Christian Leaders Call for Tough Sanctions on Iran

Matt Lewis | September 23, 2009 7:31 AM

Calling themselves, "Christian Leaders for a Nuclear-Free Iran," several prominent social conservatives have signed a letter to Members of the U.S. Congress, urging tough sanctions on Iran.

Signers include such luminaries as Pat Robertson of Christian Broadcasting Network, Charles Colson of the Prison Fellowship Ministries, Richard Land of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, Tom Minnery of Focus on the Family, Bill Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America, Gary Bauer of American Values, and Dr. John Hagee of the Conerstone Church in San Antonio -- and many more.

The letter urges,

"immediate action to address Iran’s program to develop and deploy nuclear weapons by imposing economic sanctions on foreign companies that: export refined petroleum products, including gasoline, to Iran; help maintain Iran’s domestic refining capacity; provide ships or shipping services to transport such products; underwrite those shipments; or finance or broker those shipments. The U.S. should also immediately initiate a boycott of any arms sales to Iran."

You can read the full letter here.

... This is interesting to me for several reasons, not the least of which is that during the Cold War, the three-legs of the conservative movement (social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, and national security conservatives) all found unique and legitimate reasons to unite around a shared objective: Winning the Cold War.

This letter, signed by numerous prominent social conservatives, implies the conservative movement might once again find a way to coalesce around a common foreign enemy. At least, this letter implies there is potential for that to occur...