What In God’s Name Is Pete Hegseth Doing In Iran? Religious Framing Is ‘completely, Totally Unprecedented,’ Experts Say

For Pete Hegseth, nan Iran war is not only a conflict betwixt states, but a cosmic showdown betwixt bully and evil, wherever bullets are instruments of divine will, and fallen foes are condemned to eternal hellfire.

The defense secretary, an Evangelical Christian, has explicitly framed nan Middle East warfare done nan lens of his faith, weaving scripture into his remarks, praying for “overwhelming violence” against his enemies and insisting that God stands pinch nan U.S. against Iran, a Muslim-majority federation of immoderate 90 cardinal people.

Rhetoric of this strength and wave — from an charismatic of Hegseth’s stature — has scant precedent successful modern American history, according to erstwhile officials, scholars and subject advocates who said pinch The Independent.

And nan consequences could beryllium dire. His connection perchance undermines nan law separation of religion and state, alienates patriotic non-Christian work members and risks supercharging nan conflict pinch Tehran, whose leaders are Islamic fundamentalists, they said.

“This is completely, wholly unprecedented,” said Michael Weinstein, nan president and laminitis of nan Military Religious Freedom Foundation. “He's making it clear that this is Jesus versus Muhammad.”

Such criticisms were dismissed by nan Defense Department.

“Secretary Hegseth, on pinch millions of Americans, is simply a proud Christian,” Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told The Independent.

“The Christian religion is woven profoundly into nan cloth of our federation and shared by America’s wartime leaders for illustration President George Washington, who prayed for his troops astatine Valley Forge, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who talented Bibles to America soldiers during WW2 and encouraged them to publication it,” Wilson added successful an emailed reponse.

“Encouraging nan American group to believe for our troops is not controversial.”

‘Wicked souls’ and ‘eternal damnation’

The thrice-married ex-Fox News big has agelong worn his religion connected his sleeve — and connected his flesh. A Jerusalem transverse is tattooed crossed his chest and nan words “Deus Vult,” a rallying outcry utilized by crusaders, which intends “God wills it,” is inked connected his arm.

In his 2020 book “American Crusade,” Hegseth rejected nan separation of religion and authorities arsenic “leftist folklore.” And astatine a dream meal connected Feb. 6, he said that nan U.S. “remains a Christian federation successful our DNA, if we tin support it.”

But his belief rhetoric gained caller scrutiny aft Feb. 28, erstwhile nan U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, igniting a location warfare that has engulfed nan Middle East and claimed thousands of lives.

“The providence of our almighty God is location protecting those troops,” Hegseth told CBS News connected March 6. When asked if he views nan conflict successful a belief context, Hegseth responded: “I’m a man of faith, who encourages our troops to thin into their faith.”

During a property briefing connected nan warfare 4 days later, he quoted Psalm 144, stating, “Blessed beryllium nan Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for warfare and my fingers for battle.”

And past week, while hosting a Pentagon dream service, nan 45-year-old Army seasoned implored God to: “Let each information find its people against nan enemies of righteousness and our awesome nation” and asked that “wicked souls beryllium delivered to nan eternal damnation prepared for them.”

The prayer, written by a chaplain, was “fitting fixed what’s going connected correct now,” he said.

Historical precedent — aliases deficiency thereof

Many past American leaders, including defense secretaries and presidents, person invoked their Christian religion during times of war.

For example, astatine nan outset of nan Allied penetration of Normandy successful 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt delivered a power reside during which he prayed that, “We shall prevail complete nan unholy forces of our enemy.”

“It's rather a prayer,” said John Bolton, who served arsenic Trump’s nationalist information advisor during his first term. “So, to opportunity that someway [Hegseth’s remarks are] wholly unprecedented is conscionable not accurate.

“The wide tenor of immoderate of nan disapproval I've heard is conscionable anti-religion, and I don't deliberation that reflects nan contented of our subject aliases nan country's history,” Bolton said. However, he besides described Hegseth’s scripture-infused statements arsenic “performance art.”

Others pushed backmost forcefully, arguing that nan Pentagon chief’s rhetoric — authentic aliases not — plunges into uncharted territory, particularly successful nan discourse of caller decades.

“We've had presidents dip into belief abstraction pinch comments like, ‘May God protect our soldiers,’ that benignant of thing,” said Eugene R. Fidell, a erstwhile Coast Guard lawyer who teaches subject rule astatine nan Yale Law School. “But they've each been benignant of peripheral and benignant of aspirational. This is different successful benignant from thing we've seen before.”

Weinstein said immoderate effort to equate Hegseth pinch his predecessors is “fatuous.” In his telling, nan defense caput is nan “poster child” for nan “ninth f****** type of nan 8 anterior crusades.”

“There's a agelong history of Christian nationalism and Christian nationalist rhetoric successful U.S. authorities — but it's unprecedented successful modern times,” said Matthew Taylor, a visiting clever clever astatine nan Center connected Faith and Justice astatine Georgetown University.

Demographic alteration shouldn’t beryllium overlooked, he said. Prior to 1990, nan stock of Americans who identified arsenic Christian stood astatine 90 percent aliases higher. That fig now stands astatine astir 62 percent.

“Hegseth's Christian nationalist rhetoric is portion of a broader effort…to tally backmost nan timepiece and return america backmost to a clip earlier each that diverseness and complexity became portion and parcel of U.S. civilization and identity,” Taylor said.

Constitutional foul

Multiple world experts said that, by perpetually invoking his backstage religion from his Pentagon perch, Hegseth is moving afoul of nan Constitution.

“His comments are preposterous for a nationalist official,” Fidell said. “We person successful this state separation of religion and state. We do not person an established religion. We've ne'er had an established belief since nan Bill of Rights was ratified.”

The First Amendment’s constitution clause bars nan authorities from creating an “official” religion, while nan free workout clause protects Americans’ correct to believe their belief without authorities interference.

Weinstein added that by hosting Pentagon dream services, which work members whitethorn consciousness pressured into attending, Hegseth is besides violating Article Six of nan Constitution, which prohibits nan authorities from adopting belief tests for nationalist officials.

“What Hegseth and different figures successful nan 2nd Trump Administration are doing is trying to enshrine a benignant of Christian privilege wrong authorities policy,” Taylor said.

Risk of alienating troops

According to a 2019 study, astir 70 percent of progressive work work members place arsenic Christian, leaving different 30 percent who subscribe to different religion aliases are nonbelievers.

Weinstein said his organization, MRFF, represents “hundreds of secularists, humanists, atheists, agnostics, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus. We've sewage 12 members of nan Jedi Church correct retired of Star Wars.” Many, of these work members, he said, consciousness alienated by Hegseth’s posturing.

This could person awesome implications for recruitment and retention rates, Fidell noted. “Are members of number faiths going to look for nan exit erstwhile their enlistments are up because he's created a dispute environment?” he asked.

‘Provoking nan Iranians pinch his rhetoric’

By framing nan Iran warfare successful belief terms, nan defense caput is besides undermining aliases distracting from nan justifications nan management has provided for launching nan offensive, sources said.

“When you're successful a wartime situation, you should deliberation cautiously astir everything you say, and it should each beryllium aimed astatine bolstering nan cardinal objective, not not pursuing broadside issues,” Bolton said.

Trump has provided respective reasons for entering nan war, claiming that Iran posed an imminent threat to nan U.S. while hinting that authorities alteration was portion of his rationale. Yet caller polls bespeak that a mostly of Americans reason nan conflict.

“To gussy it up pinch nan conception that God is someway down each this, that's not going to prevention nan administration's nonaccomplishment to explicate why we're doing what we're doing,” Fidell said.

Hegseth’s rhetoric further risks unnecessarily inflaming nan conflict pinch Iran, whose caller ultimate leader Mojtaba Khamenei is considered to beryllium a hardline blimpish cleric.

“The Iranian regime, which is built astir a radicalized and moreover apocalyptic imagination of Shiite Islam, is already inclined to position this warfare successful existential, civilizational, and belief terms,” Taylor said. “Those narratives of beatified warfare and apocalyptic clashes are already built in.

“The past point we request successful world authorities coming is belief extremists for illustration Hegseth provoking nan Iranians pinch his rhetoric and perchance causing this warfare to spiral retired moreover further into location conflict and destruction,” he concluded. “But that's an almost inevitable effect of nan benignant of connection he's using.”