Scott talks to Pastor Benje Graves about the dominance of pro-war republicanism among American protestants. Graves says that these Christians think their belief in American empire comes from a good-faith reading of the Bible, but that really it’s wrapped up in an identitarian coalition political movement that uses selective reading of scripture to enforce what they have already chosen to believe. Graves maintains that the U.S. military intervention in the Middle East clearly goes against the teaching of the Bible, and works hard to get his congregation to see that. He even shares stories about the impossibility of missionary work in Asia thanks to a negative view of what America has done there in the name of Christianity. Scott hopes that Graves and others like him can do what Ron Paul did for conservatives during his presidential campaigns, by showing that one’s identity as an Evangelical Christian does not mean supporting interventionist wars.
Discussed on the show:
This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.
Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.
Scott Horton is director of the Libertarian Institute, editorial director of Antiwar.com, host of Antiwar Radio on Pacifica, 90.7 FM KPFK in Los Angeles, California and podcasts the Scott Horton Show from this website. He’s the author of the 2017 book, Fool’s Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan. Visit https://scotthorton.org