That verse is too vague. Every Christian thinks it applies to them, especially conservatives.
The real tragedy is that we have some real world examples of exactly this attitude.
How do you mock your enemy if you don't know who they are and what they're doing?
Did you know about them before reading this? I didn't.
Know your enemy.
That's the story they've been telling themselves so long that nobody really knows for sure. They certainly didn't allow any other narrative once they took control of every government they could.
I don't see how they aren't both rotten at the core. They both spring from the same Abrahamic religion. They both cite extremely fallible and frequently inaccurate texts as scriptures. They both cherry-pick what they want from scripture and knowledge. Neither is better than the other. The only reason that Christianity isn't just as violent as Islam today is because most of the Christian world is leashed by secularism, which the Islamic world rejected a thousand years ago.
In fact, Jesus was very pro-war/conflict and anti-immigrant. Shall I quote the gospel verses demonstrating it?
Well, yes and no. Yes, during the Islamic Golden Age they successfully introduced a lot of valuable knowledge. There's a reason our numbers are called "Arabic" and most of the stars we can see have Arabic names. However, the idea that they've been strictly defensive is not accurate. After the fall of the Golden Age, when clerics took back their power and declared mathematics to be satanic they began their campaign to establish a global caliphate. They're brutal with anyone they consider sexually deviant or violate gender norms, and they're not above attempting to invade a neighbor if they think they can get away with it in the name of Allah.
Just like Christianity throughout history.
The difference is that they have a lot of catching up to do before they can equal the atrocities of Christianity. And from the look of it, this lag isn't from lack of trying. They just haven't had as much time as Christians to commit all of the atrocities.
It's possible, but we've been talking about that for at least fifteen years to counter the "the Founders intended us to be a Christian nation" nonsense.
They were always jealous of Muslim theocracy. They didn't object to the practice so much as the flavor.
"Rules for thee but not for me." Which brings us around to Wilhoit's observation:
Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.
https://crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/liberals-against-progressives/#comment-729288
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Trump II Architect Russ Vought Embraces A Christian Nationalist Vision For America
(talkingpointsmemo.com)
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Experts Place New Secret Society Squarely In The Christian Nationalist Revival
(talkingpointsmemo.com)
Yes, and?