Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has come under public fire for publicly endorsing the misogynistic views of Idaho pastor Doug Wilson and his colleagues in a CNN interview.
But Hegseth’s support for Wilson and his ultra-conservative theology is not new information. His affiliation with Wilson and his membership in a church that is related to Wilson’s Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches was well-known before he narrowly was confirmed by Republicans in the U.S. Senate.
What sparked the latest round of worry is CNN’s interview in which he says women are “the kind of people that people come out of” and one of his associates, Jared Longshore, says the group wants to see the 19th Amendment repealed. That amendment, ratified in 1920, guarantees women the right to vote.
Hegseth reposted the CNN interview link on X and wrote, “All of Christ for All of Life.”
While such a phrase might resonate with a wide variety of Christians, in this case it echoes Wilson’s theology that evangelical Christians like him literally control all of life for everyone.
“I would like the nation to be a Christian nation and I would like to see the world be a Christian world.”
For anyone who’s been following Wilson, the CNN interview produced nothing new. But for those who haven’t heard of him, the interview likely was a jolting introduction to the most extreme version of Christian nationalism.
“I would like the nation to be a Christian nation and I would like to see the world be a Christian world,” he said.
And by “Christian,” Wilson means a particular brand of conservative evangelical Christianity based on his view that men should rule over women, women should not vote, homosexuality should be outlawed and punished, and slavery is viewed as OK in some contexts.
Pete Hegseth on July 4, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by James Devaney/GC Images)
Hegseth’s nomination by President Donald Trump to become Defense secretary threw Wilson’s theology into national politics in the most significant way yet.
The Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches has started a church in Washington, D.C., a congregation Juicy Ecumenism calls “high-octane old-style Calvinism that is intellectual and shuns all accommodation of liberalism, contemporary or classical.”
Called Christ Church Washington, D.C., the congregation also goes by the name Christ Kirk. “Kirk” is a Scottish word for “church” and often is tied to Scottish Presbyterianism.
A report on the church start by RNS said on a recent Sunday Pastor Jared Longshore stood underneath an American flag to preach and declared: “We understand that worship is warfare. We mean that.”
Hegseth was in attendance that day. Before moving to D.C. to join the Trump administration, he had chosen a place to live in Tennessee that was close to another CREC congregation and school.
The Army Times reported that Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell told Associated Press Hegseth is “a proud member of a church” that is affiliated with CREC and he “very much appreciates many of Mr. Wilson’s writings and teachings.”
Wilson has said of starting the D.C. congregation: “We are reading providence in a particular way. With the change in administration, we believe that there will be many strategic opportunities with numerous evangelicals who will be present both in and around the Trump administration. These believers are obviously culturally engaged already, but we happen to believe that every form of cultural engagement needs to have a solid theological foundation and support, and we want to help to provide it.”
CNN’s Pamela Brown reported: “Wilson’s controversial views as a Christian nationalist are gaining sway in the nation’s center of power with their recent opening of his new church and high-profile parishioners like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.”
“Every society is theocratic; the only question is who’s Theo.”
Wilson owned the title “Christian nationalist” but said all nations are theocracies: “Every society is theocratic; the only question is who’s Theo. In a secular democracy, it would be demos, the people. In a Christian republic, it would be Christ.”
Wilson said people should not be surprised to see Christians lead America any more than they should be surprised to see Muslims lead Saudi Arabia — the implication being the United States was founded as a “Christian nation,” a popular talking point of evangelicals.
Wilson already has sought unsuccessfully to implement his own Christian domination of Moscow, Idaho, which has become Ground Zero of his movement.
Walking down the street in Moscow with a CNN photographer filming him, Wilson got booed by a passerby. CNN’s Brown asked if that’s normal. He smiled and replied it is not unusual.
Screencap of Jared Longshore on CNN
CNN also interviewed Longshore, who is pastor of the new D.C. congregation. Asked directly if he would support repeal of the 19th Amendment, Longshore said he would. “I’d support it on the basis that the atomization that comes with our current system is not good for humans.”
“Atomization” is the conversion of a liquid into a fine spray of droplets. Wilson and Longshore and their peers believe giving women the right to vote dilutes the influence of men as leaders. Others, including Vice President JD Vance, have suggested men ought to be given more votes based on the number of children they have.
On race, Wilson continues to maintain that slavery is not always bad. He was asked, “Do you still believe what you said back in the ’90s that there’s a mutual affection between master and slave?”
His answer: “Yes, it depends on which master and which slave you’re talking about. (American) slavery was overseen and conducted by fallen human beings and there were horrendous abuses and there were also people who owned slaves who were decent human beings and didn’t mistreat them. I think that system of chattel slavery was an unbiblical system.”
Wilson also longs for the day when homosexuality is criminalized again.
“In the late ’70s and early ’80s, homosexuality was a felony in all 50 states of America. That day was not a totalitarian hellhole,” he said.
While identifying as a Christian nationalist, Wilson told CNN he’s “not a white nationalist.” He continued: “I’m not a fascist. I’m not a racist. I’m not a misogynist.”
Related articles:
Senators clear the way for Hegseth’s Christian nationalist crusade | Opinion by Robert P. Jones
Here’s who’s behind the war on empathy | Analysis by Alan Bean
Why these Christian men believe women shouldn’t have the right to vote | Analysis by Mallory Challis