Sever Voinescu, Dilemma: Great people say crazy things

After Donald Trump announced to the planet from the high tribunal of his X account that he would bomb Iran until it is destroyed as a civilization, sending it back to the Stone Age (the Stone Age phrase is a favorite among American "bombers"), an ambassador of the Islamic Republic posted on the X network or something similar this message: "The Stone Age? When you were still living in caves trying to make fire, we were inscribing human rights on the Cylinder of Cyrus. We endured the storm of invasions by Alexander the Great and the Mongols and we resisted. Because Iran is not just a country, it is a civilization."

It is a response, somewhat typical for the pride of weaker nations when threatened by a great power. But this response, however much it may cool the anti-Americans everywhere, carries with it an ironic burden that dynamites it – forgive the metaphor, perhaps inappropriate in context. To be read by everyone, the Iranian's response had to be written in English, on a global social network made by Americans and not in Akkadian, nor even in Farsi, on a clay cylinder. If you cannot face a current civilization with the grandeur of the past civilization from which you descend other than by using the language and achievements of today, it means that, on the scale of the "clash of civilizations," you somewhat recognize yourself as defeated, even if you do not believe it. Essentially, what good is the antiquity of a civilization if you could not ensure its continuity? What good is the Cylinder of Cyrus the Great if 2,600 years later you have a theocratic regime that kills women for being unveiled and represses any religion other than Shiite Islam? That cylinder you boast about says exactly the opposite. What good is it to have behind you a civilization of astonishing refinement if the descendants are brutes? What good is it to have a great history, even a culture of freedom, if the epigones are cemented bigots in a regime of terror? And these questions can be legitimately asked of any wretched regime of a nation that, at one point, was free, prosperous, and bountiful. Essentially, you should be a bit shy to boast about your ancestors if the Romanian saying "where you were and what you have become" applies to you.

The involuntary ridiculousness of the Iranian ambassador's message should make everyone think who defends the smallness or even the curses of the present by invoking the glory of the ancestors. This is not what culture is useful for; civilization does not serve such a purpose.

But the irony continues, equally, on the other side. I have the impression that God mocks equally the great ones of the world, making them say or do crazy things, even ridiculous, so that people can see that the kings are naked.

But this divine game with the most powerful men among all other men is only perceived by adversaries. Only the adversaries of Iran saw the ridiculousness of that servant of Tehran's message, just as only the adversaries of America could see the ridiculousness of the American vice president who scolded the Pope warning him to "be careful when talking theology." Iran's fans will never see the ridiculousness of that message from the Iranian ambassador, just as the Trumpist fans will never see the ridiculousness of the call from the smoking Vance. Moreover, I have the impression that Vance has taken on the role of "intellectual" of the first Trumpist circle. Since Daddy himself is not very bookish, and the vice president studied Law at Yale, which implies that he is better with letters, it is natural to see the smoking J.D. launching into theological or, more precisely, politico-theological matters.

Pope Leo XIV supported what any Christian cleric is naturally expected to support, calling for peace and love for one's neighbor. He did it with all diplomacy, acknowledging the right of states to defend themselves, to manage their borders as they see fit, and to have their own rules regarding the access of foreigners, but emphasizing that these must, however, be subsumed to these fundamental Christian values: peace and love for one's neighbor. Trump's lackey jumped, disturbed by the remark regarding migration. He called the Pope "narrow-minded" and "weak on migration." Vance's lackey jumped more theologically: "In the matter of war, Your Holiness, be careful that, well, you should review your material, because Catholic doctrine recognizes the admissibility of 'just war.'" In other words, what America is doing in Iran is a just war according to Catholic rules – Vance wants to say.

I will not present here the doctrine of "just war," which comes from pre-Christian antiquity and which some of the Fathers of the Church of Christ adopted and adapted by introducing it into the Christian doctrinal corpus, both Catholic and Orthodox, even though the classical doctrinaires of the theme are mostly from the West. I do not have space to present this doctrine in detail, and moreover, its general data are easily accessible to anyone from online sources. What is, however, very important to say is that the war initiated by the USA in Iran is not at all, but not at all a just war, according to Catholic doctrine. It is acceptable under the theory of preventive war, but it is impossible to call it a "just war" from a Christian point of view. If we lay down on paper the conditions that make a war just according to Catholic doctrine, there would result about ten criteria (some are consequences of others) regarding causes, objectives, the manner in which it is waged, the moment from which it is just, and the moment in which it ceases to be just. Among these criteria, I say clearly, the war initiated by the USA in Iran ticks one, at most two.

Before anything else, in principle, no preventive war can be "just" from a Christian point of view. Preventive war is controversial in international relations theory, but it is fair to say that it has its supporters among these theorists. Among politicians, preventive war has even more adherents. But preventive war is completely unacceptable from the perspective of the current Christian doctrine of just war.

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