By
Ed Kilgore,
political columnist for Intelligencer since 2015
Hegeth with his spiritual mentor, Doug Wilson.
One of the problems with abandoning the separation of church and state, as Christian nationalists like Pete Hegseth are attempting to do, is that it puts government in the position of adjudicating the legitimacy of various religions. It can be tricky. Hegseth has inaugurated unprecedented monthly worship services at the Pentagon, and presumably he makes the call as to who officiates. These aren’t open to the public, but at least two services have been presided over by ministers of the Defense secretary’s own ultra-conservative, neo-Calvinist Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches denomination, which was founded by the very controversial Rev. Doug Wilson of “men should have the vote for their families” fame.
