Patheos

BuddhistCatholicContemplativeEvangelicalGeneral ChristianHinduJewishLatter-day SaintMuslimNew VisionsProgressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Patheos

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube

steelmagnificat

Some Things Pro-Life Christians Need To Know About Iran

Last updated on: January 5, 2020 at 11:46 pm   by Mary Pezzulo

Some Things Pro-Life Christians Need To Know About Iran 2020-01-05T23:46:07-04:00 Mary Pezzulo

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.

People who live in big cities in America are– rightly, I think– terrified that big American cities will be at an increased risk for another terrorist attack. That’s a real concern. I watched 9/11 from my living room in Columbus 18 years ago and I never, ever want to see that happen again. The fear must be much worse for people who live in New York and Washington.

But what’s far more likely to happen, is that Iran will suffer an attack like that from us. After all, the president is already threatening it– yesterday he threatened fifty-two culturally significant targets, which means he’s targeting civilians (a war crime). Today he threatened again, promising that his response would be “disproportionate.” The United States has the ability to make 9/11 happen to other people any day of the week without Americans at home really noticing. We spend the most money of any country in the world on our military.

Many conservative Christians I’ve seen on social media today seem pretty excited about this. They enjoy the prospect of blowing up Iran. Iran has terrorists and Muslims in it, after all. Trump is a pro-life president who is doing great things for us. We can trust him.

And if you’re one of those people, I’d just like to remind you of something:

There are unborn babies in Iran.

In fact, there are lots of them.

People used to hand out little quarter-sized plastic fetuses at the abortion clinic protests in Columbus. I imagine they still do that. They also used to hand out pamphlets about how a person’s unborn child was the size of a cherry or a plum or an apple already; how early they got fingers and toes and sucked their thumbs in utero. I’m sure many of my readers have seen those. Images of unborn babies torn limb from limb were shown all over social media in 2016, as reasons why a person of conscience had to vote for Trump instead of Clinton. One very unscrupulous priest even used an unborn baby for a sacrilegious photo shoot. I’m sure you’ve seen those images. Think about them right now.

And remember that at this moment, in Iran, there are unborn babies that look just like those plastic dolls. They are size of cherries and plums. They have fingers and toes, and suck their thumbs in utero. If the place they are living in gets hit by an American missile, those babies will be torn limb from limb.

Those unborn babies are inside the bodies of women, who also live in Iran. They don’t have the easiest time; in fact, their rights are restricted in many ways. It’s not the worst place in the Middle East to be a woman, but it’s not a good place either. Many changes need to be made. But if those women have their homeland destroyed by American bombs, they won’t have an easier time. We’ll have made everything much, much worse for them.

Those women are married to men. Some of those men are horrible and participate in the oppression of women. Some of those men are good men who want to help change things for the better. And some of them are just okay. And if we start a war with their country, those men will watch their families suffer and they will not think highly of the United States and the kind of “freedom” we spread to the rest of the world. In fact, they will despise us. Even the good ones will. And they will be right to do so.

Those women and men have children– not just the unborn children I mentioned earlier, but born children as well. They have babies that don’t sleep through the night. They have little boys and girls who play with toys and accidentally leave them on the floor before going to bed. Those children like to have fun and make noise, and most of them probably aren’t too keen on school. They get excited for holidays and want to be comforted when they’re sick. They become afraid when it’s dark, or when they hear a strange noise, or when they can’t find their parents.

If we commit war crimes and destroy their homes and families, some of them will die, and those who don’t will suffer horrendous pain and trauma. They will blame us for this, and they will be right. They will cry out to God as they’ve been taught and the God Who sees everything justly will hear them. Some of the children will pray to Jesus.

Oh, yes, that’s right. There are Christians in Iran. That shouldn’t matter, since we’re required to treat everyone with respect, but for the record, there are between five hundred thousand and a million of our Christian brothers and sisters living in Iran. They have beautiful, ornate churches with icons painted all over them. They have been there since the beginning of Christianity– Persians were among the converts on the first Pentecost, after all– and they do not view themselves as foreigners but as Iranians. And do read that article and look at the photo of that beautiful church interior. What a glorious cultural treasure.

Remember that President Trump has promised to destroy Iran’s cultural sites.

Did you think that he was only going to destroy cultural sites you don’t like? That bombs would somehow go around the beautiful churches and not cause any damage?

Do you think it will be easier for the Christians living in Iran if a country that’s always talking about Jesus commits war crimes against Iran?

Did you think Trump was only going to murder BAD people? Villains? Irredeemable caricatures you couldn’t imagine being anything like you?

Sadly, that’s not how war works. I wish it did. But if our president gets his way, he’s going to kill babies, men and women, children, and some of those people will be Christians.

Is that what you want to happen?

 

(image via Pixabay)

 

 

 

 

Steel Magnificat operates almost entirely on tips. To tip the author, visit our donate page.

 

Uncategorized

abortion

babies

children

Christian

church

culture

fetus

icons

Iran

men

Muslim

pro-life

unborn babies

United States

war

war crimes

women

Previous Post



January 4, 2020

A Catholic Response to Trump's Iran Threat

Next Post



January 7, 2020 Blackbird, Regnum Christi, and the Legacy of Spiritual Abuse


Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion Abuse Advent America American Christianity angel angels Annunciation Appalachia apparition apparition chaser apparition chasers apparition culture art art review babies baby baby Jesus Bad Lip Reading bad statue contest bath beauty Bible story blog blogkeeping blood book review Brandon Sanderson breastfeeding bus Catholic catholic conspiracy alarmism Catholic Oppositional Disorder Charismatic Renewal Charlie the Cat chastity Christ Christian idenitity Christianity and Judaism Chronic Illness clean clothing COD piece comedy compassion conscience conspiracy theory conversion cop-on-black violence Crucifixion cry of the poor culture Daesh Daily Saints death death penalty devotional diaconate diaper diapers dirty disability Donald Trump Dorothy Day dream drugs Eastern Catholicism Eastern Christianity education election election update Elsewhere on Patheos empathy environment Fear feminism film review fish flashback fluffy buns food Franciscan University of Steubenville Friendship Room fun Gabriel gardening gospel hair-splitting Heaven hell heresy Hillary Clinton history Holly the Witch Holy Spirit holy war Homeschooling homosexuality horror human dignity humor Icon idol immigrants infection inter-religious dialogue Interpretation of Scripture Islam Jesus Jihad Joseph joy laity and lay vocations lamb dinner laundry lent lgbtq literature love manners Mary Medicine and Science Meditation mercy mess milk misogyny Missouri monasticism monster motherhood mourn with those mourn movies movis music mystery nature neurodiversity New Pro-Life Movement news nonsense nostalgia O antiphons obituary objectification Ohio Valley Ordinary Time ordination Ordo Amoris parable paradox Passover peanut butter personal beliefs pets philosophy Planet Charismatic poetry politics polls poop Pope Francis Pope Leo power in the Church prayer prayer request prayers preferential option for non-violence president presidential election priest primary private revelation pro-life prophecy Public face of Catholicism Pure Flix Q and A race racism random rape rape. sexuality reader's request Reckoners refugee religious trauma ressurrection Right to life Saints saints and celebrations same-sex same-sex marriage satire scandal secular feasts seder Seven Joys Seven Last Words sex sexual ethics sexuality silencing six months skid row slavery social justice Speculative fiction spiritual abuse spoon stain story suffering suffrage suffragette Sunday Gospel temple Tenebrae Responsories Terror the exorcist The Friendship Room The New Pro-Life Movement Things I Learned on the Internet tin cup traffic true story tv review Uncategorized USCCB vice and temptation violence Virtue virtue and vice war Way of the Cross whimsy whole life women's ordination work of mercy Year A

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016


Follow Us!

Follow Us on Facebook



TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I am the first to fall asleep in death for following Jesus. I saw heaven opened as stones struck me. Who am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

John Stephen Peter James

Related posts from Steel Magnificat

Family

A World Where Children Can Be

Steel Magnificat

Family

The American Pro-Life Movement Lied. Now What?

Steel Magnificat

Family

Everywhere I Look, I See Your Face

Steel Magnificat

Family

On Mormons, the Pentagon, and the First Amendment

Steel Magnificat

TRENDING AT PATHEOS Catholic

The Sermon on the Mount, Part I: Matthew...

The Sermon on the Mount, Part I (Matthew 4:12-5:12) St. Matthew moves...

What's up from Crossway

What's up from Crossway: Reviewing some of their latest A few weeks...

Janie Learns the Way of the Cross: A...

Teaching children about Jesus' Passion can be challenging. Many parents and educators...

Looking For Good Catholic Writing - October 2026

He alone extends the heavens, and he walks upon the waves of...

Luther on Tools

In "Irreplaceable," our book on vocation and technology, Trevor Sutton and I...

The British Museum-- Part Two

I was strolling through the top floor of the brand new Parthenon...

view all Catholic blogs

Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Copyright 2008-2026, Patheos. All rights reserved.

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube