.... Hegseth has swerved dramatically from that precedent. In addition to being the highest-profile member of the administration who belongs to the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, or CREC, an Idaho-based denomination that identifies as Christian nationalist, he has made Christianity a conspicuous part of his official duties. He leads regular Pentagon prayer sessions, posts often on social media about his faith (he posted a verse from Psalm 27—“The Lord is the stronghold of my life, whom shall I fear?”— in September), and describes the military’s mission in explicitly biblical terms. In one recent podcast appearance, he identified “spiritual readiness” as a core part of the military mission. “That’s why wherever we can, we invoke the name of God; we invoke the name of Jesus Christ,” he said. “We want that spoken and talked about inside our formations.” In the hours after the killing of Kirk, the Turning Point USA founder, Hegseth asked a group of troops in Washington to recite the Lord’s Prayer with him. Later, Hegseth posted a video setting that recitation to imagery of missiles streaking across the sky, warships streaming in formation, and troops advancing on unseen enemies.
The men and women who have volunteered to serve are noticing the difference. In conversations with roughly 20 people, including current and former service members and people who know Hegseth, I heard again and again about the defense secretary’s sharp deviation from Pentagon tradition when it comes to matters of faith. They noticed, for example, when he reposted a CNN segment in August that showed Doug Wilson, along with other church leaders, calling for women to be stripped of the right to vote and affirming his belief that some master-slave relationships were characterized by affection. (Later, when reporters asked about the segment, Hegseth’s press secretary said that “of course” Hegseth believes women should be able to vote. She described Hegseth as a proud CREC member and said he “very much appreciates many of Mr. Wilson’s writings and teachings.”)
Former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, a churchgoing Episcopalian, told me that when he served as President Barack Obama’s defense secretary, he was careful not to talk publicly about his own beliefs. His maxim was that Defense Department personnel—from riflemen to top brass—cannot advocate for their own political or religious views as part of their official duties without risking corrosive divisions in the force. There is too much at stake in the.....
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