UPDATED - BREAKING: The Constitution at the DOD
Pete Hegseth invites entire Pentagon to Christian prayer and worship service
UPDATED with more information below.
The Establishment Clause doesn’t have an asterisk
This morning at 9:00 AM the Office of the Secretary of Defense sent out what appears to be a building wide email to the entire Pentagon inviting everyone to a “Christian prayer service and worship” in the Pentagon auditorium.
Not the chapel. The auditorium.
This is a clear and direct violation by a Cabinet member of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and is a direct violation of military norms, traditions, and regulations by the senior official of the entire military.
Here is the graphic that was sent out from a source in the building.
The Establishment Clause
Most of us are familiar with the First Amendment as it pertains to free speech but it is also the key amendment relating to religion as well. It’s a pretty short but clear statement.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
It’s commonly understood that this was a direct pushback against the Church of England but it is also based on the founding documents of the states specifically the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. This was written as a “statement about both freedom of conscience and the principle of separation of church and state. Written by Thomas Jefferson and passed by the Virginia General Assembly on January 16, 1786, it is the forerunner of the first amendment protections for religious freedom.”
The Courts and Supreme Court have reviewed cases around the First Amendment numerous times and expanded our understanding of it. Here is a roll up from the official United States Courts website on the topic.
“The First Amendment has two provisions concerning religion: the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. The Establishment clause prohibits the government from "establishing" a religion. The precise definition of "establishment" is unclear. Historically, it meant prohibiting state-sponsored churches, such as the Church of England.
Today, what constitutes an "establishment of religion" is often governed under the three-part test set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971). Under the "Lemon" test, government can assist religion only if (1) the primary purpose of the assistance is secular, (2) the assistance must neither promote nor inhibit religion, and (3) there is no excessive entanglement between church and state.’
It’s that last bit that trips up what Hegseth has done here. The leader of the entire United States military just sent out an invite to share his personal religion with all of his subordinates from an official government account, in a government building, attended by government employees on government time.
That, my friends, is “entanglement between church and state.”
That’s before we talk about appropriate behavior by a military leader.
There are no “suggestions” from a military commander
When I was a young Cadet at West Point one of the first things we learned was that there are now “suggestions” from an officer to his subordinates. Everything you say, do, or even imply with your behavior is an order or guidance for your subordinates.
If you blow off regulations then your subordinates understand it is okay to blow off regulations. If you ignore SOP’s then your subordinates know they can too. If you tell them you’d like you to join them somewhere they know it’s really an order to be there.
In addition, savvy subordinates understand that when the boss wants you to do something it’s a way to ingratiate yourself to them by being there. When I was serving in Hawaii back in 1997 I ended up on the oversight board for our Officer’s Club. At the time our Commanding General loved line dancing.
It was all the rage then. He was there every Thursday night, often without his wife, to dance the night away with dozens of the senior officers, non-commissioned officers, and civilians who wanted to be on his good side. It was the biggest night of the week for the club.
The week after his change of command and departure from the islands only about a dozen people showed up and within a month we canceled it all together because the cost of the DJ and set up was losing money with so few people showing up.
Fun side note, within months that general officer was brought up on charges for having multiple affairs with the spouses of officers under his command, including his own aide-de-camp, and was eventually demoted all the way from Major General to Colonel.
Hegseth just asked thousands of service members and civilians that all work for him to join him at a celebration of his religion during duty hours. That isn’t a suggestion to most of them…it’s an order to join his religion.
How do atheists feel? What do Jewish service members do? Attend a Christian service or skip their bosses big event? What if you are Muslim…etc…etc…etc.
Mikey Weinstein from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation had this to say in a statement for On Democracy, “The completely egregious unconstitutional “invitation“ from Defense Secretary Hegseth to a multitude of his subordinates at the Pentagon to come to his Christian prayer and worship service during the duty day in the Pentagon auditorium is nothing less than a Holocaust to the First Amendment of our Constitution. Nobody should be shocked, but the pain and sadness is still there. Just like if you go to a baseball game, you should not be surprised if you get hit by a foul ball, but the injury nonetheless is terrible.”
As a former officer he should know better.
As a Cabinet official he should be fired.
This is unacceptable behavior from a Secretary of Defense but par for the course for a man more interested in Christian Nationalism than leading our sons and daughters.
UPDATE:
We have now learned from multiple media outlets that attended the service that Hegseth’s own pastor from his extreme Christian Nationalist church in Tennessee flew in to run the service. Brooks Potteiger of Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship.
The New York Times discussed this extremist church movement in December of last year.
“In Tennessee, the Hegseth family joined Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship, a small church opened in 2021 as part of the growing Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches. The denomination was co-founded by Doug Wilson, a pastor based in Moscow, Idaho; his religious empire now includes a college, a classical school network, a publishing house, a podcast network and multiple churches, among other entities.
Mr. Wilson is a self-described Christian nationalist, which he defined in an interview with The Times as someone who sees that “secular nationalism doesn’t work,” and who wants to limit the power of the government to impose restrictions on Christians.”
One of the hallmarks of Wilson’s movement is placing believers in key government positions to dismantle the barrier between church and state. Today was a major move in that direction. Hosting a evangelical Christian service in the Pentagon auditorium during work hours at the personal invite of the highest ranking official of the U.S. military.
CNN reports on how the service unfolded in the standing room only auditorium and, even more unusually, broadcast live on the internal TV network throughout the building and ancillary offices in the Capitol Region.
“This is precisely where I need to be, exactly where we need to be as a nation at this moment, in prayer, on bended knee, recognizing the providence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” Hegseth said in opening remarks at the service. “This is something we plan to do on a monthly basis, on a voluntary basis, here in the auditorium. I hope you’ll let those you work with know about it.”
In a prayer opening the service in the Pentagon auditorium, Potteiger thanked God for Trump and other leaders who have been “sovereignly appointed,” and “the way that you have used him to bring stability and moral clarity to our lands.”
All of this is clearly a violation of the Establishment Clause and CNN asked a number of military lawyers to confirm it.
They did.
“A former Pentagon lawyer who left the department in April called the service “incredibly problematic.” They added that the “core of the Establishment Clause is the state not endorsing a particular religion, but having a broadcast event is obviously an endorsement even if they don’t officially say, ‘this is a Pentagon event.’”
The event and Hegseth’s sponsorship of it is a “clear violation” of the Establishment Clause, VanLandingham added.
“I think it’s sponsorship in the true sense of the word, outside of funding – he’s advocating for this, he is putting his weight of the official Office of the Secretary of Defense behind a particular religious event and inviting someone to the Pentagon to conduct it,” she said. “That’s wrong.”
And while the event was billed as voluntary, the involvement and endorsement of the secretary of defense could put pressure on service members and civilian employees to attend. Pentagon policy says that a government act is a substantial burden to a service member’s exercise of religion if it “places substantial pressure on a service member to engage in conduct contrary to a sincerely held religious belief.”
“Of course, folks in a rigidly hierarchical organization like the military think, ‘Oh, it’s optional, but when it’s being sponsored by the [secretary of defense], yeah, I better go’… It’s deeply problematic,” VanLandingham added.”
I have seen so many comments from folks on social media saying that this isn’t important or isn’t a priority like the budget bill or other issues. I disagree forcefully. It was reported that at least one general officer was in the audience loudly proclaiming “amen” as the pastor called Trump “sovereignly appointed.”
We cannot accept a Christian Nationalist military used as a tool for a religion against its people. This is more serious than a stupid jet or a parade. This is the future of our nation as a place of freedom for all people.
This is the fight.
You are spot on. It’s a gang raping of the Constitution and everyone’s taking their turn. Despicable traitors.
He should stick to his area of expertise: makeup rooms.