Holy Wars, American Style: Evangelical Extremism and the ISIS Parallel

By Mohamad Hammoud

From ISIS to American Pulpits: Extremism’s Mirror

Religious belief can inspire compassion, justice, and peace—but it can also be twisted into fanaticism that sanctifies violence. Extremist movements, whether Islamist or Christian, share striking patterns: they elevate selective scripture, demonize outsiders, and justify killing as divine will. While ISIS [The English Acronym for the terrorist Daesh group] is universally recognized as a terrorist group, the rhetoric of some evangelical leaders in the United States reveals a comparable impulse toward absolutism and violence, particularly in their unwavering support for “Israel” and its wars in the Middle East.

Extremism’s Mirror

Both ISIS and evangelical extremists present themselves as guardians of “true faith,” reducing complex traditions to rigid dogma. ISIS recruits by citing Surah 9 of the Qur’an: “Fight those who do not believe in Allah… until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled.” Stripped of context, it is used to justify beheadings, slavery, and massacres.

Evangelical extremists distort the Bible and prophecy to justify wars in the Middle East, unconditional support for “Israel,” and even the killing of Palestinians as prerequisites for Christ’s return. Obadiah’s prophecy that “the house of Esau shall be stubble” is twisted to claim Palestinians—cast as Esau’s descendants—must be removed. Passages like Deuteronomy 20:16–17 “do not leave alive anything that breathes” are revived as political blueprints.

Both movements thrive on the belief that they alone embody God’s will, while everyone else is an enemy.

The Graham Factor

Franklin Graham—the son of evangelist Billy Graham—has consistently portrayed Islam as inherently violent. He called it “a very wicked and evil religion” and warned that “every Muslim that comes into this country has the potential to be radicalized.” After 9/11, he said, “We’re not attacking Islam, but Islam has attacked us,” echoing ISIS propaganda about “Rome.” According to Reuters, the Pentagon disinvited him from a National Day of Prayer event.

Other pastors echo this message. John Hagee, founder of Christians United for “Israel,” claims Middle East wars are God’s plan and supporting “Israel” unconditionally is a biblical mandate. Robert Jeffress, spiritual advisor to former President Trump, called Islam a “false religion inspired by Satan” and justified US military action against Muslim nations as righteous.

These declarations mobilize followers through fear, anger, and the promise of holy war. As The Washington Post reported, Graham, Hagee, and Jeffress counseled presidents and influenced policy. Their caricatures of Islam helped justify surveillance of Muslim communities, refugee bans, and—on the margins—attacks on mosques. When ISIS burned prisoners, it cited Surah 8. When a Michigan militia plotted to bomb a Muslim apartment complex, members quoted American pulpits. The class differs, but the trajectory is the same.

Meeting Extremism Up Close

I witnessed this firsthand during incarceration, when I met an evangelical pastor named Jordi. Convicted of attempting to bomb an abortion clinic, he believed he was carrying out God’s command. Yet he ridiculed Islam as uniquely violent, claiming the Qur’an permits “terrorism”.

I told him his actions mirrored the extremists he condemned. Just as most Christians reject his interpretation of the Bible, the vast majority of Muslims reject ISIS’s reading of the Qur’an. But he refused to see the parallel, insisting that other Christians misunderstood scripture. The symmetry was apparent: both rely on selective interpretation to sanctify violence, dismissing moderates as unfaithful.

Palestinian Blood Theology

The most disturbing parallel lies in how extremists rationalize the deaths of innocents. For ISIS, violence against non-Muslims or rival sects is framed as obedience to God and a ticket to paradise. For evangelical extremists, Palestinian suffering is dismissed—or sanctified—as part of prophecy.

Pastor John Hagee told The Jerusalem Post that supporting Jewish settlement is “obeying the law of God rather than the State Department.” After Israeli shells killed four Palestinian boys on a Gaza beach in 2014, he explained on television: “God weeps, but those children will be in Heaven because they died in the cross-fire of a prophetic war.”

Evangelicals who hold this view cite passages such as Zechariah 14, which describes all nations gathering against Jerusalem, or Revelation 16, which foretells the Battle of Armageddon. For them, Palestinian resistance must be crushed so prophecy can unfold. Thus, when “Israel” bombs Gaza, civilian deaths are framed as divine will. Hagee even claimed God used the Holocaust to drive Jews back to Palestine, treating mass death as providence. Other pastors insist that supporting “Israel” means endorsing its military campaigns without question, since opposing them is opposing God Himself.

In this theology, the blood of Palestinian children becomes a necessary prelude to Christ’s return. Swap the vocabulary—“crusader” for “Zionist,” “Caliphate” for “Millennial Kingdom”—and the script mirrors ISIS justifying genocide as preparation for a messianic conquest.

Faith as a Weapon

ISIS wields direct terrorism, while evangelicals operate through rhetoric, lobbying, and political power—but both weaponize religion. Both selectively quote scripture, demonize the “other,” and see mass death as a sacred destiny.

The lesson is clear: religious extremism, whether under ISIS’s black flag or the American flag of evangelical nationalism, endangers humanity. Faith without compassion becomes ideology, and ideology sanctified by violence becomes a license for atrocity. Resisting it requires exposing the parallels, rejecting fanaticism, and affirming the shared humanity extremists deny.