Strange things are going on at the Pentagon. That’s hardly surprising knowing the U.S. government, but the actions taken under Secretary of War Pete Hegseth have been confounding. I could mention the fact that the Pentagon is now soliciting car manufacturers to start building weapons, or I could mention how much they were spending on lobster, but neither is the point of this blogpost. No, the purpose of this blogpost is to discuss the strange religious news that keeps coming from the US’s military.
Most prominently, there was an announcement of lawsuits claiming that various military commanders were saying that Trump had been anointed by God to start Armageddon by invading Iran. Those who have studied the book of Revelation would know that that’s not how the apocalypse works, and the lack of magisterial sanctioning should be more than enough cause for its rejection. However this was not the only strange spiritual statement coming from the Pentagon.
This year, Hegseth also had a pastor lead a worship service at the Pentagon, and that same pastor later called for bans on Eucharistic processions for being idolatry. Also, Pete Hegseth quoted a Bible verse from Pulp Fiction that was only based on a verse from the book of Ezekiel. So there seems to be a recurring theme of religious fervor at the Pentagon, but none of it is based on a sound foundation.
It would be easier if this could be blamed purely on one cabinet official, but this has expanded beyond the War Department. For whatever reason, the President decided to post an image of himself as Jesus on social media, and his senior advisor to the White House Faith Office once said “saying no to Trump would be saying no to God.” So there is a growing spirituality in the White House that seems to idolize the President.
One could wonder why these events are happening. It’s possible that we may be living in a country where the leader believes himself to be a God, but he has denied as much and claimed the Jesus image was an accident so there’s no direct evidence of that. It would be easy to write this off as a self-serving manipulation of scripture to serve his agenda, but the line between fanaticism and selfishness has traditionally been a very confusing one. It’s possible then that there is some genuine attempt at spirituality, though a tragically misguided one.
After all, there has been discussion of the President’s spirituality. Former Archbishop of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan once said that Trump takes his faith seriously. Similarly, the President had created a religious freedom board that included multiple prominent bishops, including Bishop Barron, who has both worked with and opposed him at times, and Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, whose diocese is one of the few in the U.S. that is providing new priests above replacement. So it’s not as simple to write this off as completely disingenuous unless we doubt the sincerity of these bishops as well.
Also, there are members of his administration who have been outwardly religious and yet not in a self-serving way. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr. once said before getting his position that he prays 30 minutes a day. Similarly, JD Vance converted to Catholicism long before running for senate. He’s had his contentions with the church, such as his spat with Pope Francis, yet he met with the pope shortly before his passing and has apologized for other spats. So there is a case that there is sincerity in the faith of these men.
So that does beg the question then as to what might be motivating these strange actions from Washington. Well, I’m not talking to these people so I couldn’t guess what’s in their hearts. Still, these have been strange actions indeed and it should cause concern for the average Christian.
Now, before leaving, I’m going to leave advice when navigating these troubled times. First of all, the book of Psalms warns “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no help.” All humans are fallible and prone to sin, so putting them as the center of salvation inevitably ends in destruction. It’s why we need to trust in God above all things.
Second, St. Faustina once wrote that “Satan can even clothe himself in a cloak of humility, but he does not know how to wear the cloak of obedience.” Whatever is said by anyone, a person must always be in obedience to God’s will first and foremost. When they reject it, it will usually reveal evil and for that reason must be ignored.
Finally, Proverbs 19:21 states “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established.” Whatever we choose to put our support behind, it is God’s Will that we must prioritize. So when choosing which side to be on, we should always do our best to prioritize that. If we abide by those three rules, I think we’ll turn out alright.
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