That's not what it says... stop lying.

We’re living in an age of political hyper-polarization where the goal too often seems to be deepening the divide, not bridging it.

I call it out when the left spins up a narrative from thin air just to score cheap points or fire up their base. It's frustrating, and it undermines real conversation because you're trying to hold people accountable to a fiction.

But this time? I caught the right doing it; same shenanigans, different color jersey.

Apparently a letter was released from the office of "his holiness grand ayatollah makarem shirazi" and it looks like this;

Letter offered as proof

A popular right-wing Facebook group recently shared a post claiming Iran’s top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi, issued a fatwa declaring Trump and Netanyahu as “belligerent infidels” whose “blood is in vain.” The post;

"Make Them Regret": Iran's Top Cleric Issues Fatwa Against Trump, Netanyahu

Iran's top Shiite cleric issued a religious decree against President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday, an act some experts called an incitement to terrorism.

“Anyone, whether an individual or a regime, who threatens the the Islamic Ummah [community] and its leadership, and its religious authority, is considered a muharib (belligerent infidel) and his blood is in vain,” -Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi

The “proof”? A letter supposedly from the cleric’s office. Only, there’s a problem.

I speak a little Korean and some English. I don’t speak Persian. I certainly can't read that letter. But ran the letter through Google Translate and ChatGPT … twice. And that quote? Nowhere in there. Here’s what it actually says:

In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

To the Honorable Office of the Grand Shia Marja, Ayatollah al-Uzma Makarem Shirazi (may his shadow be extended)

With greetings and respect,

In recent days, we have witnessed the President of the United States and the leaders of the Zionist regime repeatedly threatening and terrorizing the great leader of the Islamic Revolution, as well as some scholars and religious authorities (Maraji’).

We respectfully request Your Eminence to clarify what the ruling is from a jurisprudential standpoint on threatening the leadership and the Islamic community.

And if such an act by the U.S. government or anyone else occurs, what would be the duty of Muslims around the world?

May God protect all the scholars, the religious authorities, and the great leader of the Revolution under the care of the Imam of the Age (may God hasten his reappearance), and may He repel the evil and plots of the enemies.

Peace and God’s mercy be upon you.

A group of believers and seminary students

That’s it. No decree. No blood. No “make them regret.”

If Ayatollah Shirazi did say something stronger elsewhere, fine — show the source. But posting mistranslations or full-blown fabrications just to stir outrage? That’s no better than what we criticize the other side for.

If we’re ever going to fix this mess, we have to be honest enough to hold our own side accountable when they start playing fast and loose with the truth.

Otherwise, we’re just rooting for a team, not standing up for anything that matters.