Matthew D. Taylor Profile picture
Nov 13 18 tweets 7 min read Read on X
Yesterday Trump announced he's nominating Pete Hegseth as his Secretary of Defense.

Hegseth's a prominent Fox News personality & veterans advocate, but he also has strong ties to the Christian far right that I've not seen fully exposed yet.

Here's a thread w/ receipts... 1/ Image
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1st, what's the Christian far right?

It's a coalition of different Christian social movts bound together by aggressive theologies & (often but not always) white supremacy.

This is the extreme, militant end of the spectrum of what is popularly called "Christian nationalism." 3/
Theologically & socially, there are at least 3 distinct, major strands of the Amer Christian far right today (w/ lots of smaller ones too):

1) Radical Traditionalist Catholic networks & influencers, Opus Dei, etc. -- This is the world of JD Vance. Not my area of expertise. 4/ Image
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2) Independent Charismatic celebrity, spiritual warfare, & apostolic networks (often simplistically labeled the NAR) -- This is my area of expertise & what my book is about.

These networks are known for charismatic (i.e., supernatural, ecstatic) practices & focus on revival. 5/ Image
The 3rd major strand of the Christian far right is:

3) Reformed Reconstructionist networks of churches & leaders. This is the world of the so-called "theo bros", usually bearded, chauvinistic, Hyper-Calvinist, male influencers.

These are the circles Hegseth travels in. 6/
Here's an article I wrote earlier this year describing the origins of these two Protestant Christian supremacist movements (Independent Charismatic/NAR & Reformed Reconstructionist) & their agendas. 7/

religionnews.com/2024/04/04/the…
Reformed Reconstructionists tend to emphasize:

-Postmillennial eschatology (i.e., building the kingdom of God on earth)
-Theonomy (applying biblical law to every society)
-Alternative education (homeschooling or classical Xn academies)
-Exclusive male leadership & masculinity 8/
In this 2023 profile of Hegseth for a local TN Xn magazine, he describes:

-reading Doug Wilson (the godfather today of the Reformed Reconstructionist movement)
-sending his kids to a classical Christian academy
-finding "fortification of brotherhood" 9/

nashchristian.com/2023/12/pete-h…
Hegseth apparently attends Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship in TN led by Brooks Potteiger (pastor) & Joshua Haymes (pastoral intern).

This is CREC church, part of the denomination founded by Doug Wilson. 10/

pilgrimhill.churchImage
Hegseth has been a guest on Haymes & Potteiger's podcast "Reformation Red Pill" (doesn't get much more far-right Reconstructionist than that), &, as recently as last month, he was promoting their podcast. 11/

podcastrepublic.net/podcast/172192…Image
Last yr, Hegseth also promoted an Advent devotional published by Haymes & Potteiger's Forge Press.



Forge Press says it "arms Christians w/ tools & weapons to build, defend, & expand the new Christendom." This is textbook Reconstructionist. 12/ facebook.com/PeteHegseth/po…Image
"Christendom" for Reformed Reconstructionists is the ideal Christian society, the phys. territory controlled & governed by conservative Christian morality & leaders.

This is why you often find Reconstructionists justifying the Crusades, the iconic "expansion" of Christendom. 13/ Image
And, sure enough, Hegseth has 2 Crusader tattoos: a Jerusalem Cross, the symbol of the Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem on his chest, & "Deus Vult" the Crusaders' theological cri de coeur ("God wills it") on his bicep.

"Deus Vult" means God mandated Crusaders' violence. 13/ Image
Image
These Crusader tattoos are part of Xn far-right iconography &, when Hegseth's Nat'l Guard unit was called up to serve in DC for Biden's inauguration, Hegseth + several other service members were told they couldn't serve b/c of their extremist tattoos. 14/

newsweek.com/pete-hegseth-w…
.@mmfa here has a good breakdown of Hegseth's 2020 book, literally titled "American Crusade."

He echoes many far-right talking points about the threat of Muslims to Western Civ, the need for modern Crusades vs. Islam, & rampant Islamophobic lies. 15/

mediamatters.org/pete-hegseth/p…
In 2018, Hegseth was speaking in Israel & said,

"There's no reason why the miracle of the reestablishment of the Temple on the Temple Mount is not possible."

This is a far-right, Christian Zionist fantasy: that the Muslim holy sites can be removed. 16/

The idea that some entity (the U.S.? Israel?) could raze the 3rd holiest site in Islam (Dome of the Rock/Haram al-Sharif) to build the 3rd Jewish Temple is the sort of wild scheme you read abt in bad Christian apocalyptic novels. Now, it's also the hope of the future SecDef! 17/ Image
This is what I found from an hour's worth of digging. I'm sure there's more.

It's another sign of the hand-in-glove rel'p b/w Christian extremism (in all its varieties) & Trump's coming regime.

We need more reporting & exposure of Hegseth's theology & who influences him. 17/

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More from @TaylorMatthewD

Dec 16
Crucial profile of Jenny Donnelly (NAR apostle, anti-LGBTQ "parental rights" advocate, and leader of an activist network with 1000s of "mama bears") by @aliceraeherman | @guardian.

These networks were a major force galvanizing Trump's Xn base in 2024. 1/

theguardian.com/us-news/2024/d…
FWIW, centrist/Leftist activists & orgs who are opposed to the Trump admin's agenda would do well to learn from the vast organizing infrastructure & impact of these -- sometimes grassroots, sometimes grass tops -- networks on the right.

They reach people media can't reach. 2/
In a decentralized media landscape & polarized political atmosphere, multiethnic networks of angry Xn mom-activists can have outsize influence, b/c:

1) They're local & low to the ground.

2) They're tied into existing faith communitiess (often bypassing clergy gatekeepers). 3/
Read 7 tweets
Nov 29
Eric Metaxas is one of the most toxic voices in American Christian politics.

Now he's labeling (w/ zero evidence or cause) the close relatives of Dietrich Bonhoeffer "Jew-hating fanatics."

This story needs more coverage (shout out, @baptist_news!). Here's some background... 1/
A decade ago, Metaxas was on track to be a popular & respected evangelical public intellectual. Raised in NYC & educated at Yale, he styled himself as an erudite & engaged public figure.

He wrote pop biographies of William Wilberforce, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, & Martin Luther. 2/
In truth, Metaxas has no pedigree as a historian nor as a theologian, but he wrote enticing books that spoke in evangelical-friendly ways about evangelical heroes.

Real scholars pointed out these books were littered w/ factual errors & poor analysis. 3/

christiancentury.org/reviews/2010-0…
Read 24 tweets
Nov 8
It's bracing to hear the dauntless words that theological giants used to hold each other to the cause of resisting fascism.

This 1933 letter from Karl Barth to Dietrich Bonhoeffer -- "You are a German & the house of your church is burning" -- summons us to Christian courage. 1/
We don't know whether 2025 will be a 1933. These things can happen fast. Dachau concentration camp was opened in March 1933 -- 2 months after Hitler came to power.

But we do know that's where casual dehumanization & demonization of vulnerable communities leads eventually. 2/
Trump & his regime have already found their "court evangelicals" (h/t @JohnFea1) who will genuflect & offer to bless his every despotic whim & assertion.

Pastors, theologians, Bible professors, & religion scholars: now is the time to find the courage of Barth & Bonhoeffer. 3/
Read 6 tweets
Nov 6
I've tried to approach this election unflinchingly & w/ clear eyes, but this is the absolute worst case scenario.

We're in an epochal shift in American history of the worst sort, &, while it does not spell the absolute end of Amer liberal democracy, MAGA is a fatal illness. 1/
I've been ruminating since last night over this quote from John Adams:

"Remember Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes exhausts & murders itself. There never was a Democracy Yet, that did not commit suicide. It's in vain to Say that Democracy is less vain, less proud... 2/
"less selfish, less ambitious or less avaricious than Aristocracy or Monarchy. It's not true in Fact & no where appears in history. Those Passions are the same in all Men under all forms of Simple Govt, & when unchecked, produce the same Effects of Fraud Violence and Cruelty." 3/
Read 22 tweets
Nov 5
This is a disgusting & unbelievably irresponsible thing for a pastor to post on election day!

Landon Schott is a pastor at Mercy Culture, a hyper-political, charismatic church in the DFW area. Sean Feucht shows up there regularly, & he shared a stage w/ Feucht in DC on 10/26. 1/ Image
If you don't know the reference here, many charismatics have railed for decades against the "spirit of Jezebel" (a demon representing feminism, LGBTQ rights, abortion, etc.) taking over the US.

More recently they've begun equating Kamala Harris w/ Jezebel & Trump w/ Jehu. 2/
Here is Schott's wife, Heather, on stage w/ NAR apostle Ché Ahn on 10/12 when he issued his decree that Trump (Jehu) would win & Jezebel (Harris) would be "cast out" -- an unmistakeable reference to Jezebel's execution in 2 Kings 9, the same passage Schott highlights today. 3/ Image
Read 5 tweets
Nov 1
I know Trump's rally at MSG got lots of press attn for its fascistic undertones, but the most fascistic thing to happen this week in Trump world -- in my view -- is this prophecy spoken over Trump by Messianic rabbi Jonathan Cahn at a relig ldrs event. 1/

You'll need some context to understand what he's saying in this prophecy, but I promise: When you understand the message he's conveying to Trump & to this audience, it's chilling.

1st, who is Jonathan Cahn?

He's mostly likely the most famous Messianic Jew in America today. 2/ Image
Cahn has so many NY Times bestselling books, he's probably 1 of the most-read & most-followed religious figures in the entire U.S., but he's gotten little mainstream media attention.

Notable exception: this 2019 profile by @skestenbaum in @NYTimes. 3/
nytimes.com/2019/03/15/nyr…Image
Read 24 tweets

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