The Blogs: Narrow Straits

On the last day of our interfaith trip to Israel, As Roger, Mark and I headed down the Rabin Highway from our hotel in Pik’in, in northern Israel towards Ben Gurion Airport, we passed an exit sign, with an arrow facing right to Megiddo. Megiddo might not raise an eyebrow or a knowing glance from most. The settlement appears a number of times in the Bible including in in Revelation 16:16 where it is referred to as “Harmagedon – literally, the Mount of Megiddo. The Greek translation of “Harmagedon is “Armageddon – widely known to represent the battle between good and even that denotes the arrival of the apocalypse.

Ezekiel 28 21-22

I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign Lord. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. (See also Revelation 19:11-21 and Revelation 20:7-10)

As a chokepoint overlooking an essential Levant trade route, Megiddo was the site to multiple catastrophic battles. Beginning with King Josiah’s defeat by Pharaoh II in 1457 BCE. By the time of the late Second Temple period, Megiddo had become almost a byword for devastating, world-historical battle. The apocalyptic imagination simply promoted it from history’s killing field to the ultimate killing field.

I never took these religious prophesies seriously until I read a recent article in the New York Times (Monday, April 20, 2026). Here is the headline that raised my anxiety beyond its normal self-imposed elevated state: “The Forces of Scarcity Hitting Asia May Soon Spread Across the World.” A quote:

Collectively, according to many officials and experts, if the war’s strangling of commercial traffic through the Middle East lasts for even a few more weeks, and uncertainty lingers, shortages could push several countries into convulsions of unrest, followed by recession.

The Straits of Tiran are todays’ Megiddo.

Except that this potential devastating battle is not between the forces of evil and good, but between those of evil and avarice.

I am no fan of the Iranian régime. Since it came to power in 1979, it has both advocated and advanced violence across the Middle East and around the world.

But I don’t believe the current US leaders are motivated altruistically or have the capacity to do so.

I’d like to propose another perspective on the war with Iran:

Some facts:

In 2024, oil companies spent $154,469,035 for lobbyists.
Oil companies spent $445 Million to influence the 2024 elections.
In the days after the abduction of Venezuelan president Nicolas Meduro, in January 2026, President Trump affirmed that U.S. was going to “run the country” and that American companies would soon start selling the country’s vast oil reserves. Oner month later, the US and Israel began attacking Iran.
President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) eliminated the tax credits for the purchase of electric vehicles.
Trump has consistently and aggressively worked to halt wind and solar energy projects.
Oil and gas are major contributors to climate change, accounting for around 68% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Their combustion releases carbon dioxide and other pollutants, leading to global warming, extreme weather events, and significant environmental degradation.

At a time when the wellbeing of the world totters atop a petrochemical high wire, nations, most notably ours’, fight to preserve it rather than move beyond it – as we now have the capacity to do. In Norway, 54% of new car sales are electric. 60% of Denmark’s electricity comes from wind power. The United States accounts for about 20% of global world consumption – more than any other nation in the world.

Armageddon in our time may assume many forms. I wonder how many of them will be traced back to oil…and avarice.