When a person learns more about his church’s beliefs, Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth’s controversial decisions make more sense but raise questions about a conflict between church and state.
Hegseth’s Tennessee Church, Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship, a member of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), has strict teachings on secular law, the LGBTQ+ community, women, non-Christians, and racial diversity.
Peter Hegseth, the Modern Crusader
The medieval Crusades inspire Hegseth as well as many Christian nationalists and white nationalists.
In the Crusades, Pope Urban II urged Christian armies from Europe to aid the flailing Christian Byzantine Empire. This assistance required European Christians to fight Muslim occupants of the Middle East, especially in Byzantium and Jerusalem.
If Islam was a threat to Christianity at that time, what threats would Hegseth fight for within and outside of the United States?
Modern-day Crusaders oppose those they believe are attempting to destroy American Christianity and Western Civilization. They see secular law, women, the LGBTQ+ community, racial diversity, and non-Christians as threats today.
The Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC)
In the 1970s, Doug Wilson founded and still leads the CREC in Moscow, Idaho. Hegseth belongs to a CREC Tennessee church. According to the CREC website,
[Defense Sec. Hegseth tied to Christian nationalist church based in ID]The CREC base their beliefs on traditional Reformed doctrine as opposed to fundamentalist and modernist trends. The CREC has grown from representing three churches to over 130 worldwide. The denomination is committed to maintaining its Reformed faith, avoiding the pitfalls of cultural relevance and political compromise that destroys our doctrinal integrity. The CREC continues to pray for strength and guidance as it navigates its mission in the modern world.
Unlike some large, non-denominational Christian churches that eagerly welcome newcomers, a CREC congregation requires members to profess belief what the church teaches or be charged with heresy. These are some beliefs.
- biblical law should be the law of the United States
- being LGBTQ+ should be a crime
- men should have more rights than women and be in charge inside and outside the home
- women should not be in positions of authority.
- non-Christians should not have leadership positions
Even before Hegseth became secretary of the Defense Department, he said he disliked the diversity initiatives in the military. Hegseth has said in his writings that he believes there are enemies within our own country, those who are trying to destroy the country from within our borders. Apparently, some believe that Trump nominated him to look to the enemies within (the Left, Muslims, and immigrants) rather than to foreign threats.
Timothy Snyder (author of On Tyranny . . .) notes that Hegseth claims that “the Left wishes to annihilate everyone else . . .” This is a call to violence.” Hegseth has called for a holy war against Americans who think differently than he does.
Hegseth, according to his books, could be counted upon to ignore threats to America from abroad, and to use a purged and politicized military against “enemies within. This is consistent with Trump’s avowed intention to build a kind of dictatorship on the ruins of a dysfunctional government.”
Hegseth’s Religious Beliefs Benefit White Men
There is a close correspondence between the Secretary’s beliefs and Americans’ losses in the military.
Women and Racial Minorities
The Secretary of Defense fired most of the nation’s top-ranking female officers in his first weeks in office. He fired Admiral Linda Fagan who led the Coast Guard. Then he dismissed Admiral Lisa Franchetti, Chief of Naval Operations. He subsequently fired Leutenant generals Jennifer Short and Telita Crosland. Pamela Wilson, a 32-year active duty religious support specialist asked, “. . .We’re hurting the wrong people. What is the metric that’s even being used? They haven’t been negligent in their duties.”
Did Secretary Hegseth evaluate these officers and find them deficient? Are these “anti-woke” firings or were they more consistent with CREC beliefs that women should not be in positions of authority? Hegseth additionally believes that women should not be allowed to vote.
In February 2025, President Trump fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and replaced him with a much less qualified white man. General CQ Brown is Black.
The LGBTQ+ Community
We believe that encouraging Christians who face certain sexual temptations to identify as lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders, whether in sexually active relationships or not, is unbiblical, and further, that this teaching will have destructive effects in the long term, both for individuals who follow it and for any Christian bodies that accommodate it. (On Sexuality – Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches)
CREC churches do not have a place for sexual relationships that are not between a man and a woman. Initially, Peter Hegseth has targeted military who are transgender. He wants all transgender service members out of the millitary. The date for transgender service members to leave active-duty service voluntarily came this past week. After this point, the military will begin to separate these soldiers from the military against their will. Regrettably, the miliary has asked soldiers to identify other soldiers as trangender and address transgender soldiers with words that describe their gender at birth rather than their current gender.
While Hegseth has promised to treat transgender troops with dignity, he also said, “No more dudes in dresses, we’re done with that s***,” a comment that suggests otherwise. Hegseth has separated these soldiers under “Secretary Plenary Authority.” Although the soldiers have received or will receive an honorary discharge, their coding suggests they left the military because of “national security interests,” which may harm their chances of transferring their skills to other employment requiring security clearance
Religious Bias and Racism
In addition to Hegseth’s preoccupation with the Crusades, a battle between Christians and Muslims, he has several questionably anti-Muslim tattoos on his arms. One is the phrase, “Deus Vult,” or “God wills it,” a statement from the first Crusade. He also has a tattoo reading “kafir” or “infidel/nonbeliever” on his right forearm. Additionally his arm refers to Matthew 10:34 that quotes Jesus saying, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (NIV)
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) asked the Senate not to confirm Hegseth. CAIR believes that Hegseth is an anti-Muslim Extremist because of “his calls for the destruction of Al-Aqsa Masjid, support for war crimes, and over his past smears targeting Muslims and Islam”. They also noted in his writing about white nationalism and his connection to Great Replacement conspiracists with a focus on Islam.
The founder of the CREC, Doug Wilson, has described slavery as a harmonious time between races in the United States. Wilson also believes that non-Christians should not have positions of authority. (https://www.ccrchurch.org/memorials)
Peter Hegseth Has a Damaging View of Christianity
The current United States’ Secretary of Defense has an unconvential understanding of Christianity and this interpretation appears to affect his decision-making for all Americans, but especially those in the military. Jesus Christ did not advocate that biblical law (what that is being open to interpretation) should be the law of the Roman Empire. He did not demonize women, LGBTQ+ persons, or people from other faiths or countries. He offered a Samaritan as a model in the Good Samaritan and chose to speak with the Samaritan woman at the well. The early Christian community baptized Gentiles with few Jewish requirements for the to become Christian. He healed Gentiles when asked. Nothing supports the idea that the law of the Bible and the law of the state should be the same.
Jesus accepted many types of people. The only ones he critiqued were religious leaders whom he found hypocritical and demanding, putting too many religious requirements on others.
The United States has secular law and a diverse group of citizens. Peter Hegseth, like any other official sworn to protect the Constitution, must leave these detrimental religious principles out of his decision-making for the military and for civilians in the United States.
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