Once again, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has conscripted Scripture to his military cause, making the faith of Jews and Christians synonymous with fighting for the United States military. On May 23, during a commencement address at the U.S….
Hegseth’s testosterone testing plays into MAGA mythology
In a two-and-a-half-minute-long video posted on X, self-styled Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced all United States soldiers age 30 and over will undergo mandatory screening for testosterone deficiency. Those with lower levels of testosterone will be given the option…
Hegseth’s Testosterone Announcement Isn’t Just a Sign of the Right’s Fragile Masculinity — It’s Also Wrong
How low is too low when it comes to testosterone levels? When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced last week that U.S. service members ages 30 and older will have their testosterone tested every year, neither he nor the Pentagon specified what…
Taxpayer-funded By Dawn’s Early Light woos Trump’s evangelical base
Democratic presidents have targeted Christians and attacked religious freedom for decades, but President Donald Trump is making everything right, claims By Dawn’s Early Light, a taxpayer-funded movie starring Trump administration officials that praises the president’s Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian…
First they came for the Mormons
These days, you’d think we wouldn’t be shocked by a new weekly, daily or hourly religio-political-cultural-rightward-revisionism in the land of the free and the home of Project 2025. But “adjusting” to such practices seems abidingly stressful and/or depressing to many…
Monthly Pentagon Worship Service Features Catholics for First Time
Shortly after controversial evangelical preacher Doug Wilson preached at the Pentagon in February, he declared that his Christian Nationalist vision for the United States was a Protestant nation where public Catholic worship would be banned, like that of Hinduism and other religions. On Wednesday…
Lawsuit seeks to protect Stars and Stripes from Hegseth’s control
A lawsuit filed against the Pentagon seeks to reverse its takeover of Stars and Stripes, the news organization that provided independent news coverage for the U.S. military since 1861. Federal regulations governing the publication ensured its ability to provide “a…
LDS Church added back to Pentagon list after outcry
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth slashed the number of religious affiliations recognized by the Pentagon from more than 200 to 31 and set off a political firestorm in the process. The loudest reaction came when U.S. Sen. Mike Hill, R-Utah, and…
The Fake Faiths of Our Founders?
Every Pete Hegseth story somehow becomes a story about Christian nationalism, but few are as on the nose as last week’s. The Pentagon announced the culling of the US military’s list of recognized religions from 211 to 31. Military.com broke the news that the Department of…
How American religion inspired Cole Allen’s violence
During the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last Saturday, Cole Allen breached a Secret Service checkpoint and fired shots at agents in an attempt to assassinate the president of the United States and other high-ranking officials. About 10 minutes prior, from…
‘Fake Christians’ in America aren’t funny, comedian warns
Comedian John Fugelsang brought some sober truth to participants at the 2026 Summit for Religious Freedom sponsored by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. While cracking joke after joke, he highlighted the dangers of Christian nationalism and offered…
Baptist journalist broke the story of Hegseth’s Pulp Fiction prayer
A Baptist journalist is responsible for identifying Pete Hegseth’s prayer as cribbed from Pulp Fiction, and his attention to detail has gone around the world. It was Brian Kaylor, editor of Word&Way, who broke the news of last Wednesday’s Pentagon worship…