The irony is stark,
Western nations, born from Enlightenment ideals intertwined with
Christian ethics, now export a version of "faith" that is weaponized for
a powerful oppressor.
By Fareed Khan
A version of this article can be found on Substack.
As the world hurtles toward Christmas Day 2025, over 2.3 billion
Christians prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ—a figure whose
teachings of peace, compassion, mercy, and justice have shaped
civilizations for two millennia. Yet, in this season of supposed
goodwill, the actions—or inactions—of leaders in the world’s Western
predominantly Christian nations reveal a profound hypocrisy. The Western
alliance, led by countries like the United States, Canada, the United
Kingdom, Germany, and France, claims a heritage rooted in Christian
values. But their policies and silences in the face of atrocity tell a
different story—one of moral abdication that mocks the very ethos of the
faith they profess.
Consider the land where Jesus Christ was born, preached, and died—the Holy Land, now a cauldron of genocide and suffering in Gaza and the broader Palestinian territories at the hands of Israeli oppressors, one that has been this way for decades. Here, amid the rubble of what was once Bethlehem’s neighbour, heinous crimes unfold daily—indiscriminate bombings, forced displacements, ethnic cleansing and a humanitarian catastrophe that the International Court of Justice has labelled as plausibly genocidal, and that the United Nations has labelled as undoubtedly genocidal.
Christians and Muslims alike—brothers and sisters in humanity—are caught in this vise of violence, their lives extinguished or upended in ways that echo the ancient laments of the prophets. Palestinian Christians, a dwindling community, and one on the brink of extinction in Gaza, tracing their roots to the time of Christ, face existential threats, their churches destroyed and their faithful scattered. Muslims, too, endure unimaginable horrors, from starvation sieges to the targeting of hospitals and school, and the destruction of anything that could sustain human life.
And what of the West’s response? These self-proclaimed beacons of Christian democracy arm the genocidal Israeli perpetrators—the US vetoes UN resolutions calling for ceasefires, and nations like the UK and Germany offer platitudes about “self-defence” while ignoring the disproportionate carnage. The US, under both Republican and Democratic administrations that routinely invoke God in speeches, provides billions in military aid to Israel, enabling the very genocidal acts that ravage the birthplace of Christianity. Canada, the UK, Germany, and France follow suit, condemning and suppressing domestic anti-Genocide protests, labelling criticism of Israel as antisemitism, and turning a blind eye to war crimes documented by human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. In all of this where is the Sermon on the Mount? Christ’s call proclaiming “blessed are the peacemakers” rings hollow when Western leaders prioritize geopolitical alliances over halting a slaughter that has claimed over 75,000 Palestinian lives, with more than a third of them children.
This isn’t a mere policy failure, it’s a betrayal of Christ’s core teachings. Jesus preached love for enemies, turning the other cheek, and caring for the least among us—the poor, the oppressed, the stranger. He flipped tables in the temple against exploitation and hypocrisy. Yet, Western leaders, many of whom publicly identify as Christians—think of US presidents quoting scripture or European prime ministers attending Christmas services—embody none of this. They champion “Judeo-Christian values” as a cloak of indemnity while preparing for endless wars, and doing nothing about growing economic inequality, and environmental catastrophe, all while allowing atrocities in the Holy Land to continue unabated.
Germany’s “Staatsräson“ policy ties its identity to Israel’s security, but at what cost to Palestinians, Christian or Muslim? France’s laïcité policy masks its oppression of Muslims seeking justice for Palestinians and its complicity in the horrors Israel is committing. The UK’s historical role in decades of oppression, subjugation and brutalization of Palestinians, beginning with the Balfour Declaration and continuing through its decades of unequivocal support for Israel, is a stain that will never wash away. And Canada, with its multicultural veneer and claims of being a defender of international human rights, joins in blocking international accountability for Israel by opposing the genocide case brought by South Africa against Israel at the International court of Justice.
The irony is stark, these nations, born from Enlightenment ideals intertwined with Christian ethics, now export a version of “faith” that is weaponized for a powerful oppressor. They decry religious persecution elsewhere—say, in China or Iran—yet fund it in the cradle of Christianity, the land were Christ lived and spread his message. If he returned today, would he recognize these leaders as his followers? Or would he see Pharisees, more concerned with rituals and alliances than with justice and mercy? More likely the latter.
The world feels irreparably broken, fractured by endless conflicts, climate crises, and a erosion of shared humanity. It’s easy to despair, to see only the darkness enveloping places like Gaza, Ukraine, or our own divided societies.
What can or should we do about how seemingly broken the world is? Can we really do anything to fix it when our efforts are so small when compared to the enormity of the task at hand? History and our experiences teach us that what is broken can be mended with time, tenacity and the collective will of people who desire a world better than one we have.
However, in so doing we must remember to do it with humanity and love that is generous, deliberate and unconditional. The truth is the world we see around us, that seems to be falling into darkness, is actually waiting for the light that’s in all of us to shine forth and begin to heal peoples, societies, environments, and the soul of our world.
© 2025 The View From Here. © 2025 Fareed Khan. All Rights Reserved.
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