To the editor:

Peace on earth, good will toward men. Well, yes … but first, let’s watch our president destabilize the Middle East and invite retaliatory attack.

I guess everyone has forgotten about the nonexistent “weapons of mass destruction” that President George W. Bush used to justify his attack on Iraq and our young men killed there. Now our current president puts the 14,000 troops deployed to Iran since May, plus the 3,500 deployed yesterday, in harm’s way. The Republicans have shown us before that a “good” war raises patriotism, especially among civilians stockpiling their guns.

Oh, and all of the military-related industrial stocks went up yesterday after the attack. And there’s no conflict of interest that our secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, was a lobbyist for the largest military contract firm. A war is great for the economy!

So the evangelicals are praying with the president, Pompeo and Pence standing right beside him. It is their belief that the rapture will soon be taking them to heaven. But first they need a holy war against the forces of evil, who they see as embodied by Iran.

In October, a movie based on the book “The Trump Prophecy” was shown in 1,200 theaters across the country. In it, a man gives testimony that God spoke to him and said, “I’ve chosen this man for a time such as this.” Trump is the “model for a non-believer appointed by God as a vessel for the faithful.”

It’s a winning ticket for the evangelicals! They go to church to hear about the “prosperity gospel,” which tells them that if they believe in God, they will become rich. (That’s funny. I remember Jesus throwing the money changers out of the temple.) And in the meantime, this president will start a war to get them to heaven sooner.

You know what? It’s their right to huddle in their churches, but please stay out of our government! It’s already compromised enough with those Republicans who seem to only care about getting re-elected. Elise Stefanik is at it again, demonizing her opponents by lying that they don’t appreciate the efforts of our troops or agree that Soleimani was a horrendous terrorist. Slander is a weapon. There is no peace and goodwill when people spread disinformation for their own gains.

Martha Hodges

Massena