Culture, Faith and Politics with Pat Kahnke

Was Trump's Iran war just? Pat Kahnke and Adam Swenson apply the five criteria of just war theory to the opening phase of the conflict — and the results are damning. From the bombing of a girls' school on Day One to Trump's personal vendetta against Khamenei, this conversation asks the question MAGA Christians won't: does this war pass any Christian moral standard?

If you're a Christian wrestling with MAGA theology, an evangelical asking hard questions about war and conscience, or simply someone who wants moral clarity on the Iran conflict — this conversation is for you.

After 20 years as an evangelical pastor and church planter, I've reached a conclusion I never thought I'd reach: I will never vote Republican again — and as a Christian, I believe I have no other choice. This isn't a political rant. It's a theological reckoning.

In this episode, I make the biblical case for why MAGA Christianity is incompatible with the teachings of Jesus. Using Scripture, history, and observable evidence, I walk through why the Republican Party has become a haven for religious grifters — men like Franklin Graham, Robert Jeffress, and Paula White — who have traded the Gospel for political power and access to Donald Trump.

I also announce a new weekly series: The Bible vs. MAGA — a systematic, verse-by-verse refutation of Christian nationalism and the theology that props it up.

Senator Markwayne Mullin has built his political brand on toughness, Trump loyalty, and conspicuous Christian faith. But his Senate confirmation hearing revealed something more troubling: a man who glorifies violence and holds a view of justice that is, at best, sub-Christian. In this episode, I examine Mullin's confirmation hearing testimony, his documented history of glorifying physical confrontation, and a comparison to his predecessor Kristi Noem — the same pattern of evangelical branding paired with institutional brutality at ICE and Border Patrol. I also address the ongoing investigation into the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti — two individuals shot and killed by federal agents in Minnesota — and the federal government's deliberate obstruction of Minnesota state officials from participating in that investigation. This is what MAGA theology looks like when it has a badge and a budget. Not just a political position — a theological permission structure for cruelty that dresses itself in the language of faith.

Imagine for a moment that the attack on Iran was necessary. Donald Trump has proven why you don't put an ignorant, impulsive narcissist in charge of the most powerful country in the world. Pat and Ken Napzok discuss three foolish, avoidable mistakes Trump has made that will have lasting consequences on America's safety and prosperity.

There Are No "Good Guys" In This War!

 
Pete Hegseth says "We know who the good guys are." Most Americans don't agree — and the data proves it.

When he made that claim, he was speaking for about a third of the country. This is not a patriotic war. There is almost no "rally around the flag" effect. When a majority of Americans can't identify the good guys in a war their own government started, that's not a media problem. That's a leadership problem.

 
As a retired evangelical pastor and former lifelong Republican, I'm calling this what it is: the MAGA church did not bring the kingdom of God closer. It handed the keys of power to the most corrupt cast of characters in modern American history. This is a theological reckoning. And it's long overdue.