God Is the Enemy

and The Immortality of the Psychosis

We don’t know what Donald Trump’s war aims are in Iran. The attacks are certainly unconstitutional because only Congress can declare war, and it’s likely folly because we failed in Iraq and Afghanistan, so what makes Trump think he can do it better than George W. Bush, or Lyndon Johnson in Vietnam, for that matter?

We don’t know Trump’s war aims, but we should have no delusions about the Islamic Republic’s war aims: It is the re-conquest of Jerusalem, the home of the Dome of the Rock from which it is said Muhammad ascended to heaven, and to remove Jewish dominion over any part of Dar al-Islam, which is variously translated as abode of Islam, house of Islam, and abode of peace. Jews (and Christians) are a dhimmi people who are to be tolerated (or “protected”) but cannot themselves rule over Muslims, who in this case are the Palestinians. This should not be controversial, and it’s basically an abbreviated encyclopedia entry of the imperatives the Iranian leadership must feel. Destruction of the State of Israel is merely tactical, and it does not necessarily mean killing all the Jews though Jews would be killed.

We don’t know Trump’s war aims, but we have a pretty good idea of Israel’s. Neutralize all military threats to its existence. Those are legitimate concerns, but they don’t really address the final status of Jerusalem, not to mention statehood for the Palestinians. The Israelis are fooling themselves if they think victory in war will make these issues go away.

Most Leftists and so-called Progressives, whether in America or Europe, have long viewed resistance to Israel in terms of anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism and/or as a war of national liberation. Largely Shi’ite Muslim Iran has positioned itself as the head of the Axis of Resistance, as in no peace, no recognition and no negotiation with Israel, even after many Sunni Muslim Arab countries abandoned the famous “three no’s” but their goals are not national liberation for the Palestinians. The imperatives are rooted in the establishment of a larger Muslim nation and likley rule by Sharia law. National boundaries are political; God’s rule does not recognize those.

It is never good to talk about another’s religion, but that is not what we’re doing here. Both combatants’ religions are no worse and no better than any other. We often equate “religion” with “faith” in America and the West, but true believers in any religion never, ever do that. There is a God; there is an immortal soul; Moses really did come down from Mount Sinai and Muhammad really did ascend to heaven from Jerusalem and Jesus really did rise from the dead. None of it is a matter of belief or faith. These are facts to truly religious people. It’s what is similar about all religions – the supernatural events that so many religions invoke to legitimate their domain are facts, even if they are not.

There is no physical evidence to support any of it. Yet here we have people acting as if their religion not only is true, but mandates the actions they’re taking. For some Orthodox Jews Israel is the land that God promised them, though some ultra-Orthodox Jews want to hear it from God, not from David Ben-Gurion or Benjamin Netanyahu. And for the fanatics who are in control of Iran and Gaza? Muhammad really did ascend to heaven from a rock in Jerusalem, sometimes also reputed to be where Abraham was set to sacrifice his son (was he Isaac? was he Ishmael?) before God called it off. Dar al-Islam effectively is their promised land.

Netanyahu repeatedly talks about the existential threat that Iran poses for Israel. He’s not wrong about that, though he’s sleepwalking if he thinks the Palestinian issue is going away no matter how this war turns out. But for the axis of resistance something more valuable than a piece of land or personal and corporeal existence on this Earth is at stake. It is the chance to experience paradise. Many people believe in the immortality of the soul and life after death but admit they’re taking it on faith - not every believer is a fanatic. For others, this life is a test (as opposed to a cruel joke, as most existentialists would regard it). Fail the test and you might not qualify for immortality. In poker we would say these are fantastic pot odds and you should make the bet, even at the cost of your own life on Earth.

We don’t know what Trump’s war aims are, but we should all know something that he seems incapable of understanding. People who really, really believe in their god will fight to the death, to the last day and the last moment. Yes, there is fear of death even among those who believe in God and the soul and immortality. There must be, not because God ordained it, but because we are an evolved species and fear of death is a survival mechanism. So, there will be a fear of death even among the immortals in Tehran but they will overcome such foolish, childish and temporal beliefs ... because they are immortal and they dare not risk losing their immortality.

For the fanatics, God and the soul and immortality are facts, even if they are not. It is the immortality of the psychosis that is at play here, not anti-colonialism or national liberation, and neither Islam nor Judaism is the enemy, but God himself.