'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God,' he says. Paul makes case for foreign restraint

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul on Friday made a religiously minded case against an overly assertive foreign policy as he criticized some fellow Republicans for being too aggressive on defense issues.

Paul, a libertarian-leaning likely presidential candidate, told attendees at a conference sponsored by the conservative Faith and Freedom Coalition that “Jesus reminds us what our goal should be when he proclaims, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.’”


The theme was similar to the one Paul offered at the gathering last year, but the remarks also come as Paul has been increasingly vocal about his skepticism of overt American action in Iraq amid deepening conflict there.

“Reagan spoke often of peace through strength,” Paul said, invoking the former president, as he often does, in discussing his own foreign policy preferences. “But I fear some in our nation, some in our party, have forgotten the first part of the sentence: That peace should be our goal even as we build our strength. Some in my party have distorted this … into a misguided belief that we should project strength through war. Even when we’ve tried through good intentions to make the world a better place, our actions have often backfired.”

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He referred to instability in the Middle East — in Iraq, Syria and with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip — to argue against foreign aid to any governments that persecute Christians or threaten Israel.

“There’s a war on Christianity going on, and sometimes you’re being asked to pay for it,” he said, adding later, “It’s time to stop this madness.”

Paul, who has been criticized by some in his own party for being too hands-off on foreign policy, argued that he still supports a strong defense system. “If attacked, it’s our duty to defend your family, defend your country, defend our freedom,” he said.

On some social issues, such as same-sex marriage and drug policy, Paul tends to take a more libertarian approach that puts him to the left of many social conservatives.

But in his address Friday, he highlighted his credentials on the issue of abortion.

Paul opened his speech with a video dotted with images of babies — including of himself cooing over one — and interspersed with clips from several of Paul’s addresses in which he addressed abortion. In a possible riff off of his tagline, “Stand with Rand,” Paul, an ophthalmologist, emphasizes in the video that he will always “stand” for life.

He peppered his well-received speech with religious references — to Jesus, to Mother Teresa and to the Bible, to praying and also to a “spiritual crisis” in America — and stressed that freedom and tradition are complementary values.

“Your faith and your church should be part of the public arena. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” he told the crowd, which offered him a standing ovation. “Reject anyone that tells you that faith can’t be part of public life.”

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