Pete Hegseth is not a coherent thinker. This was demonstrated yet again on the D-Day anniversary event in France, where the defense secretary gave a speech that was supposed to be anti-Nazi but ended up employing a metaphor that made the Nazis sound like the victims in WWII. Hegseth claims he wants military promotions based on merit, but has systematically blocked promotions of people are more qualified than he’ll ever be, for no other seeming reason than they aren’t white men. And, of course, he keeps saying the U.S. has won the Iran war, which still has no end in sight, while also begging for more time and money to wage it.
So it’s no surprise that the famously incompetent Donald Trump appointee recently claimed to be “simplifying” the military’s religious coding system, but only ended up sowing unnecessary confusion and rancor. Even more entertainingly, the move backfired — which was obviously more about Hegseth’s Christian nationalist inclinations than efficiency anyway. In his eagerness to marginalize people of non-Christian faiths, Hegseth accidentally exposed a major MAGA myth: that there’s a coherent, much less peaceful, way to impose their theocratic views on the country. On the contrary, any effort to turn this into a “Christian nation” is destined to reveal the deep divisions between Christian factions, one which are only concealed now because of the secularism Hegseth so despises.
To recap, for those who missed the furor: the Department of Defense used to recognize 211 separate religious designations for service members, which help shape everything from chaplain services to what marker is put on a tombstone. Under the guise of “streamlining” services, this number was reduced to 31. Anyone who looked at the new list, however, could see that Hegseth’s unsubtle goal was signaling the superiority of Christians to everyone else. The new list gives Christians 21 subcategories to choose from, but Jews, Muslims and other major religious groups only get one option, ignoring the diversity within those faiths. Atheists, humanists, Wiccans, pagans and other belief systems that the Christian right believes are demonic, were erased entirely.
Sadly, none of this is surprising. Protestations to the contrary, Hegseth has barely concealed his hostility to recognizing that anyone non-Christian could be a legitimate American, much less an honored military service member. What did seem to shock some people, however, was that Hegseth also kicked members of the Church of Latter-day Saints out of his Christian tribe. While all other followers of Jesus, from Quakers to Catholics, were officially designated as variations of “Christian,” Mormons did not enjoy the Christian label.
In order to get enough political power to push their agenda, evangelicals have to convince — fool, really — huge numbers of other Americans into thinking they’ll be included in this Christian nationalist vision.
Mormon leaders should have seen this coming. White evangelicals don’t hide their belief that Mormons have no right to call themselves “Christians.” In May at Rededicate 250, the Christian nationalist event backed by the Trump administration in Washington D.C., there were a couple token Catholics and one Jew among otherwise evangelical-led speaker list, but no Mormons were invited. On the contrary, many speakers are anti-Mormon, including Trump ally and Southern Baptist megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress, who has repeatedly called the Latter Day Saints a “cult.”
Despite this, most Mormons have continued to align themselves with the MAGA movement, foolishly believing they’ll be part of the “Christian nation” that white evangelicals envision, one which will expressly exclude atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, and other religious minorities. Mormons have a lot in common politically with white evangelicals, which is why the two groups overwhelming vote Republican. Despite their massive theological differences, Mormons share their racial attitudes with white evangelicals, being both very white and cultivating a culture that protects white privilege. Both groups also push far-right views on gender and family, mandating heterosexuality, female submission, and abstinence until marriage. Because of this, Mormon leadership tends to think they’ve earned their spot as insiders in the Christian nationalist camp.
So there was a widespread anger when Hegseth reminded Mormons that they’ll never be part of the evangelical-led Christian nationalist in-group. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, a practicing Mormon, spent the weekend as he often does, having a social media meltdown, but in this case, it was aimed at fellow Republicans instead of his usual progressive targets. His fellow Utah Republican and Mormon, Sen. John Curtis, also complained on X, noting “Latter-day Saints are among the most patriotic, service-oriented individuals in our country.”
Of course, the same thing could be said of Jews, atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. — all the non-Christian minorities that Hegseth was unsubtly snubbing in his religious “simplification” scheme. Being brave or patriotic doesn’t matter to Christian nationalists. The ultimate goal is to exclude all non-Christian people from being full American citizens. What Hegseth accidentally did, however, is reveal that a whole lot of self-proclaimed Christians are also on the chopping block. Once the principle of religious discrimination against non-Christians is established in American law, the next step was always going to be reclassifying huge swathes of Christians as non-Christians, so they can be marginalized, too.
White evangelicals, who are the driving force behind Christian nationalist ideology, are only about 13% of the population. In order to get enough political power to push their agenda, they have to convince — fool, really — huge numbers of other Americans into thinking they’ll be included in this Christian nationalist vision. For now, that means sucking it up and pretending to be enthusiastically aligned with Catholics, Mormons and even non-churchgoing MAGA types like Trump himself, under a “Christian” identity that is shaped around demonizing atheists and religious minorities as outsiders.
But, as religious freedom activists point out, once the purge starts, the circle of who is considered an insider tends to shrink. If this is going to be a Christian nation, eventually the leaders will have to decide which flavor of Christianity it will follow. It can’t be all of them, because there’s some pretty serious theological differences that invariably bleed into politics.
This has already been demonstrated with the conflict over the Iran war. Hegseth and his evangelical allies like pastor Franklin Graham have pushed a “God of war” who “hates” non-believers. In contrast, Pope Leo XIV has denounced war, especially unprovoked wars. Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, can try to paper over this conflict, but make no mistake, evangelicals would love to push the Catholics out over this, and will, the second it’s politically viable.
Right now, the defense secretary is backpedaling, though apparently by removing the “Christian” designation from various religious groups entirely, rather than let Mormons call themselves Christians. Because they’re so thirsty for political power, Mormon leaders, including Sen. Lee, are accepting this compromise and ignoring that Hegseth still won’t call them Christians. But in playing these games, Hegseth gave the whole thing away.
Christian nationalists need the Mormons and their votes, so they’ll pretend to be friends for now. But should the day come that the Christian nationalists get the power they desire, they won’t stop at stripping non-Christians of their full rights. They’re coming for other Christians, too. This is why the nation’s founders instituted religious freedom — they witnessed how Europe was torn apart by wars waged between different flavors of Christianity. It could happen here, too, and worse, aided by Christian voters who delusionally believe they won’t be kicked out the second white evangelicals get their chance.