U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, an Evangelical Christian whose religious tattoos drew scrutiny during his confirmation hearings, led a Christian prayer service in the Pentagon auditorium during official working hours on Wednesday. The event featured Secretary Hegseth’s personal pastor from Tennessee, Brooks Potteiger, and included remarks describing President Donald Trump as “sovereignly appointed,” according to The New York Times.
“This morning at 9:00 AM the Office of the Secretary of Defense sent out what appears to be a building wide email to the entire Pentagon inviting everyone to a ‘Christian prayer service and worship’ in the Pentagon auditorium,” wrote Fred Wellman, who writes “On Democracy” at Substack. Wellman is a graduate of West Point and the Harvard Kennedy School, an Army veteran of 22 years who served four combat tours, and a political consultant. “Not the chapel. The auditorium.”
“This is a clear and direct violation by a Cabinet member of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and is a direct violation of military norms, traditions, and regulations by the senior official of the entire military,” Wellman alleged.
“The defense secretary said that attendance at the prayer service was voluntary,” the Times added, “but encouraged the uniformed military personnel and civilian employees there to tell their co-workers about it.”
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Politico Pentagon and national security reporter Paul McLeary noted that there was even an official government email address on the invitation, “to RSVP to this 30 minute event in the middle of a workday.”
The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols, a retired U.S. Naval War College professor and expert on national security, added: “The RSVP is a nice touch, so that they know who’s on board.”
He also weighed in more broadly:
“Not sure of the constitutionality here – not a lawyer! – but years ago, one of the War Colleges used to do this with ‘voluntary’ Bible study opportunities that had the same kind of roster-taking, and that went away pronto after complaints and an investigation,” Nichols wrote.
Last week, the Freedom From Religion Foundation published a report stating that Pastor Potteiger is “known for promoting Christian nationalist views,” and claimed that Wednesday’s event “is expected to be a monthly prayer gathering. According to Potteiger, the event will include Christian preaching, proselytizing and the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer — all within one of the most powerful institutions of the U.S. government.”
“This is a blatant violation of the First Amendment and its proscription of religion in government,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said in a statement. “Assuming the pastor’s boast is true, these prayer meetings would not only exclude and marginalize the significant number of nonreligious and non-Christian service members, they will send the impermissible message that Christianity is the Pentagon’s preferred faith.”
“Turning the Pentagon into a church service during duty hours isn’t just inappropriate — it’s unconstitutional,” FFRF also said. “We’ve sent a letter demanding an end to this blatant breach of the First Amendment.”
In January, before he was confirmed, The Guardian reported that in “a series of newly unearthed podcasts, Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, appears to endorse the theocratic and authoritarian doctrine of ‘sphere sovereignty’, a worldview derived from the extremist beliefs of Christian reconstructionism (CR) and espoused by churches aligned with far-right Idaho pastor Douglas Wilson.”
Others are also blasting the decision to hold a Christian prayer service inside the Pentagon.
“Hegseth continues to propagate christian white nationalism, while undermining the separation of church and state and the norms of civil-military relations,” wrote retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, the former Director of European Affairs for the U.S. National Security Council, whose whistleblower efforts led to the first impeachment of Donald Trump.
“This is what Christian nationalism looks like: the government using its power to push religion from the top down, said Max Flugrath, Communications Director for Fair Fight Action.
In February, author Brian Kaylor, a Baptist minister with a Ph.D. in political communication, posted a video from a Pentagon town hall where Secretary Hegseth began his remarks by declaring, “All glory to God.”
Watch the video below or at this link.