For a moment it looked like the United States was racing headlong into a full-blown war with Iran. It seems long-running beefs between government functionaries in Iran and government functionaries in the U.S. boiled over when the chief American government functionary ordered a successful hit on a prominent Iranian government functionary.

As a result, thousands of everyday American followers of the Prince of Peace rushed to defend and justify killing thousands of people who happen to have the misfortune of living under the rule of Iranian government functionaries.

There is a whole slew of arguments American Christians appeal to in order to justify killing people they don’t know half a world away. Here’s a top-10 list. In the coming weeks, I will address each of these arguments in greater detail.

1. Jesus drove the money-changers out of the temple with a whip!
2. Jesus told the disciples to buy a sword.
3. Take your pick of Old Testament war stories.
4. God obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah!
5. Peace would be nice, but we have to live in the real world.
6. Yeah, Jesus talked about peace and love and stuff, but he didn’t mean it literally. It’s more about the condition of your heart, not how you act.
7. God sends people to hell. We’re just helping the process along!
8. Haven’t you read Revelations? Jesus is coming back to kick some a@@!
9. All Muslims want to kill Christians because the Koran says so! We gotta defend ourselves
10. Israel.