Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth led a Christian service on the Pentagon on Wednesday ― an occasion one former Protection Division lawyer known as “incredibly problematic.”
Hegseth’s prayer assembly within the auditorium throughout work hours “appeared to be a first for a Pentagon chief,” Reuters wrote.
“This is precisely where I need to be, and I think exactly where we need to be as a nation, at this moment,” Hegseth stated, per The New York Instances. “In prayer, on bended knee recognizing the providence of our lord and savior Jesus Christ.”
Hegseth stated the assembly was voluntary and will grow to be a month-to-month occasion, The Instances famous. However critics questioned the legality of it.
A brochure titled “Secretary of Defense Christian Prayer & Worship Service” featured the seal of the Division of Protection, suggesting that Hegseth and the federal government sponsored it, retired Air Power Lt. Col. Rachel VanLandingham, now a regulation professor, advised CNN. That may very well be a breach of the First Modification’s ban on the federal government selling a faith.
“I think it’s sponsorship in the true sense of the word, outside of funding — he’s advocating for this, he is putting his weight of the official Office of the Secretary of Defense behind a particular religious event and inviting someone to the Pentagon to conduct it,” she stated, noting the looks by Brooks Potteiger, the pastor of Hegseth’s church in Tennessee. “That’s wrong.”
A former Pentagon lawyer who left the job final month advised CNN the gathering was “incredibly problematic.”
Noting the First Modification’s institution trigger barring authorities from endorsing a faith, the legal professional stated, “Having a broadcast event is obviously an endorsement even if they don’t officially say, ‘this is a Pentagon event.’”
The service seems to be bolstering the Trump administration’s efforts to join authorities with evangelical Christianity.
The president bought a shoutout from the pastor.
“We pray for our leaders who you have sovereignly appointed — for President Trump, thank you for the way that you have used him to bring stability and moral clarity to our land,” Potteiger stated, per the Instances. “And we pray that you would continue to protect him, bless him, give him great wisdom.”
JIM WATSON by way of Getty Photographs
