Pete Hegseth, President Trump’s nomination for Secretary of Defense, has faced harsh criticism from liberals. Some of the backlash is related to his sexual conduct and drinking, but much of it has been about his Christian Faith. In an extended dialogue on PBS, several liberal commentators expressed their distaste for Hegseth’s strong Christian views.
Hegseth returned to the faith after his service in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2018. He has written several books which mention his Christianity. The nominee has also discussed his faith in podcasts and TV appearances. Recently his tattoos, which feature millennia-old Christian symbols, have stoked controversy. Brad Onishi, who studies religious extremism and co-hosts the podcast “Straight White American Jesus” ranted about Hegseth.
Onishi began his comments with this quote: “Let’s start with what Hegseth has said explicitly. In his 2020 book, he wrote: “We don’t want to fight, but like our fellow Christians 1,000 years ago, we must. Our American crusade is not about literal swords, and our fight is not with guns yet.'” According to this activist, it is ‘problematic’ that Hegseth sees himself as part of a strong Christian tradition.
The podcaster went on to say,” What we do know is that those who don the crusader identity, those who use its symbology and its stories as inspiration, are often part of white nationalist and Christian nationalist movements and, in tragic cases, have waged holy war themselves.” Onishi believes that referencing the crusades, which occurred hundreds of years ago as Muslim armies invaded Europe is something only ‘ white nationalists’ do.
He specifically mentioned the Jerusalem cross on Hegseth’s chest which Onishi incorrectly calls a ‘templar cross.’ “Anders Breivik referenced the Knights Templar in his act of terrorism. The Christchurch shooter emblazoned Crusader symbology on his weapons. So the use of these symbols from any Christians is alarming, and yet these are the ones that Hegseth has chosen as his understanding of where Christians stand today.”
This symbol, which features 5 crosses, has been in use since the 11th century. It represents the 4 evangelists ( Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John) and has been used by a variety of Christian organizations. For generations, it has been a common tattoo for pilgrims to Jerusalem. King Edward VII of England had the symbol tattooed on his arm after visiting the holy city in the 1860s.
But Brad Onishi sees it as a symbol of hate. ” Well, those tattoos are, again, symbols that are used by white Christian nationalists. Those who have adopted these Crusader images see themselves as at war with those trying to take down American Christianity and Western civilization at large.” He goes on to list exactly who this symbol offends.
He goes on to say. “That means members of the LGBTQ community. That means trans people. That means those who don’t see themselves as part of a Christian society. There’s a temptation, I think, to write off Hegseth’s tattoos as just an expression of his faith or to say they’re no big deal. But we just talked about him as donning a Crusader identity.”
Featured image: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons