Hegseth injects combative Christianity into America's military

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Last edited Sun Mar 29, 2026, 06:53 PM - Edit history (1)

During his briefing on the Iran war last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested that Americans take a knee and pray to Jesus for the success of U.S. forces in the Middle East. A few days later, he read out a sermon praying that “wicked souls” be “delivered to the eternal damnation” in the fight against Iran.

The Defense secretary has increasingly used his bully pulpit to promote his combative, controversial brand of Christianity. While the Pentagon says Hegseth is embracing America’s proud history as a Christian nation, some experts and veterans worry that Hegseth’s move to inject the military with more explicitly religious sentiments threatens to divide America’s forces.

“I think it’s extremely concerning the way that he is operating. It’s concerning to me as a Christian, and it’s concerning to me as an American,” said Matthew Taylor, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs.

-snip-

Hegseth, who was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan before becoming a Fox News host, has presided over prayer services in the building led by controversial Christian pastors and revamped the military’s Chaplain Corps, and official Defense Department social media posts often amplify ultraconservative Christian views.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/hegseth-injects-combative-christianity-into-america-s-military/ar-AA1ZE1zO

Hegseth is one of those who believes he'll hurry up the rapture by invading Iran. Thing of it is the rapture was not part of Christian theology till John Nelson Darby invented it in the 19th century.

Also, many believe Revelations AKA the Apocalypse was not a predication of the future but an encouragement to Christians to hang in there in spite of Rome's mistreatment.

[MineralMan]

1. That Particular Brand of Christianity is

put forward by a very tiny minority of people who claim to be Christians. Why? Because Jesus is never quoted as sayin we should fight with others and make war on them. Such never were his supposed teachings, regardless of what version of scriptures you study.

Of course, that has never stopped some people who claim Christianity from promoting violence.

Pete Hegseth is one of those few who want to make Christ a violent warrior.

A pox on him.

Note: I am not a Christian. I am an atheist, after having met so very many so-called Christians.

[LearnedHand]

2. Nope not a tiny minority

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelicalism_in_the_United_States

Evangelicals comprise the largest group of xtians, and a huge percentage of them believe in or sympanoze with this xtian nationalist shit.

[MineralMan]

5. I differentiate between the terms evangelical and fundamentalist.

Evangelical generally means having the desire to spread Christianity and convert people into Christians. Fundamentalists take a very narrow view of the religion, focusing on power and control over human beings.

So, we have the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United State, which is quite a liberal Christian denomination. At the same time we have the Missouri and Wisconsin Synods for the Lutheran Church, which are fundamentalist versions and not so nice to be around.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Hegseth has 'threatened' military chaplains who refuse to back his Iran war plans: report

Hegseth does not believe in the First Amendment. Hegseth believes that his version of radical christianity is the only acceptable religion. Jews, Muslims, Hindus and any other religions do not belong in Hegseth's military.

Hegseth has 'threatened' military chaplains who refuse to back his Iran war plans: report

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-03-29T14:00:23Z

https://www.rawstory.com/hegseth-iran-2676634943/

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has alienated a critical group within the military establishment — religious leaders and chaplains — by weaponizing Christianity to justify the Iran war and creating an atmosphere of fear for those who refuse to comply with his ideological demands.

According to Washington Post analyst Michelle Boorstein, Hegseth's inflammatory rhetoric at a recent Pentagon prayer service has triggered serious alarm among military chaplains and senior officials who view his approach as a dangerous departure from Pentagon norms.

At the prayer service, Hegseth invoked religious language to justify military violence, saying: "Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation. Give them wisdom in every decision … and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.".....

Pentagon insiders describe the atmosphere as chilling. An anonymous Department of Defense source characterized the environment as "terrifying," noting that personnel working under Hegseth fear being punished or fired for failing to embrace his Christian nationalist worldview.

An unnamed member of a recent Joint Chiefs chairman's leadership team articulated the constitutional threat directly: "I don't approve of cramming your religious faith down people's throats, and when the top of the chain couches these operations in this hyper-Christian tone, it flies in the face of the freedom of religion that the Constitution enshrines and that our men and women in uniform sign up to defend."

[Norrrm]

4. Trump's political Christians are the public face of Christianity in America today.

We have plenty of folks who want to be the Christian Ayatollah of America today.

[HeartsCanHope]

6. This is what my parents' evangelical church preached for years.

They had other scriptures wrong, (like not allowing a place for women among church leadership and

and their weird worship of fetuses,) but they did get this right. Revelation was an allegory, and had already happened.

This is really interesting, and reinforces what I was taught. I'm more of an agnostic than atheist, I suppose, today.

My parents' church's other beliefs, (like the husband being the head of the house--women being under their husband's

authority,) drove me away from religion. Thanks for a very informative video, Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin!

Will keep it for future ammunition!

[Permanut]

7. So - another Crusade?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

8. MaddowBlog-Hegseth's unprecedented embrace of Christian nationalism sparks backlash

The defense secretary isn’t just exercising his faith in line with his conscience, he’s also erasing the First Amendment’s church-state line.

Good points here from @stevebenen.com: Pete Hegseth isn't just claiming that God sanctions his bloodlust and his war crimes; he's also erasing the church-state separation in numerous ways, which Steve helpfully lists in this piece:
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Greg Sargent (@gregsargent.bsky.social) 2026-03-31T19:08:38.471Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/hegseths-unprecedented-embrace-of-christian-nationalism-sparks-backlash

Toward the end of Monday’s briefing, a reporter reminded White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt that Pope Leo XIV, in remarks delivered on Palm Sunday, said God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.” Citing a Bible passage, the pontiff added, “Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: Your hands are full of blood.”...

Take Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, for example. The Washington Post reported earlier this week:

Longtime norms are being upended by the proselytizing Christian campaign of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, say multiple former high-ranking military officials and experts on religion and law. Rather than boosting cohesion through a more universal spiritual uplift, they say, the new approach violates the Constitution and undermines the bonds of mutual respect between troops that are essential, especially in wartime.

The scope of the beleaguered Pentagon chief’s embrace of Christian nationalism is quite broad. In recent months, Hegseth has:

led Christian prayer services in the Pentagon’s auditorium;

invited radical Christian nationalist figures to speak at official prayer services;

used social media to promote messages that suggest his faith should dominate over other religious traditions; and

argued during an official press briefing that Americans should take a knee and pray “in the name of Jesus Christ,” at the same briefing in which he quoted Scripture.

At an event last week, Hegseth took matters to a new level when he prayed for U.S. troops to inflict “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy. … We ask these things with bold confidence in the mighty and powerful name of Jesus Christ.”......

The New Republic’s Greg Sargent had a related report this week:

If Hegseth truly believes his war on Iran is unfolding in accordance with his conception of biblical law — the highest authority of all — then that explains why he treats all those niggling secular constraints as unbinding on him. Maximum violence and killing of the enemy — who cry out to God but, unlike Hegseth, don’t get an answer back from Him — are affirmatively good.

‘It’s not the way somebody who claims to be a person of God — a religious person — should think,’ [Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona], who has flown many combat missions himself, told me. War, he added, ‘is a morally and ethically complicated thing for any person. Any serious warfighter struggles with it.’ If we don’t wrestle with this, Kelly said, we’ll ‘start to lose ourselves.’

Looking ahead, there are limited options to curtail the defense secretary’s public advocacy of Christian nationalism — Donald Trump could intervene, though that seems exceedingly unlikely — but Hegseth’s critics are not powerless. On the contrary, some of the Pentagon chief’s policies related to religious promotion have already sparked litigation, which opens the door to possible court-imposed limits. Watch this space.