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Phil Dorroll

@phildorroll

Religious Studies professor in South Carolina; research on Islamic and Orthodox Christian theology in Turkish and Arabic; supports πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦

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Latest posts by Phil Dorroll @phildorroll

Why Trump's claim that Iranians should take to the streets had to be rowed back | DW News
Why Trump's claim that Iranians should take to the streets had to be rowed back | DW News YouTube video by DW News

Told DW News that the Trump admin is merely muddling through a set of incoherent objectives and strategies in the war on Iran.

youtu.be/Yf7YkT4s1Zg?...

06.03.2026 17:38 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Re: political theology in Iran I just picked this up by @hbanai.bsky.social and it’s excellent; very tough to find good analysis of these sources

(Banai’s book is also endorsed by Nader Hashemi, author of one of the classic recent studies on Islam and liberal democracy)

07.03.2026 04:25 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

β€œLet us stand, therefore, with fear of God and keep guard over our heart, practicing the virtues which check the wickedness of our enemies.”

-St. Isaiah the Solitary (d. 479/91; Philokalia vol. 1)

07.03.2026 04:05 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Lots of great insights in this thread

07.03.2026 03:39 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

We could have been focused on backing Ukraine, thereby undermining Russia. Instead, we’re focused on attacking Iran, and therefore allowing Russia to undermine us.

07.03.2026 01:14 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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60 cent jump from last week here in the Burg today

06.03.2026 22:49 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Pentagon Refuses to Say If AI Was Used to Select Elementary School as Bombing Target Did the US military use Anthropic's Claude to select targets in its weekend operations in Iran, with devastating results?

We asked the Pentagon a straightforward question: did Centcom use Claude to target an elementary school for annihilation?

They refused to answer.

06.03.2026 15:38 πŸ‘ 147 πŸ” 67 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 10

Does Wofford need to bring democracy to USC? lmk if yall need a peacekeeping force

06.03.2026 15:25 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

!

06.03.2026 15:24 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
06.03.2026 03:29 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Exclusive: US investigation points to likely US responsibility in Iran school strike, sources say Military investigators believe it is likely that U.S. forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls' school that killed scores of children on Saturday, two U.S. officials told Reu...

Exclusive: US military investigators believe it is likely that US forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls' school that killed scores of children on February 28 but have not yet reached a final conclusion or completed their investigation reut.rs/40b19JN

06.03.2026 03:10 πŸ‘ 343 πŸ” 187 πŸ’¬ 33 πŸ“Œ 37

lol

06.03.2026 02:41 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

β€œPopper’s exaggerated polemic”

06.03.2026 02:36 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

β€œChristian nation” isn’t much different from β€œIslamic Republic”

06.03.2026 02:35 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

A good point re: those in that specific position; my concern here is that we as Americans do not find technical ways to morally write this off, otherwise we will excuse not just these but countless other innocent deaths.

If we can’t feel the moral weight of these incidents, we will repeat them iow.

06.03.2026 00:25 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

…our moral liability as a nation, it *doesn’t matter* if the strike was accidental, target misidentification, etc. Americans have got to recognize this, or there’s really no point at all in even distinguishing between just and unjust war.

06.03.2026 00:08 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Not a critique of the analysis here but I’m trying to empathize a point that is getting lost:

If someone breaks into someone’s house, and accidentally kills a person while doing so, the killing *cannot* be justified bc the reason why you’re there in the first place is unjustifiable.

In terms of…

06.03.2026 00:06 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Analysis Suggests School Was Hit Amid U.S. Strikes on Iranian Naval Base

Important analysis (gift link) that lends support to the increasingly likely conclusion that it was an American missile that struck the school.

I’m not an expert on international law. But as a Christian, I think the moral judgement is clear. *We* bear moral responsibility bc the war is unjust.

05.03.2026 23:28 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

One might even say a special military action

05.03.2026 23:11 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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It’s a classic! All his work is great; my favorite of his is actually this one; the last chapter is still one of the best descriptions of medieval political theory ever written imo:

05.03.2026 20:01 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Book recs on the history of modern Iran:

05.03.2026 19:48 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

"We must be willing to criticize the Islamic Republic of Iran as though Islamophobia does not exist...And we must be willing to name and fight Islamophobia as though the Islamic Republic of Iran does not exist" would fix a lot of media discourse right now

05.03.2026 18:12 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Excellent piece; and the two commitments described here works as well for Muslim-majority nations and Islamophobia:

"We must be willing to criticize Israel as though antisemitism does not exist...And we must be willing to name and fight antisemitism as though the state of Israel does not exist"

05.03.2026 18:09 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Including a great analysis by @arashtehran.bsky.social

05.03.2026 15:56 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
International Journal of Middle East Studies: Volume 56 - Issue 2 | Cambridge Core Cambridge Core - International Journal of Middle East Studies - Volume 56 - Issue 2

On the CIA backed coup in Iran in 1953: the flagship journal of Middle East Studies did a roundtable on the topic just two years ago, which includes authoritative summaries of the events, state of the field questions etc- and its all free and open access here:

05.03.2026 15:54 πŸ‘ 27 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

What they usually miss imo is that God will not ask them about their ability to interpret the book of Revelation but instead about their ability to interpret the beatitudes

05.03.2026 03:24 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Yes; and in particular I’m seeing the sudden influence of a certain apocalyptic strain of Islamophobic theology that’s been developing in conservative evangelicalism since the 2000s; the quotes below are just from the past few days

05.03.2026 03:12 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

NYT reporting Kurdish attack hasn't started yet and may not, but the president is making phone calls to leaders. They say the effort builds on existing programs of CIA providing *small arms* to Kurdish groups, and that strikes in western Iran may be intended to smooth the ground for Kurdish efforts

05.03.2026 01:38 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

NEW: A source from the Iranian Kurdish group Komala denies reports that it launched a ground offensive into western Iran.

Source: www.rudaw.net/kurmanci/kur...

04.03.2026 22:02 πŸ‘ 178 πŸ” 73 πŸ’¬ 8 πŸ“Œ 15

Good plan, there’s no way that the US would ever betray Kurds who fought on their behalf, or that Turkey would be upset by and seek to frustrate any US-backed Kurdish forces, or that an invasion from Iraq would trigger Iranian nationalist opposition. None of those things have ever happened.

04.03.2026 21:42 πŸ‘ 892 πŸ” 263 πŸ’¬ 30 πŸ“Œ 13