The strategic calculus behind Pete Hegseth’s recent rhetoric is not merely an exercise in personal faith, but a deliberate effort to frame the Department of Defense’s policy objectives through the lens of a "biblically informed" worldview. By equating the US press corps to the Pharisees who sought to entrap Jesus, the Secretary of Defense is effectively delegitimizing institutional oversight by casting scrutiny as a form of spiritual warfare. This move serves to insulate military decision-making from civilian critique, rebranding public accountability as an assault on "warriors" by a hostile, secular "legacy" establishment.
The Architecture of Influence
The ideological alignment between Hegseth and the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC) suggests a deliberate pivot in how the Pentagon justifies its foreign policy. On 17 April, Hegseth cited a Sunday sermon while characterizing the press as inherently malicious. This narrative mirrors the 12 April sermon "The Fellowship of Grievance" delivered by Dr. Benjamin Merkle at Christ Kirk DC. Merkle, who holds significant influence as the president of the New Saint Andrews College and as the son-in-law of CREC co-founder Douglas Wilson, explicitly encouraged congregants to embrace a "biblically informed hatred" for evil, a category he applies to both abortion and LGBTQ+ expression.
Who benefits from this alignment? Within the current administration, the Conservative Partnership Institute—which has housed Christ Kirk DC since July 2025—stands as a central node for this project. By embedding a theocratic framework into the highest levels of the defense establishment, the administration gains a cohesive, if exclusionary, moral justification for its actions. Conversely, the losers are those who advocate for the traditional separation of church and state, as well as personnel who fall outside the specific moral definitions advanced by the CREC’s "All of Christ for All of Life" doctrine.
Theological Justification for State Power
The influence of the CREC extends beyond the pulpit and into the logistics of the Pentagon. Brooks Potteiger, a pastor who has served as a spiritual adviser to Hegseth, presided over the first monthly worship service Hegseth initiated at the Pentagon in May 2025. Potteiger’s presence and the subsequent involvement of other CREC figures, including Douglas Wilson—who presided over a Pentagon service on 17 February—signal that this is not a peripheral connection. For an administration seeking to unify a "disjointed" right, the CREC provides a rigid, ready-made moral structure that views the state as a vessel for enforcing biblical law.
Historical precedents for the fusion of religious mandate and military authority are fraught, yet the current strategy relies on a specific modern adaptation. Unlike historical instances of state religion, this approach utilizes the "fellowship of grievance" to bond disparate conservative factions against a perceived common enemy. As Heidi Beirich of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism noted, the primary danger lies in the infusion of these specific, exclusionary beliefs into the rationale for modern conflict, particularly the war in Iran.
Monitoring the Next Tactical Shift
The tension between the official government stance and the private ideological commitments of its leaders is becoming increasingly difficult to parse. While Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed that Hegseth is a "proud member" of the CREC and values Wilson’s teachings, the administration continues to frame these actions as private expressions of faith rather than policy. The next reading of the Pentagon’s official monthly worship service schedule will indicate whether this integration of CREC leadership into military life is accelerating, serving as a bellwether for the degree to which this theological program will dictate future national security communications.
