The Christian Armed Forces

 I guess it is time to post this meme again

So much has happened in the past 13 months that has been awful for American civil-military relations that I had an RA put together a list.  I have to go through it and then I am going to share it so that it can be crowdsourced and updated.  So, are civil-military relations worse now than the various other awful moments?  It is hard to judge, but this latest story suggests the descent into the abyss is, indeed, further along.

What's the story?  That the Christian nationalism that has long been present in the US military is now more vocal than in the past.  Sure, SecDef Pete Hegseth has Christian nationalist tattoos but that's no big deal, right?  Wrong.

This story, that more than 30 different commanders issued Christian nationalist statements when talking to their troops as this illegal, ill-prepared, misconceived war of aggression was launched is truly awful.  Why?

First, that the military is infested or infected with Christian nationalism is not new.  Just look at almost any picture of the US Air Force Academy and you will notice the most distinct/celebrated building is its chapel.  It is quite symbolic of the place--where stories of evangelical Christians dominating the place and persecuting cadets who did not share their religion go way back.  I was aware of this even before I visited the USAFA in 2002 or 2003 as part of an academic conference.  Indeed, the group sited in the story, that seeks to protect those who in the military from religious discrimination/hazing/persecution had, I am pretty sure, its origins in complaints about USAFA.   The academy is in the most religious, far right part of Colorado, so the community around USAFA helps to reinforce the domination of "Christians" who have a very narrow version of Christianity--that non-evangelicals don't count--that Catholics are papists, that Presbyterians don't count, and on and on.  

Second, Christian nationalists, despite their name, don't have the usual Christian values of love and community.  It is about hate and domination.  We see that in their alliance with Trump is the opposite of a devout believer in Jesus.  The Christian nationalists hope for the return of Christ so that they can go to heaven and everyone else can burn.  They have long seen Israel as a means to an end--the Jews need to run the land of Israel for Armageddon to happen.  They see Muslims as not human and worthy of a new crusade, which is not really a great foundation for the US to work with some Muslim countries against other ones.  

Third, besides being wrong for all kinds of value reasons, it is also toxic for the US military.  That the majority of the US military is not this radical version of Christian (well, maybe the Air Force is) means that this Christian nationalism is divisive, far more divisive than gays in the military or women in the Marines.  This Christian nationalism seethes with contempt for the non-believers, which is why so many complaints get sent so quickly.

Which gets to our moment.  Hegseth has done for Christian nationalism in the military what Trump did for racism in the American public--he changed the permission structure.  Now it is ok to be an officer and invoke the language of Christian nationalism as part of one's job, to inflict it upon one's subordinates, just like Trump (and Fox) made it ok to be racist in public.  Hegseth was wildly unqualified for many reasons, but his Christian nationalism made him disqualified--he should never have been confirmed by the Senate.  Why?  Because he would eventually poison the military with his toxic ideology.

So, it is bad to purge the military of senior Black and female officers and replace with yes-dudes.  But that may or may not trickle down all the way.  But empowering the Christian nationalists is probably worse as it will affect everyone and everywhere.  

What happens if reason wins and the Dems come back into power?  How will they stuff the toxic toothpaste back in the tube?  Will they have to go through the US military and remove all of the Christian nationalists?  I am in Brazil right now, and they can't simply remove all pro-Jan8th military personnel--they were the same uniforms as everyone else.  The damage that Hegseth and Trump are doing to the military, like the damage done elsewhere, will simply be very, very difficult to undo, even if the Dems can get big enough majorities to impose their will and, yes, have the guts to do what is necessary.

As always, the big tragedy here, besides the death of innocents, is that it didn't have to be this way.  I hate the term war of choice as we should use clearer, stronger language--war of aggression maybe--but Hegseth was a choice that didn't have to be made.  The larger issue of the infiltration of the US military by Christian nationalists is not really a one-person story, of course, but Hegseth empowered these haters.  And now we have the lastest awful day in US civ-mil history.