Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s creation of a new Office of Religious Affairs — his latest push to fuse Christian nationalism with the Department of Defense — has one U.S. congressman warning of a “road to Gilead” dystopia. Some online critics are comparing it to the Nazi-era Reich Ministry for Church Affairs, while one noted religion scholar says Hegseth’s Christian nationalist language represents a “very dangerous” and “anti-democratic conflation of military service & religion.”
Quoting the Bible, Hegseth announced the new religious office will report directly to him.
Reacting to Hegseth's announcement, atheist activist Hemant Mehta wrote, “The Christian Nationalist coup continues.” At Friendly Atheist he argued, “Pete Hegseth is centralizing religious power inside the military.”
Hegseth invoked Christianity throughout his speech.
“Our department is, you might say, putting on the full armor of God because while we wage physical war, we all know the real battle is spiritual,” the Defense Secretary said on Wednesday, as Military Times reported. “God is good. Evil is not. And America’s military must understand the difference.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation responded, saying, “Treating belief in God as synonymous with goodness is theology, not military leadership.”
“America’s military must know the difference between defending the Constitution and imposing one man’s theology on everyone who serves,” it added.
Hours after he invoked Christianity in his speech, Hegseth posted Psalm 33:12 to his personal social media account.
Hegseth also specifically cited the sixth chapter of the Book of Isaiah, recasting the prophet’s answer to God as a call to fight “the redcoats,” “the communists,” and “the Islamists.”
Democrats in Congress responded with alarm.
“Hegseth is a full-throttle Christian nationalist who hates separation of church and state,” wrote U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA). “He chips away at it all the time - through his monthly Christian church service at the Pentagon auditorium, his endless proselytizing, by removing religious minority faith codes from the Chaplaincy program, etc., etc.”
Huffman issued a warning: “The road to Gilead is paved with dystopic crap like this.”
“Hegseth is waging an illegal, immoral Holy war,” declared U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA). “We are not in the time of the crusades. We need to pass [Republican U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie’s] resolution the day Congress is back to remove him.”
Massie’s resolution consists of articles of impeachment against Hegseth.
CNN’s Erin Burnett reported U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) said that Hegseth is “weaponizing religion.”
Pointing to Hegseth invoking Psalm 33:12 while declaring “An appeal to Heaven” and “In God We Trust,” author and First Amendment attorney Andrew L. Seidel said: “Whole lot of Christian Nationalism in this speech.”
Democratic strategist Mike Nellis wrote: “Every clip I’ve caught of this Hegseth speech is batshit insane. What a delusional moron. Impeach his ass now, before he gets more Americans killed.”
“Pretty clear Hegseth’s primary mission is to transform the military ideologically by overtly indoctrinating troops with Christian nationalism and apocalyptic holy war messaging while rooting out those who don’t want to participate and just want to serve their country admirably,” wrote attorney and MeidasTouch editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski.
“Our troops swear an oath to the Constitution, not to Pete Hegseth’s God,” wrote the Freedom From Religion Foundation. “Atheists don’t need a ‘heavenly king’ to defend this country. We need a Defense secretary who understands he isn’t one.”
Quoting Hegseth, the Foundation added, “The United States is not a nation ‘whose God is the Lord.’ It is a nation whose Constitution protects Christians, atheists, and everyone else equally. The Pentagon answers to the Constitution, not the Book of Psalms.”
If you like this article, please restack and share with your friends.
He’s damaged goods
He is well known as a Christian Nationalist. His church is full of them. These people are a dangerous arm of the cabinet. We don't take them seriously enough. He needs to be impeached and sent to his home where he will become some online warrior. He is not just a drunk, he is openly calling for a religious uprising just like the Federalist Foundation.