Night skyline of Tehran Iran with mosque minaret under full moon, text overlay: Hot Takes Burn - Iran vs US Abortions Hijacked

Hot Takes Burn

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ByMatthew Edmund Reading Time: 9 minutes

Iran War vs. US Abortions Hijacked

A recent post of mine, along with an image, pointed out that in the short few days the US had begun military operations in Iran, more American babies had been murdered by abortion than Iranians killed by the Islamic regime in Iran. This, by itself, is completely true. Yet the image I made which highlighted this hot take didn’t begin to clarify my greater point, which is repeatedly emphasized in Scripture: Any nation which renders judgment is held to a high standard of righteousness.

The longer commentary attached to the graphic explained this. By no means was I extolling the great deeds of Iran. Rather, I was challenging Christians to have at least as much fervor for ending abortion as they were now having for ending the Islamic regime of Iran. If the standard was a people being massacred: We have them beat by the tens of millions.

Yet a person who followed me took my image and then attached a message to it which was NOT the point I was making.

That post went viral (at least compared to mine). Here, my post, with my face and my words, was getting all sorts of attention, divorced from the point I was trying to make, and attached to one I did not: Iran’s government isn’t wicked. I NEVER MADE THAT CLAIM.

This person eventually replaced my graphic (which included my name, website, and username) with a generic graphic with a plagiarized quote — I guess that’s better?

Night skyline of Tehran Iran with mosque minaret under full moon, text overlay: Hot Takes Burn - Iran vs US Abortions Hijacked

Taking Responsibility

That said, I would be a fool if I didn’t take some responsibility for what happened. “Hot takes” are deliberately designed to incite responses, and if one isn’t surgically precise with those jabs, then they can be applied in ways the author never intended. I’m not a novice. Communication is my area of study. Yet I crafted a provocative statement which wasn’t carefully aimed. I take responsibility for that.

My Position on Iran: Stated Plainly

Now hundreds of thousands of people are seeing a message with my face, name, and words attached to one I never wrote, and never would. With that in mind, I thought I’d take the opportunity to clarify my position on what’s currently unfolding, as of March 6, 2026.

Iran is a wicked regime that’s done wicked things for longer than I’ve been alive (though not much more). Now, unlike the vast majority of people, and where I get misinterpreted, is when I say “This is complicated.” Everyone wants Iran to be a mustache-twirling bad guy and the United States (and its allies — we’ll address in a minute) to be squeaky-clean good guys. Neither are either of these things, and rarely, if ever, do either exist in the real world. The United States has done very evil and wicked things, oftentimes disguised as “promoting freedom” or “defending democracy.” Most Republicans will find simple excuses for these evils and completely dismiss these acts as non-issues. It doesn’t help that in the last decade Democrats have made criticizing the United States their platform.

As a result, any attempt to legitimately criticize the United States is met with accusations of “loving the Democrats,” “hating America,” and “opposing Trump.” Polarization by its very nature erodes nuance and forces those in the middle to argue towards extremes. Anyone left in the middle is often lumped in with an extreme. I can bet with almost certainty I’ve already lost several readers in this very paragraph.

What is probably even more controversial is the claim that the nation of Iran’s actions aren’t all evil. They are not acting in a vacuum, but in response to a complex set of circumstances, many of which are deliberately set up by larger countries like the United States, Russia, and China to force them into specific actions. This is not justification for mass murder, torture, terrorism, or Christian persecution. Rather, I’m hanging a lantern on a topic most from the Right refuse to acknowledge. Iran’s government isn’t good, but neither are all of its actions evil or for evil.

Israel is the Proxy: Or “Jews”

This now brings us to Israel. This is one I’ve wanted to articulate in writing for a while. I do not believe modern Israel is any more important than any other nation. Israel has one of the highest abortion rates in the Middle East along with all sorts of sexual immorality. These are not God’s covenant people. Christ’s church is God’s covenant people, which includes both Jew and Gentile who believe in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. Disagree? Okay, that’s fine. But this is about what I believe right now.

As my friend Sabrina said quite aptly, “Israel is the United States’ proxy.” While Israel has outsized influence within American culture and politics, the reality on the ground is that when all is said and done, contrary to the meme, the United States calls the shots. You can blast me with all sorts of conspiracies and claims and whatever. I get it. There are a lot of Jews in a lot of powerful places. Got it. Fact remains, the United States is not bombing Iran for Israel; Israel is bombing Iran because the United States says it could.

Iran has attacked the United States so many times over the last 47 years it’s obscene. The notion we’re attacking Iran to “do Israel’s bidding” is absurd. Israel has long wanted to take care of Iran and almost certainly has restrained itself because the United States has held Israel back. Israel would have attacked Iran long ago if the United States had allowed it. They didn’t need us to do it — but are almost certainly happy for the help.

No More Foreign Wars

This brings me to my principled position. Some background: Some of my earliest memories are of Desert Storm. One of the earliest things I remember is a newscast of Peter Jennings of ABC reporting in a news office in Iraq, putting on a mask and taking cover under desks, live on television. I remember Kosovo. I remember the fear of 9/11. I remember seeing my world change as the “War on Terror” unfolded. I remember being relieved something was finally being done when bombs started dropping in Afghanistan and being excited for Operation Iraqi Freedom. I turned 18 in Bush’s second election and I voted for him without hesitation.

I also remember living with our flags at half-mast more than they weren’t. I remember stumbling on the pictures of the aftermath of US bombs in Iraq, the sobbing parents holding their dismembered child in their hands. I remember the execution videos of American soldiers spammed at me by ISIS on Twitter. I learned that war was not a story arc, but a lived horror. Many people died horrible deaths, deaths which I enthusiastically petitioned for by my votes.

I believe the United States’ foreign policy is pragmatic, but not biblical. While projecting power internationally may prevent a world war, it has not prevented the deaths of hundreds of thousands of other people. As a result of our foreign policy, it creates circumstances which bring about increased conflict as the United States attempts to manipulate the world stage to maintain its power and influence abroad.

From a “Republican” standpoint this is a good and noble thing. But these are not biblical categories. God does not delegate authority to civil magistrates to project power and influence globally and to wield the sword against other sovereign nations because it is pragmatic. You may argue that there would be grave consequences to allow another power to fill the vacuum. Yet this ignores the grave consequences which we’re currently suffering: unimaginable debt, never-ending wars, and the loss of conscience as we write off the deaths of innocent bystanders as “acceptable losses” because we’ve decided American hegemony is worth killing to maintain.

As a standing principle, I oppose new and continued conflicts abroad. I believe the role of the magistrate is to defend a people within its borders, not go to other nations and wage war.

Iran: The Complication

But Iran creates a real complication for me, one in which I haven’t been able to settle. Iran has actively been funding terrorism, attacking ships, and threatening America for nearly 50 years. Yes, I’ve thoroughly acknowledged that the actions of the United States have contributed to this response, yet Iran has had numerous other avenues which didn’t involve murdering civilians, inflicting terror, and disrupting international trade. Of all the options available, Iran chose the worst ones. How long can the United States suffer attacks before the United States responds?

We can argue what authority Congress has abdicated to the Executive — a formal declaration of war should be made. If the people of the United States are going to be committed to an act which has even the smallest chance of affecting us (say, Russia or China getting involved) and plunging the nation into a greater conflict, our representatives should be held accountable. But these are “should have, would have, could haves.”

My objection to military intervention in Iran is not military action, per se, but whether any president should make a unilateral decision to commit us to war (and yes, by any definition, this is a war). Whether the most prudent actions were taken to avoid the conflict and achieve necessary results. And most importantly, what our plan is at the end.

ISIS and the Taliban

Both Iraq and Afghanistan demonstrate decisive examples of what happens when the United States withdraws forces: devastation. After US forces withdrew from Iraq, ISIS swept through the region and gruesomely murdered tens of thousands, many Christians. When the US withdrew from Afghanistan, the Taliban surged back and reasserted the Islamic regime we had driven out decades earlier — meanwhile horrific pictures of Afghans falling off of American planes trying to escape the coming onslaught.

What future awaits Iran? Sometimes the evil you know is better than the evil you don’t. Very often, the evil you don’t is far worse. Every time this is brought up, it is hand-waved:

  • This isn’t Iraq
  • This isn’t Bush
  • This isn’t Afghanistan
  • This is different

What’s the saying? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…

Right now, no stated plan has been given for what the Trump administration expects to happen to Iran. They don’t even know who’s left to negotiate with, if anyone. Who is going to take over the government? What is going to happen to the Iranian people? Infrastructure, government, safety are all not going to materialize overnight. We’re bombing them. What’s the plan?

It’s very well possible there is a plan, but as a citizen, it is not my job to have faith in government. It is my job to hold my government accountable. It is a very dangerous thing to have faith in government. The moment you begin to allow the government to act on faith, the moment you open yourself up to exploitation and manipulation. Our government was never designed for people to have faith in it or its leaders, but instead quite the opposite.

All of this to say

Iran had it coming. Israel isn’t calling the shots. And I don’t think we should be bombing Iran. I don’t like that my words were taken to make a point I didn’t make, but that’s on me for not being more precise. This is all pretty long-winded and winding, but I appreciate those who read it to the end.

May God bless America with repentance and godly leaders.

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Creator

Matthew Edmund is a Christian writer, small-business owner, and civic participant writing on faith, culture, and public responsibility. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Journalism from Oakland University and has been active in local politics and abortion abolition. He is the owner of FYRE.IS.

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