Thank you Nick Paro, Pamela, Tope Eletu, Noble Blend, Leah Anderson, and the more than 1,500 others who tuned into my live video with THE LEFT HOOK with Wajahat Ali!
In this in-depth conversation, Waj and I talk about the dangerous way the ideology of Christian nationalism animates the worldview of Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense (which he refers to as the “Department of War”).
In my circles, there has been some debate about the credibility of reports that military commanders in the field were describing the attacks on Iran as part of a holy war to bring about armageddon, the final battle between good and evil that will bring about the second coming of Jesus. So far, the evidence for this is from a single source and has not been corroborated. But leaving this aside, we have more than enough evidence that Hegseth, the man with his finger on the trigger of the world’s most deadly arsenal, sees his role and the role of the United States through the lens of Christian dominionism and holy war. [Quick digression for my fellow Christian theology nerds: Yes, I know there is a big theological difference between premillennial dispensationalism and Hegseth’s dominionism, but in the messy real world these worldviews likely function as two different Christian nationalist roads leading to the same violent ends].
Whatever the credibility of these latest reports, we have ample evidence of Hegseth’s avowed Christian nationalism and his glorification of violence. Just ahead of his confirmation as Secretary of Defense, I wrote an in-depth post documenting this worldview, which he put on public display both in his book—literally titled American Crusade—and in multiple crusader tattoos on his body, including a sword crowned by the Latin phrase “Deus Vult” (“God wills it”) on the inside of his right arm. We are now reaping the consequences of the unwillingness of our senators to recognize the dangers of Hegseth’s Christian nationalism.
I hope you’ll listen to the entire conversation above. And you can read my full analysis of Hegseth’s Christian nationalism below.
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