Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did not try to distance himself from “Christian nationalist” Pastor Doug Wilson.
CNN aired a Thursday hit piece on Wilson, who is the leader of Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho.
“I’d like to see the nation be a Christian nation, and I’d like to see the world be a Christian world,” he told CNN’s Pamela Brown.
“Every society is theocratic. The only question is, ‘Who is Theo?’” Wilson responded. In other words, everyone worships something.
Brown noted that Hegseth and his family attend a church affiliated with Wilson’s in the Washington, D.C. area.
The Secretary of Defense responded to the CNN story by posting on X, “All of Christ for All of Life.”
All of Christ for All of Life. https://t.co/QqXhqZFStv
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) August 8, 2025
Hegseth has been outspoken about his faith and has participated in prayer services at the Pentagon.
Was Pete Hegseth a good pick for Secretary of Defense?
He told reporters in May, “Appealing to Heaven, to God, it’s a longstanding tradition in our military. I’m very proud of starting a monthly voluntary service at the Pentagon.”
Liberal Phoenix, Arizona, talk radio host Barry Markson replied to Hegseth’s Thursday social media post, “The Secretary of Defense is literally promoting a Christian Nationalist. We are losing our country right before our eyes.”
The Secretary of Defense is literally promoting a Christian Nationalist. We are losing our country right before our eyes. https://t.co/nvbTjPPPPk
— Barry Markson (@BarryMarkson1) August 8, 2025
Right Wing Watch posted on X, “U.S. Defense Secretary promotes interview in which Christian nationalist Doug Wilson says women shouldn’t have the right to vote. Hegseth goes to a Wilson-affiliated church and sends his kids to one of Wilson’s schools.”
U.S. Defense Secretary promotes interview in which Christian nationalist Doug Wilson says women shouldn’t have the right to vote. Hegseth goes to a Wilson-affiliated church and sends his kids to one of Wilson’s schools. 1/ https://t.co/d2Wyrqsj6a
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) August 8, 2025
Based on the CNN story, the church does sound like a bit of a throwback to the Old Testament practice of households voting, and the man in that instance would “ordinarily” be the one to cast the vote.
It doesn’t seem like the church is looking to rescind the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, and even if it did, that will never happen.
Hegseth responding positively to a story about Wilson does not mean he shares all his beliefs.
In fact, Hegseth’s comment specifically tied into the broad idea Wilson expressed of the importance of a Christian worldview.
That is the worldview that the U.S. was founded on.
As I wrote about in my book “We Hold These Truths,” at the core of the American experiment in liberty is the belief that a just God, as revealed in the Bible, governs over the affairs of this world. Further, he has established timeless divine laws that create corresponding inalienable rights, as stated in the Declaration of Independence.
As Hegseth said in May, leaders throughout our nation’s history have appealed to heaven and the Christian faith found in the Bible, from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln to Franklin Roosevelt in his D-Day prayer and many other times.
So let leftists complain all they want: Hegseth has it right. Christ should permeate all of life.
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