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Christian Nationalism
Whose God Does the Pentagon Serve?
Inside the Christian Nationalist Vision Reshaping the Pentagon
Where does the Bible grant Pentagon-Pete Hegseth or any government official permission to use his office to advance his own religious worldview? And what happened to the separation of church and state?
These questions increasingly haunt me when I read the news.
On October 1, 2026, during his “State of the Force speech,” the Associated Press reported that Hegseth was creating the Office of Religious Affairs, which would report directly to him. Announcing the initiative, he declared that the Defense Department was “putting on the full armor of God” because, while the military wages physical war, “the real battle is spiritual.”
Pentagon Pete is not doing this in a vacuum. He has the support of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), a conservative Christian church network influenced by Christian Reconstructionism. The network’s co-founder, Pastor Doug Wilson, a self-described Christian Theocrat who advocates repealing women’s right to vote, has defended slavery and believes homosexuality is a crime.
My concern isn’t that Hegseth is a Christian. It’s the hateful, warring Christianity he practices. Even then…
