“Savages,” “Terrorists,” “Human animals,” “Fundamentalists,” “Religious Extremists.” This is the language we use to depict “the other.” Ever wonder what they say of “us”?
Dasein ohne Leben
In 1942, the Nazis produced a film for German doctors and medical professionals to justify their euthanasia program. That is, the killing of Germans that were deemed “not worthy of living. “The film’s title is Dasein ohne Leben (Existence without Life).
I first watched the film in the early 1990’s. To this day, I have trouble getting some of the images out of my mind. The film depicted some of the most severely mentally and physically disabled persons. The point of the film is that these people have no life (hence the title), and the best the Germans can do for them and for Germany is to exterminate them.
(I believe I still have a VHS tape of the film somewhere in my home.)
This is the rhetoric of power, empire, or what the book of Revelation calls “the Beast.” Such rhetoric is quite effective.
I have been writing and speaking about the Church and our role in demanding peace and justice for most of my career. For the past 15 years, I have been particularly engaged with the issues surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And, I must say, I have never been more grieved at the attitudes and behavior of Christians than I have been recently.
One of my goals is for Christians to see that much of the rhetoric, which they often affirm and even promote, not only serves to advance the agenda of the empire but often undermines the Christian call. How so?
US and Iranian officials meet today: Will there be peace or war?
In case you are unaware, the US and Iran are meeting today (Apr 12, 2025). What is on the table in these discussions? The best we can discern is that they center on Iran’s nuclear program.
Many, however, recognize that there is a much graver concern: Is the US about to declare war on Iran?
In my post earlier this week, I noted that the US foreign policy has been capitulating to the will of Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—this, of course, is nothing new. The US has been capitulating to Israel’s desires for decades.
The US has buttressed its actions and sold them to us so that we might embrace this policy and continue to support those in power by weaving a narrative (propaganda) that valorizes our endeavors and demonizes those of our enemies.
I recognize that many do not agree with some of the convictions I have presented over the years, but I believe they are justified. Allow me to explain. All I ask is that you consider my thoughts.
Looking through a biblical lens
I try to approach such issues as a student of the New Testament, the book of Revelation, and what I understand to be the larger issue of Jesus and the kingdom of God.
NB: I apologize if this is a longer post (1700+ words). I don’t believe we can have these conversations without a foundation.
One problem, as I see it, is that many Christians approach such conversations without a complete understanding of the Gospel, the kingdom, and God’s missional call upon His people. Without this framework, we are more susceptible to deception and the justification of evil.
The Church has too readily capitulated to the Beast’s whims and will, undermining the Gospel of the kingdom.
(Space will not allow me to say everything here. I am happy to dialogue further on such matters. I ask that you begin with some of my published works, such as Understanding the NT and the End Times and Land of Contention)
The Gospel story and the story of the larger biblical narrative begin with the question, “Who is Lord?” The confession that “Jesus is Lord” marks the beginning of Christian belief.
This alone, however, does not capture the depth of the Christian worldview. After all, even the demons know that Jesus is Lord (James 2:19). To “believe” in the Gospel includes the affirmation that we aim to follow Him.
Consequently, the call of the Gospel includes, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” (Mark 8:34).
What is often left out of this discussion is the contrast between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of the world.
To keep it simple for the sake of this post, I will note that the kingdoms of the world manifest power with violence, while the kingdom of God manifests power by suffering violence. Consequently, the Cross becomes not just the means by which Jesus was victorious and established His kingdom but also the means by which we, too, are called to “overcome” and further establish the kingdom of God.
But crosses are also what the empire uses. They manifest power by putting people on crosses.
The role of Truth
Another critical element of the conflict between the kingdoms is that the kingdom of God is predicated on Truth. This stands to reason by the mere fact that Jesus is Truth (John 14:6). Thus, when Pilate asks, “what is truth?” (John 18:38), perhaps the greatest (sorry, “greatest” is the best I’ve got, but it is definitely an understatement) paradox or irony arises because the very embodiment of truth was standing right in front of Him!!
By contrast, we should not be surprised to recognize that the kingdoms of the world are predicated on deception, lies, and propaganda (which is usually, but not always, at least in the context in which I am using the term, either a direct falsification of the truth or a distortion of truth to facilitate their own aims).
NB: on the Determinetruth YouTube channel, there is a Playlist titled “Revelation Revealed.” In this series, we plan to add a significant amount of short-length (3-5 mins), medium-length (8-15 mins), and full-length (45-60 mins) livestreams throughout 2025. (Be sure to subscribe to the channel and click the notification bell to alert you when a new video is posted.)
Native Americans are “Savages.”
A perfect and deeply tragic example of how propaganda serves the aims of those in power is found in the US Declaration of Independence. Yep! The Declaration of Independence explicitly refers to Native Americans as “mercilous indian savages.”
What is the significance of this declaration? Simple: it serves to dehumanize them. Thus making it far easier to justify killing them. In fact, if they are “savages,” then one is not merely justified in killing them; one ought to kill them. After all, savages are savages, and if you don’t kill them first, they will kill you.
In other words, it is not merely a means of justifying the killing of them; it is, in effect, a mandate to do so.
Some of the fundamental aspects of power, as manifested by the kingdoms of the world, include:
– The first objective of those in power is to maintain their power
– Those in power most often rule for their own well-being. (There is quite clearly a wide variation of how much those in power rule for self-interests as opposed to the interests of others. But we would do well to learn from history that benevolence is much rarer among those in power than they would like us to believe)
– Those in power certainly want their subjects to believe that they have everyone’s interests in view, even though this is far less true than we think.
– Those in power rule often with violence and oppression: hence the Cross!
– The chief weapon of those in power is propaganda.
War with Iran?
Why this long intro to the topic of the US and the potential for a war with Iran?
Unless the followers of Christ recognize not merely what it means to be a Christian but also what it means to follow Christ and what it means to overcome the evil one, we, too, will likely fall prey to the deceptive ways of the nations.
My exhortation is for God’s people (myself most certainly included) to maintain allegiance to Christ alone. In addition, I desire for the people of God to “examine everything carefully ” (1 Thess 5:21) and, in doing so, to recognize that those in power, whether on “our” or “their” side, attempt to control the narrative.
In other words, those on the “other side” actually believe that they are the “good” and we are the “evil.” The rhetoric of those in power would have us marvel at such. How could anyone in Iran, Gaza, Yemen, and the like ever believe that they are good? But this is precisely what they are thinking as well!
Maybe things are not so simple. Precisely.
We must recognize that we fall prey to the Beast when we advocate for one side without acknowledging that not everything we do is just and not everything they do is unjust.
Us v Them
Therefore, one way empires maintain allegiance, and there are many, is by attempting to simplify issues into a simple binary: There is “us” and “them.”
Now everyone knows that “us” are the good. After all, only those profoundly ill would suspect that we are nothing but the good attempting to ward off the evil.
But, as Christians, we are to advocate for the well-being of everyone and resist the empire’s musings.
NT Scholar David deSilva, in the foreword to my newest book, Land of Contention, states,
“No, Rob Dalrymple is not antisemitic. He loves the people of Israel (just as he loves Jews in every country in which they find themselves). He just happens to love them in the way that Amos loved Israel rather than the way Amaziah loved Israel. . . . Rob is, however, not addressing Israelis or a general Western audience. He is primarily addressing Christians, calling us to examine whether the ideologies we have embraced in regard to the state of Israel and, in consequence, in regard to the families of Arabs who had lived in the land for generations and generations, are faithful to our Scriptures and to the values that Jesus established as nonnegotiable among his followers. He calls us to test our ideologies by their fruits, particularly whether they are contributing to (and leading us to promote) the flourishing of both Israelis and Palestinians, or whether they are contributing to (and leading us to promote) the oppression—the ghettoization, dispossession, perhaps eventually the elimination—of the latter for the sake of the flourishing of the former” (7-8).
Thanks David.
In my next post, I plan to address some of the deceptive propaganda (aka “lies”) articulated by those in power in the West.
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