The defense secretary raised alarm bells among troops after disrupting the military’s long-standing practice of separating church and state.
Pentagon staffers, current officers, former high-ranking military officials, chaplain corps, and veterans groups revealed the “unprecedented” monthly worship services led by Pete Hegseth in a Washington Post report published Sunday. They expressed concerns that the Defense Secretary was flouting the Constitution by pushing his evangelical beliefs onto service members.
“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,” one source told the Post.
Others said they felt that 45-year-old Hegseth, a former Fox News host who reportedly banned press photographers from briefings because they were taking unflattering photos of him, was becoming exclusionary toward troops who disagreed with him. These reported concerns follow
The military has historically approached faith in a more nondenominational way. Hegseth’s faith leader, evangelical minister Brooks Potteiger—a former model and woodworker who is due to relocate to Washington, D.C., to lead a new congregation Hegseth has attended—was in hot water this month for calling for the death of a Democrat candidate on a right-wing podcast.
Hegseth’s approach may be bad for overall morale, according to critics.
“The idea behind faith in the military and in combat—whatever your faith is, even if it’s atheistic—the idea of having a greater mission is really, really useful in the military," Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America spokesperson Lou Elliott-Cysewski told the Post.
“However, being weaponized is the opposite of what the original intention is,” Elliott-Cysewski said. “People tune out and I think that’s really, really dangerous.”
Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told the outlet that Hegseth’s services “are 100 percent voluntary and are not mandated whatsoever.”
“The Secretary’s prayer services undoubtedly improve morale for those who choose to attend and are constitutionally protected,” Wilson continued. “No special treatment or punishment is given as a result of one’s choice to attend these prayer services.”
The Daily Beast reached out to the Pentagon for comment.
Hegseth used his most recent worship service to call for “overwhelming violence” against Iran. More than 2,500 people across Iran and Lebanon have been killed since the U.S. and Israel launched their offensive in the Middle East on Feb. 28, including hundreds of children. At least 13 U.S. service members have died since the war began.
Hegseth announced this month that he was downsizing the number of faith codes used in the military from 200 to 31. He said the move was an effort to address “political correctness and secular humanism,” which he believed afflicted the Chaplain Corps, or the ordained, interfaith clergy supporting service members.
Retired Army Maj. Gen. Randy Manner told the Post that “dozens and dozens” of active-duty chaplains who don’t identify with Hegseth “are being marginalized” and some are “not included in staff meetings.”
Throughout the month of attacks on Iran, service members have reported concerning rhetoric from their commanders invoking the idea of a holy war.
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which advocates for service members’ constitutional right to religious freedom, said it received over 200 calls from active-duty personnel in the days following the U.S. and Israel’s initial strikes on Feb. 28. Military leaders spoke of Armageddon to encourage troops to fight.
“He urged us to tell our troops that this was ‘all part of God’s divine plan’ and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ,” one active-duty military member who identified as a Christian told the MRFF.
“He said that ‘President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth.’”
