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The extraordinary repost on X from Defense Secretary Pete
Hegseth, made Thursday night, illustrates his deep and personal
connection to a Christian nationalist pastor with extreme views
on the role of religion and women.
In the post, Hegseth commented on an almost seven-minute-long
report by CNN examining Doug Wilson, cofounder of the Communion
of Reformed Evangelical Churches, or CREC. The report featured a
pastor from Wilson's church advocating the repeal of women’s
right to vote from the Constitution, and another pastor saying
that in his ideal world, people would vote as households. It
also featured a female congregant saying that she submits to her
husband.
“All of Christ for All of Life,” Hegseth wrote in his post that
accompanied the video.
Hegseth’s post received more than 12,000 likes and 2,000 shares
on X. Some users agreed with the pastors in the video, while
others expressed alarm at the defense secretary promoting
Christian nationalist ideas.
Doug Pagitt, pastor and executive director of the progressive
evangelical organization Vote Common Good, said the ideas in the
video are views that “small fringes of Christians keep” and said
it was “very disturbing” that Hegseth would amplify them.
Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell told The Associated Press
on Friday that Hegseth is “a proud member of a church” that is
affiliated with CREC and he “very much appreciates many of Mr.
Wilson’s writings and teachings.”
In May, Hegseth invited his personal pastor, Brooks Potteiger,
to the Pentagon to lead the first of several Christian prayer
services that Hegseth has held inside the government building
during working hours. Defense Department employees and service
members said they received invitations to the event in their
government emails.
“I’d like to see the nation be a Christian nation, and I’d like
to see the world be a Christian world,” Wilson said in the CNN
report.
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AP journalists Mike Pesoli in Washington and Ali Swenson in New
York contributed to this report.
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