In 2012, Dems BOOED the mention of God at their Convention. Since then, Dem hostility to Christianity has only worsened.

The current catchphrase that is being used to discredit Christianity is the nebulous term ‘Christian Nationalist’. It has replaced earlier pejoratives like ‘fundamentalist’ and ‘religious right’ partly because it sounds more ominous.

The episode with Hegseth in his hearings is a perfect microcosm of a wider contempt for Christian faith and belief in the Biden administration that is only now fully coming to light.

THE SMALL PICTURE — Hegseth’s Hearings

Hegseth, personally, has been denounced as a ‘Christian Nationalist’ because of his tattoos, specifically the Jerusalem Cross with one larger cross with four smaller ones on each corner. That image dates back a thousand years, and despite efforts on the left to say otherwise, it is not the image flown by the Knights Templar.

It is a symbol of Christian belief. Full stop.

At this week’s hearings, Pete was called in to Congress, discussing both the funding of the War Department generally, and faced the expected questions (some of them openly hostile) about his job performance. His exchange with Senator Reed of Rhode Island was particularly egregious. The clips going around cut off early, and missed something key.

The entire exchange is about 7 minutes long. It opens with Reed asking why certain leaders were removed from their positions. Reed went out of his way to break down those dismissals in terms of race and gender for maximum rhetorical flourish, because he was trying to frame the dismissals as motivated by sex and race. Hegseth didn’t take the bait. He went out of his way to emphasize merit and mission, with changes in mission requiring staffing changes that reflect the updated priorities.

From staffing, he pivoted into a conversation about his Christian faith, invoking the words ‘Christian’ and ‘Nationalism’ in close proximity to one another as an obvious attempt to invoke the smear mentioned above. Note how he connects the firing to a supposed motive of Pete’s religious convictions.

“Well I think that direction from your behavior is an intense interest in Christianity, uh, in Nationalism, and in, uh, not recognizing the talents of women and uh non-white gentlemen and that’s the wrong direction.”

This is exactly the same trope that Jayapal invoked when defending the now-discredited SPLC by praising their work in combating ‘White Christian Nationalism‘. Or when Trump nominees were questioned by Bernie about their belief in Heaven and Hell, or Feinstein said the ‘doctrine lived loudly’ in ACB, or one nominee was questioned for belonging to the Knights of Columbus. Senators are Constitutionally forbidden from using such criteria in their advise and consent role. But that obviously didn’t stop them from wading into those issues anyway.

The part about faith begins at about the 2:38 mark. Most of the clips you may have seen online cuts off where Pete declares his faith in Jesus Christ and refused to be shamed for it. But that’s not really the end.

Reed continues on (3:12) to suggest he is bigoted toward other faiths, as if other faiths don’t have exclusive truth claims of their own — even Godless Secularism has its own set of believes that it insists others should hold to as we saw with the boatload of weird activists Biden stocked his cabinet with.

When Pete refused to take the bait there, he tries again with a dig that is no question at all.

“I’m sorry, Mr. secretary, but uh broadcasting before the national uh religious broadcasters stressing the need for more Christianity in the military forces doesn’t seem like a neutral position in which you tolerate and accept all religions. Let me move on.

This is pretty rich considering the handbook Army Chaplains were expected to work from under the previous administration had almost no reference made to God. And it was only about a month after the army itself was established that George Washington himself ordered the establishment of the Army Chaplains.

THE LARGER PICTURE — Biden Policy

The left’s bias agains Hegseth’s faith is nested in a larger contempt for Christian faith generally. It’s long been an obstacle to the political left’s various goals — whether familial, cultural, political, social, or economic.

It should not be surprising that a party that has declared open war against its political enemies would do the same against Christianity. We are only now learning the extent to which that went.

Remember when Trump established a task force to identify anti-christian bias? Well, the Report is out, now. And the Biden administration produced policies and priorities that were THICK with anti-christian bias.

Here’s how the table of contents describes chapters 3 and 4 of that report:

Chapter 3. Anti-Christian Bias within the Federal Government
I. PROSECUTIONS AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
A. DOJ’s FACE Act Prosecutions
B. FBI’s Investigations of Traditional Catholics
C. The Garland Memo and DOJ Responses to Parental Protests
D. IRS Investigation of Christian Non-Profit Entities
E. Department of Education’s Enforcement Actions
F. Failure to Prosecute Unlawful Anti-Christian Conduct
II. FEDERAL POLICY DECISIONS INVOLVING ANTI-CHRISTIAN BIAS
A. Endorsing Efforts to Eliminate Religious Liberty Protections
B. Weaponizing “Non-Discrimination” Principles Against Religious Values
C. Promoting Ideology Over Evidence or Objections
D. Attacking Christian Values in the Home
E. Ignoring Conscience Rights
F. Sidelining Christians in Favor of Preferred Constituents
G. Exporting Anti-Christian Bias
H. Excluding Christians from Public

III. ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT ACTIONS
A. Brief Background on Employment Law
B. President Biden’s Early Personnel Decisions Set the Tone at the EEOC
C. Systemic Failure to Accommodate Religion During COVID-19
IV. LIMITATIONS ON RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION
A. Punishing Religious Expression
B. Denying Access to Federal Land for Religious Observances
C. Prohibiting Student Bible Studies in the Jobs Corps
D. Threatening Access to Federal Funding Over Use of a Sanctuary Candle

Chapter 4. Anti-Christian Bias in Broader Context
I. ANTI-CHRISTIAN BIAS AT THE STATE AND LOCAL LEVEL
A. Closing Churches: Attacks on Christian Congregations
B. Punishing Good Samaritans: Attacks on Christian Charity
C. Controlling Families: Attacks on Parental Rights
D. Controlling Culture: Attacks on Christian Beliefs in Public Education

If you really want to see how the party that Booed God at their convention and sued Little Sisters of the Poor over birth control, while offering the voters Talirico as an icon of their new vision of woke Progressive Christianity that just happens to agree with every political shibboleth the Progressive Political machine demands we bow the knee to, one email exchange sums up their REAL thoughts about those who dare to live out traditional Christian faith (Catholic, Evangelical or otherwise) in a way that lays bare their malice.

Per Life Site News:

Two Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers under the Biden administration glowingly sent text messages about the prospect of prosecuting Catholic nuns who wear traditional habits and veils, a Republican Senate investigation has revealed.
[…] Gaston noted her desire to personally prosecute these sisters, while Cooney went a step further and said he’d like to prosecute any nun who still wears a “head habit.”

“I would like to take a special assignment of finding and prosecuting them,” Gaston told Cooney while discussing media coverage of January 6. To which Cooney responded, “I’m with you,” before adding, “though I’d like to prosecute any nun who still wears the head habit.”

“Hahaha,” Gaston replied.

Cooney and Gaston would later serve as top deputies to Jack Smith throughout his “Arctic Frost” investigations into President Trump. The pair now runs a law firm in D.C., and Cooney is running in the Democratic primary for Virginia’s 7th congressional district.