  The Twentieth Century was one of history's bloodiest and the Twenty-First is proving to be no different. 

Conservatives accept this state of being and deal with it.  If the world is a violent, contentious place, then be prepared to counter the aggression, territorialism, and self-interest that threaten national sovereignty.  There is no point to sweet talking, compromise, or treaties.  Life has never been a bowl of cherries and never will be. 

Donald Trump understands this better than any president in history.  Yes, Roosevelt authorized the firebombing and incineration of Dresden; and yes, Truman gave the 'Bombs Away' to destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki; but in both cases America was the victim of naked aggression.  

Trump intends to be ahead of the curve, to obviate any possibility of attack, to make the first strike, to obliterate the enemy.  Haven't Iran's intentions been exactly the same?

There are three years left in the Trump presidency and 'You ain't seen nothin' yet'.  The No Kings rallies are hardly blips on the radar and nothing but annoying fleas on a dog.  There is no 'there' there, no meat, nothing of substance.  Unlike the rallies to end the Vietnam War or to end segregation, the No Kings affairs are just happy jamborees, insignificant, minor episodes, weekends out. 

Meanwhile Donald Trump goes about his Machiavellian business.