U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth highlighted a CNN segment featuring Idaho pastor and theologian Douglas Wilson in a social media post on Thursday, which read, “All of Christ for All of Life.”
Hegseth, 45, recently attended Wilson’s church plant in Washington, D.C., alongside his wife and children, which appeared to be an endorsement of Wilson’s outspoken Christian nationalist views that include advocating for a theocratic U.S., repealing women’s suffrage and criminalizing homosexuality.
In an Aug. 7 interview, Wilson didn’t back down from those views, telling CNN’s Pamela Brown that “every society is theocratic,” adding, “The only question is who’s ‘Theo’? In Saudi Arabia, Theo is Allah. In a secular democracy, it would be Demos, the people. In a Christian republic, it’d be Christ. … If I went to Saudi Arabia, I would fully expect to live under their god’s rules.”
Wilson told CNN he supports a repeal of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. When asked about the reasoning behind that view, Wilson said, “Women are the kind of people that people come out of,” Wilson said. “No, it doesn’t take any talent to simply reproduce. Biologically, the wife and mother, who is the chief executive of the home, is entrusted with three or four or five eternal souls.”
While the 72-year-old theologian affirmed his hope for theocratic rule in the U.S. — which he speculated was likely about “250 years” away from being a reality — he denied the various pejorative labels with which he’s been described. “I’m not a white nationalist, I’m not a fascist, I’m not a racist, I’m not a misogynist,” he said.
In an interview with Tucker Carlson last April, Wilson embraced the title of Christian nationalist, and said he believes restoring America to a Christian worldview is a responsibility that falls on preachers “who will stop being ashamed of the name of Jesus, and preach the Gospel as though it’s supposed to spread out into the streets after the service.”
Hegseth’s ties to Wilson extend beyond a single retweet: the two reportedly met briefly in May at Hegseth’s church in Tennessee. The defense secretary has publicly praised Wilson’s book My Life is Yours, and is a member of a Tennessee church affiliated with Wilson’s Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC) network.
In May, Hegseth led a prayer during a voluntary event at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, that acknowledged Jesus as king and invoked His wisdom for guidance, prompting critics to accuse him of violating the U.S. Constitution.
“King Jesus, we come humbly before you, seeking your face, seeking your grace, in humble obedience to your law and to your Word,” Hegseth prayed. “We come as sinners saved only by that grace, seeking your providence in our lives and in our nation.”
“Lord God, we ask for the wisdom to see what is right and in each and every day, in each and every circumstance, the courage to do what is right in obedience to your will. It is in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that we pray. And all God’s people say amen,” Hegseth added, to which some in the audience replied, “Amen.”
