"'Yes, a holy war for the righteous cause of human freedom,' he writes in the book’s introduction. 'One thousand years ago, after years of ceding land to conquering Muslim hordes, the pope ordered military action to save Europe. "Deus vult" ("God wills it") was the rallying cry of Christian knights as they marched to Jerusalem.'”

#Hegseth #WhiteChristianNationalism #tattoos #Crusades #HolyWar #Trump #MAGA
/6

"'We the people,' which are the opening words of the US Constitution; 'MDCCLXXV,' which is the year of the US army’s founding in Roman numerals (1775), and an image of an assault rifle embedded into the stripes of the American flag.

'This time in our history calls for an AMERICAN CRUSADE.'"

#Hegseth #WhiteChristianNationalism #tattoos #Crusades #HolyWar #Trump #MAGA
/5

Some of the best evidence that Hegseth’s tattoos reflect a belief that Christian Americans should exert violent dominance over Muslim people is found in the first few pages of his 2020 book American Crusade. The cover pictures him holding an American flag and shows off three more of his tattoos:"

#Hegseth #WhiteChristianNationalism #tattoos #Crusades #HolyWar #Trump #MAGA
/4

“'We’re at now perhaps the apotheosis of 50 years of them building power

You look at Hegseth’s embrace of Crusader imagery, and then you look at his actions, which are embracing and leading a war against Iran. We are seeing a Crusader mentality play out at the absolute highest levels of government.'”

#Hegseth #WhiteChristianNationalism #tattoos #Crusades #HolyWar #Trump #MAGA
/3

"That’s another way of describing Christian nationalism, a far-right ideology that has accumulated frightening power during Trump’s second term. ...

'His ideas are – you know, I’d like to say cuckoo bananas, but it’s more like they’re extremely close to the centre of power,' says Tal Lavin, a journalist whose book Wild Faith explores the Christian right’s American takeover."

#Hegseth #WhiteChristianNationalism #tattoos #Crusades #HolyWar #Trump #MAGA
/2

“'But even more worrisome is his infusion of his Christian beliefs as the basis for our war in Iran,' Beirich added. 'Our national security should not be based on fanatical holy war fantasies, but that is what Hegseth, and by extension Trump, have wrought.'”

#Hegseth #Trump #DouglasWilson #WhiteChristianNationalism #misogyny #homophobia #HolyWar
/3

"'Their anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs and extremist views about women should give anyone pause, as well as his "biblical" attacks on journalists, especially when Hegseth is sharing them with our soldiers and blasting away at the separation of church and state.'"

#Hegseth #Trump #DouglasWilson #WhiteChristianNationalism #misogyny #homophobia #HolyWar
/2

Kristin Du Mez offers a helpful compilation of her recent commentary on Trump, Iran, Jesus, the pope, and truth.

#PopeLeo #Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #HolyWar #WhiteChristianNationalism
/8

https://kristindumez.substack.com/p/trump-vs-iran-jesus-the-pope-and