Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Cosmos The In Lost

Home
Catholic
Syrian Catholic Bishops Unequivocally Condemn American Bombing of Syria

Syrian Catholic Bishops Unequivocally Condemn American Bombing of Syria

Last updated on: April 7, 2017 at 1:58 pm by Artur Rosman

Syrian Catholic Bishops Unequivocally Condemn American Bombing of Syria 2017-04-07T13:58:51-07:00 Artur Rosman

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

(A U.S. Navy submarine-launched UGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile hits a North American RA-5C Vigilante target aircraft on San Clemente Island, 1986; Wiki Commons, PD)

The same weapon as used in the American bombing of Syria (A U.S. Navy submarine-launched UGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile hits a North American RA-5C Vigilante target aircraft on San Clemente Island, 1986; Wiki Commons, PD)

Americans bombing Syria. Wow, that escalated quickly.

It all started earlier in the week with Trump scapegoating Obama for the chemical attacks in Syria:

President Trump on Tuesday blamed his predecessor, Barack Obama, for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s suspected use of chemical weapons in an attack that left dozens, including women and children, dead this week.

In a written statement, Trump called the attack “heinous” but blamed it on the Obama administration’s failure to impose consequences on Assad for his past use of chemical weapons.

“Today’s chemical attack in Syria against innocent people, including women and children, is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world,” Trump said Tuesday. “These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration’s weakness and irresolution.

“President Obama said in 2012 that he would establish a ‘red line’ against the use of chemical weapons and then did nothing,” he added. “The United States stands with our allies across the globe to condemn this intolerable attack.”

While the statement declared that the attack “cannot be ignored,” it offered no path forward.

Then I sat down at work yesterday morning. Once I had some free time around lunch I started reading a piece about the banning of Bannon from the NSC entitled, Steve Bannon is Losing to the Globalists:

To most members of the Washington foreign-policy establishment, regardless of party affiliation, that will come as an immense relief. It suggests that business as usual—Atlanticism, free trade, American economic and military engagement across the globe—will ultimately prevail. Bannon has embraced an alternative vision, which he calls “economic nationalism.” Many of his critics have identified it as a desire to upend the international order that was established after the Second World War, and to replace it with a protectionist, ethnocentric model—one in which the United States, Russia, and nationalist-led European countries join together to fight Islam and confront a rising China. During the campaign, and even during the transition, Trump sometimes seemed to be leaning in Bannon’s direction. But since he has taken office, the actions of his Administration have indicated otherwise.

This summary had me wondering, as weird as Bannon might be, whether his demise signals a turn for the worse.

Hillary Clinton, oddly enough, was the messenger of the turn for the worse once the afternoon rolled around here on the West Coast:

In her first interview since her stunning presidential election defeat by Republican rival Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton on Thursday called for the United States to bomb Syrian air fields.Clinton, in an interview at the Women in the World Summit in New York, also called Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election a theft more damaging than Watergate.

Asked whether she now believes that failing to take a tougher stand against Syria was her worst foreign policy mistake as secretary of state under President Barack Obama, Clinton said she favored more aggressive action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“I think we should have been more willing to confront Assad,” Clinton said in the interview, conducted by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof.

“I really believe we should have and still should take out his air fields and prevent him from being able to use them to bomb innocent people and drop sarin gas on them.”

Lo and behold, as I was driving home in the evening, a dear friend sent me a text saying we’re going to war with Syria. I did a double take and confirmed it was true by turning to NPR, which by then was beating the war drums.

Late in the evening, at home, the hashtag #WW3 was trending among alt-right and conspiracy types. They were speculating whether this isn’t just the establishment doing what it always does when there’s a divided country: rashly going to war.

But what if the nutters are not so far off the mark? . . .

Previous Post

March 29, 2017

Prayer Isn't About God

Next Post

April 9, 2017 What is the History of the Coptic Christian Victims of the Egyptian Terrorist Bombings?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category #WhyRemainCatholic Abortion Advent Anti-Catholicism Arts Atheism Beauty Benedict XVI Bible Book Review Catholic Cinema Comedy Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey Czesław Miłosz Dariusz Karłowicz Devil Easter Eastern Orthodoxy Economics Environment Family Famous Atheists Who Weren't Atheists Guest Post Hans Urs von Balthasar HHS Mandate History Imagination Interview Islam Jean-Luc Marion John Paul II Judaism Just War Lent Literature Little Sisters of the Poor Liturgy Martyrdom Music News Paganism Patristics Phenomenology Philosophy Pierre Hadot Poetry Poland Pop Culture Pope Francis Poverty Prayer Protestantism Rabelais Race Remi Brague Rene Girard Russia Sam Rocha Science & Religion SCOTUS Secularization Sexual Abuse Sexuality Silence Solidarity Stratford Caldecott Synod14 Terrorism Top 10 Uncategorized Walker Percy War Weakened Edition World War II World Youth Day WYD Krakow

Select a Month July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was Saul's son?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Jonathan Absalom Samuel David