MAGA influencers are pushing this obscure Christian nationalist into the limelight
Pete Hegseth, chief among them
I thought we all agreed that we don’t trust people who invent their own religious sect?
Leave it to Pete Hegseth to crush the progress we’ve made on that one. Starting in May 2025, the secretary of defense decided he wanted to have a monthly Christian prayer session, open to all to attend in the Pentagon auditorium (or view on the internal TV channel).
Hegseth brought his own personal pastor to the pulpit first. This is where I tell you that it’s my first time visiting BibleHub.com and discovering there are 24 versions of the Bible to choose from. The Brooks Potteiger x Pentagon version of Matthew 10:29 goes like this:
“... not a sparrow will fall to the ground apart from my heavenly Father. If our Lord is sovereign, even over the sparrows’ fallings, you can be assured that he is sovereign over everything else that falls in this world — including Tomahawk and Minuteman missiles, including strategy meetings and war room debriefings. Jesus has the final say over all of it.”
The congregation Hegseth is a member of belongs to a network called the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC). It’s a collective bound more together by their alignment on culture and education than theology and doctrine. And the founder of that group is the reason we are gathered here today.
Can I just say — isn’t it a thrill when someone has controversies listed on their Wikipedia? CREC Founder Doug Wilson’s got a whole “slavery controversy” section. That fact only added to the buzz he generated this week after leading a Pentagon prayer breakfast. If you wondered where Hegseth got his hostility toward women in combat and the 19th Amendment, look no further.
The self-described Christian nationalist, (allegedly) self-ordained pastor is shepherding an archconservative movement — complete with schools, a publishing house, and content operations — that’s creeping closer and closer to the White House.
I’m throwing a State of the Union watch party in NYC. It’s not an open invite … unless you’re a subscriber of Who Broke It. In that case, the RSVP is here. Can’t wait to cheers, chat, and chop up what’s sure to be the longest speech ever given.
DOUG DEALINGS
This is a little bit of a departure from my usual coverage — Doug Wilson’s impact is concentrated offline, I dread talking about religion, and this, frankly, feels like old people shit.
But the relative obscurity he’s (probably not) enjoyed in the past is falling away, partially due to the quiet but warm embrace from young religious influencers and MAGA content creators.
That’s only going to grow more potent with this cosign from the DOD. Here are some of his ideas, beliefs, and ministries to note so you can know his influence when you see it:
