Religion In The War On Iran
1A
NPR
4.3 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 11 March 2026
⏱️ 42 minutes
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Summary
This kind of rhetoric comes as concerns grow over the crumbling of the separation between church and state in the Trump administration’s military. Now, more than two dozen democratic congresspeople are requesting an investigation into a report that some military leaders are using apocalyptic theology in briefings about the conflict – saying that Trump is anointed by Jesus to cause Armageddon.
How is religion showing up in the war against Iran?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | As the military action in Iran grows, so does religious rhetoric. |
| 0:11.8 | They wanted to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, and they'd like to take us out as well. |
| 0:16.4 | We're the great Satan in their analogy and their misguided religion. |
| 0:20.5 | Iran is run by lunatics, religious |
| 0:22.6 | fanatic lunatics. They have an ambition to have nuclear weapons. They intend to develop those |
| 0:27.5 | nuclear weapons behind a program of missiles and drones and terrorism that the world will not be |
| 0:32.9 | able to touch them for fear of those things. That was Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Secretary of State |
| 0:38.5 | Marco Rubio speaking last week about Iran. But these assertions about faith in Iran comes amid |
| 0:44.2 | increasing concerns about a crumbling of the separation between church and state in the Trump |
| 0:48.8 | administration and the military. On Thursday, a group of evangelical pastors prayed over |
| 0:53.4 | President Trump for his success |
| 0:54.8 | in the war. We pray for your continued blessing and favor to rest upon him. We pray for wisdom from |
| 1:01.6 | heaven to flood his heart, his mind, and Lord, you will guide him in these challenging times |
| 1:08.0 | that we're facing today. And now more than two dozen Democratic Congress members are requesting an investigation |
| 1:13.7 | into a report that some military leaders are using apocalyptic theology in briefings about the war in Iran, |
| 1:20.5 | with language that asserts Trump is anointed by Jesus to cause Armageddon. |
| 1:24.7 | I'm Jen White. You're listening to the 1A podcast. Today, we discuss how religion |
| 1:29.5 | is showing up in the U.S. and Israel's war against Iran. That's after this short break. Stay with us. |
| 1:39.9 | Welcome back. Let's get into our conversation and meet our panel today. Andrew Whitehead is a professor of sociology at Indiana University in Indianapolis. He's also a research fellow at the Charles F. Kettering Foundation and the author of American Idolatry, how Christian nationalism betrays the gospel and threatens the church. Andrew, thanks for joining us. |
| 1:59.2 | Great to be with you. Also with us is Catherine |
| 2:01.5 | Stewart. She's a journalist covering the intersection of faith and politics. She's also the author of |
| 2:06.6 | Money, Lies, and God inside the movement to Destroy American Democracy and the Power Worshippers |
... |
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