Christian Nationalism is a cheap plastic monster your mom found at the dollar store which you are spinning with great delight into the most formidable of threats to the army of heroes arrayed on your bedroom floor. The battle does look like fun, but c’mon. It can’t fly. It doesn’t even have wings.
Experts concerned over the Fox & Friends host, his Christian nationalist ideology and militant language
www.theguardian.com
“Extremism experts are sounding the alarm about Pete Hegseth,
Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, whose writings and online presence reveal someone immersed in a culture of rightwing Christianity, political extremism and violent ideation.
The Fox & Friends host, who has served in the US army but has no experience in government, drew
shock from Pentagon officials when Trump nominated him. Hegseth’s books on American culture and the military, his commentary on Fox and his frequent posts on social media showcase his far-right ideology. On these platforms, Hegseth telegraphs paranoia and anger toward “leftists”, an ultra-masculine Maga persona and apparent revulsion toward service members who do not fit his vision – including women.
“The thing that really worries me, is both the ideology of Christian nationalism and what that’s going to mean for the kind of policies he tries to put in place for the defense department,” said Thomas Lecaque, a historian focusing on religion and political violence.
Researchers who focus on the Christian right were
quick to flag Hegseth’s tattoos, which feature a tapestry of symbols widely embraced by Christian nationalists, including a Jerusalem cross on his chest, an American flag with 13 stars partly obscured by an assault weapon below his shoulder and the words “
Deus Vult” (“God wills it”) on his biceps.
Deus Vult is “a first Crusade battle cry”, said Lecaque. “There is no other way you can interpret this. This is not some warm and fuzzy, ‘we should, you know, pray and do acts of service’ – this is a call to religious violence.”
