bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Letters

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
In 1 Thessalonians 5:15, Christians are implored not to return “evil for evil”.
And in 2 Corinthians 10:4, Christians are taught: “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.”
Jesus and the apostles could not have been more committed to, and clearer about, non-violence.
But apparently President Donald Trump and his evangelical Christian base do not sense any contradiction between Jesus’ position on war and the use of force against America’s enemies.
A day after Trump ordered the targeted assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds force, at Baghdad International Airport, he appeared before a raucous crowd of Christian supporters in Miami. In his speech, he claimed Soleimani had been planning a “very major attack”, before he was terminated in a “flawless” strike.


Trump said: “Qassem Soleimani has been killed and his bloody rampage is now forever gone … He was plotting attacks against Americans, but now we’ve ensured that his atrocities have been stopped for good.”
This speech was met with roaring applause in the packed megachurch. “He’s talking from his heart,” said one woman who had come to the rally with two others from her prayer group. “I can’t remember when we had a president who was honest like he is. Like everyone else, he’s a sinner saved by grace. A lot of people say stuff that they don’t do. He’s doing it.” 
Not one to miss a crowd-pleasing moment, Trump even went so far as to declare: “I really do believe we have God on our side … or there would have been no way that we could have won. People say, ‘How do you win?’ You don’t have the media. You have so many things against you – and we win. So there has to be something.” 
One cannot be a follower of Jesus and celebrate murder. To cheer the killing of another human being may make good political sense, but it is not an act of Christian duty and it would not have pleased Christ. To celebrate an assassination in a church is not only a distortion of the Christian message, but also a gross example of moral hypocrisy and massive self-deception.
George Cassidy Payne, Rochester, NY
Why Trump sees China and India through different lenses
The new citizenship law of India – which welcomes Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsees and Christians who illegally migrated from the neighbouring nations of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, but not Muslims – has sparked protests and riots, with the death toll crossing 30.
The government in New Delhi has explained that the new law is not to snub or target Muslims, but offers shelter to persecuted minorities from Muslim nations. However, as the world’s largest democracy, India – and certainly its prime minister, Mr Narendra Modi – cannot easily get off the hook, especially as the government has sought to suppress the protests through high-pressure tactics, such as deploying riot police and cutting off the internet.


However, compared to the harsh criticism levelled by the US against China over the Hong Kong protests and its treatment of Uygurs and Muslims, the tone on India is much gentler and friendlier (“Pompeo stresses Hong Kong autonomy, urges slamming China over Uygur abuse”, January 8).
Certainly, we cannot deny the fact that India and the US are both democracies. So, do not blame Trump for treating China and India differently.
Randy Lee, Ma On Shan
 


Trump’s neo‑royalist world order and ‘weaponised interdependence’: Abraham Newman

Envoy says Trump ‘curious’ why Iran has not ‘capitulated’ under US pressure

Tehranis brace for ‘inevitable’ US-Iran war: ‘I am getting more scared’

30 people in Iran face death penalty after protests, Amnesty says

Iran

Trump and his evangelical base are hypocrites to celebrate a murder in church

A group of religious leaders pray for President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at El Rey Jesus, an evangelical megachurch in Miami, on January 3. Photo: TNS

Not Trump, nor Hong Kong police or protesters: no one is above the law

Protesters put up an effigy of Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor covering her ears and eyes, in light of perceived government inaction over months of protests and the protesters’ five demands, including an inquiry into police action, in Admiralty on October 16. Photo: Felix Wong

In India, blood flows on Delhi’s JNU campus as Tiananmen Lite meets Democracy Lite

Police arrive at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India, after masked assailants beat students and teachers with sticks. Photo: AP

Members of Delhi police stand guard at the gate of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India, Monday, Jan. 6, 2020. More than 20 people were injured in the attack opposition lawmakers are trying to link to the government. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, with Home Minister Amit Shah arrive to pay tributes on the birth anniversary of former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2019. (AP Photo)

Members of National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of India's main opposition Congress party, attend a protest against the attacks on the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Sunday, in New Delhi, India, January 6, 2020. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

Aishe Ghosh, president of Jawaharlal Nehru University's student union, is seen bleeding after the attack.

Modi’s surgical strike on Muslims puts India at war with itself

Protestors demonstrate against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in Guwahati, India. Photo: Xinhua

Rohingya woman Hajira Khatoon, 27 sits at a temporary shelter provided by non-governmmental organizations and volunteers after an early Sunday fire razed down a Rohingya camp in the Kalindi Kunj area of New Delhi, India, Sunday, April 15, 2018. No casualties have been reported. (AP Photo/Oinam Anand)

epa08062915 Protesters burn items on road they protest against the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 in Guwahati Assam, India, 11 December 2019. Hundreds of students from various collages of Guwahati took part in the protest. The passing of the bill will give Indian citizenship rights to refugees from Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, Sikhs, Parsi or Christian communities coming from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Indian Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016 in the lower house of Parliament 09 December. EPA-EFE/STR

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah salutes during the graduation ceremony parade of Indian Police Service probationers at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National police academy in Hyderabad, India, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

People stand in line to check their names on the first draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) at Gumi village of Kamrup district in the Indian state of Assam on January 1, 2018. Around 13 million people in northeastern India's Assam woke up to uncertainty on January 1 after the release of an official citizenship registry with names of only 19 million of the state's over 32 million residents. The national registry of citizens (NRC) has been in works for years, after strident, decades long demands by many local groups to identify and evict "illegal foreigners" settling in the state. / AFP PHOTO / Kulendu Kalita

Indian policemen walk past a car burnt during Wednesday's protest against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in Gauhati, India, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019. Police arrested dozens of people and enforced curfew on Thursday in several districts in India's northeastern Assam state where thousands protested legislation granting citizenship to non-Muslims who migrated from neighboring countries. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Letters | Trump and his evangelical base are hypocrites to celebrate a murder in church

Letters | Trump and his evangelical base are hypocrites to celebrate a murder in church