How Politicians and Preachers Turn Persecution Into Profit
In contemporary America, you’ll hear a steady refrain from the pulpits of preachers and the podiums of politicians: “Christianity is under attack.” Christians still constitute the majority and wield significant cultural and political influence, mind you, but that’s never stopped a narrative of systemic oppression.
This talking point, which pairs nicely with shrieking claims of persecution, warns of an encroaching secular agenda that seeks to destroy “traditional Christian values” and turn our families into transgender atheist groomer communists who listen to hip-hop and use paper straws.
Politicians use the “Christianity under attack” rhetoric to secure votes and consolidate power. By framing themselves as warriors in a spiritual battle, they thirstily pander to a sense of tribal loyalty among a certain kind of Christian voter.
Televangelists and megachurch pastors have long capitalized on the victimhood narrative to solicit donations and build obscene personal wealth. And polarizing cultural wedge issues are historically one of the slickest ways to redirect attention away from real social and economic problems.
Examples of “Christianity under attack” have included First Amendment restrictions on public prayer in government settings, restrictions against anti-LGBTQ discrimination, and resistance to teaching creationism in public school science class. Nothing that truly threatens Christian religious practice — just conservative religious domination.
Historically, American Christians have used a Bible to justify the slaughter of Indigenous people, the enslavement of African people, the labor exploitation of Asian people, ignoring the suffering of European Jewish people, cruelty to gay people, the indiscriminate detention and torture of Muslim people, and of course, pushing perpetual second-class citizenship on female people.
It is sadly not a coincidence that some of the most historically bigoted and segregated parts of the country have also been known as the “Bible Belt.” And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that nobody hates like a Christian who’s just been told their hate isn’t Christian.
https://katiecouric.com/news/opinion/chr...p-opinion/
Department of War Quotes Bible on Social Media. Some Link It to Christian Nationalism.
The department, renamed the Department of War, has joined other branches of the federal government in embracing a Christian Nationalist tone in its official communications. Some warn the new social media strategy could indicate how Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s conservative Christian faith is revamping the military branch.
In an email to RNS, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said the videos exemplify Hegseth’s efforts to celebrate the country’s Christian roots “despite the Left’s efforts to remove our Christian heritage from our great nation,” and that “Secretary Hegseth is among those who embrace it.”
“Secretary Hegseth, along with millions of Americans, is a proud Christian,” Wilson said in the email.
Michael Weinstein, a former Air Force officer who founded the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which seeks to ensure freedom of religion in the U.S. military, raised a concern that the DOW’s favoritism of Christian Scriptures in its communications could jeopardize cohesion among armed forces.
“This is completely dividing members of the military,” he said. “We see it around the clock. I’ve talked to generals who said, ‘Look, for the first time in my life, I still love the sailors and the soldiers and the airmen and the Marines that I command, but I hate the Navy, the Army and the Air Force that I work for because I see what it has become.’”
Moreover, the posts suggest non-Christian military members aren’t “worthy or honorable or trustworthy human beings to be able to fight for your country,” said Weinstein, who is Jewish. He was referring to Article Six of the U.S. Constitution, which bans religious tests for positions in the federal government — including military personnel — adding, “but there is a de facto test.”
Recently, his foundation documented an increase in religious freedom violations in the military. He said some of his clients have flagged as examples the DOW’s “evangelization efforts” through events like the lunch break “Christian prayer and worship service” convened by Hegseth’s office in the Pentagon auditorium earlier this year.
The department’s rebranding and its embrace of Christian references on social media could lead to an escalation of conflicts, Weinstein said.
“This is nothing more than a fast-ticking time bomb that will blow up in our faces,” said Weinstein, who served 11 years in the Air Force. “… It is encouraging a tremendous response by our enemies who are out there, many of whom follow their own extremist religious views.”
The DOW also seems to have adopted a Christian Crusader aesthetic, aligning itself with Hegseth’s declarations, Weinstein added. The defense secretary is known for his Crusader cross tattoo on his chest. The Crusaders’ battle cry, “Deus Vult” (“God wills” in Latin), has long entertained an idea of Western Christianity clashing with non-Christian civilizations. And in a March 25 X post, Hegseth showed a bicep tattoo that reads “kafir,” meaning “unfaithful” in Arabic.
https://wordandway.org/2025/09/09/depart...tionalism/
In contemporary America, you’ll hear a steady refrain from the pulpits of preachers and the podiums of politicians: “Christianity is under attack.” Christians still constitute the majority and wield significant cultural and political influence, mind you, but that’s never stopped a narrative of systemic oppression.
This talking point, which pairs nicely with shrieking claims of persecution, warns of an encroaching secular agenda that seeks to destroy “traditional Christian values” and turn our families into transgender atheist groomer communists who listen to hip-hop and use paper straws.
Politicians use the “Christianity under attack” rhetoric to secure votes and consolidate power. By framing themselves as warriors in a spiritual battle, they thirstily pander to a sense of tribal loyalty among a certain kind of Christian voter.
Televangelists and megachurch pastors have long capitalized on the victimhood narrative to solicit donations and build obscene personal wealth. And polarizing cultural wedge issues are historically one of the slickest ways to redirect attention away from real social and economic problems.
Examples of “Christianity under attack” have included First Amendment restrictions on public prayer in government settings, restrictions against anti-LGBTQ discrimination, and resistance to teaching creationism in public school science class. Nothing that truly threatens Christian religious practice — just conservative religious domination.
Historically, American Christians have used a Bible to justify the slaughter of Indigenous people, the enslavement of African people, the labor exploitation of Asian people, ignoring the suffering of European Jewish people, cruelty to gay people, the indiscriminate detention and torture of Muslim people, and of course, pushing perpetual second-class citizenship on female people.
It is sadly not a coincidence that some of the most historically bigoted and segregated parts of the country have also been known as the “Bible Belt.” And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that nobody hates like a Christian who’s just been told their hate isn’t Christian.
https://katiecouric.com/news/opinion/chr...p-opinion/
Department of War Quotes Bible on Social Media. Some Link It to Christian Nationalism.
The department, renamed the Department of War, has joined other branches of the federal government in embracing a Christian Nationalist tone in its official communications. Some warn the new social media strategy could indicate how Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s conservative Christian faith is revamping the military branch.
In an email to RNS, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said the videos exemplify Hegseth’s efforts to celebrate the country’s Christian roots “despite the Left’s efforts to remove our Christian heritage from our great nation,” and that “Secretary Hegseth is among those who embrace it.”
“Secretary Hegseth, along with millions of Americans, is a proud Christian,” Wilson said in the email.
Michael Weinstein, a former Air Force officer who founded the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which seeks to ensure freedom of religion in the U.S. military, raised a concern that the DOW’s favoritism of Christian Scriptures in its communications could jeopardize cohesion among armed forces.
“This is completely dividing members of the military,” he said. “We see it around the clock. I’ve talked to generals who said, ‘Look, for the first time in my life, I still love the sailors and the soldiers and the airmen and the Marines that I command, but I hate the Navy, the Army and the Air Force that I work for because I see what it has become.’”
Moreover, the posts suggest non-Christian military members aren’t “worthy or honorable or trustworthy human beings to be able to fight for your country,” said Weinstein, who is Jewish. He was referring to Article Six of the U.S. Constitution, which bans religious tests for positions in the federal government — including military personnel — adding, “but there is a de facto test.”
Recently, his foundation documented an increase in religious freedom violations in the military. He said some of his clients have flagged as examples the DOW’s “evangelization efforts” through events like the lunch break “Christian prayer and worship service” convened by Hegseth’s office in the Pentagon auditorium earlier this year.
The department’s rebranding and its embrace of Christian references on social media could lead to an escalation of conflicts, Weinstein said.
“This is nothing more than a fast-ticking time bomb that will blow up in our faces,” said Weinstein, who served 11 years in the Air Force. “… It is encouraging a tremendous response by our enemies who are out there, many of whom follow their own extremist religious views.”
The DOW also seems to have adopted a Christian Crusader aesthetic, aligning itself with Hegseth’s declarations, Weinstein added. The defense secretary is known for his Crusader cross tattoo on his chest. The Crusaders’ battle cry, “Deus Vult” (“God wills” in Latin), has long entertained an idea of Western Christianity clashing with non-Christian civilizations. And in a March 25 X post, Hegseth showed a bicep tattoo that reads “kafir,” meaning “unfaithful” in Arabic.
https://wordandway.org/2025/09/09/depart...tionalism/
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
