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Recent reports have profiled prayer meetings occurring at the Pentagon. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth utilizes these occasions to pray for unrestrained military violence “against those who deserve no mercy.” The U.S. started war with Iran, and one wonders if this includes the estimated 175 students killed by an American missile attack on an Iranian school?
Hegseth has declined to speak on the matter. He seemingly does not care. I believe his vulgar glorification of violence encased within the framework of Christian nationalism is simply despicable. And doing so in the name of U.S. citizens is unAmerican and contemptible.
Hegseth’s intentional cruelty brings to mind the masterful literary mockery of such efforts by Mark Twain. The “War Prayer,” written in 1905, stands as a scathing indictment of coopting religious fervor as just cause for brutal warfare. As Twain so effectively details in his writing, a prayer for devastating victory is reframed as a prayer for the explicit suffering and destruction of others — mostly innocents. So, while Hegseth invocates for God’s honor and glory at any cost, he simultaneously prays God’s blessing for the agonizing bloodshed of others. Twain’s “War Prayer” should be required reading at the start of every war cabinet meeting.
James Talarico is a Presbyterian seminarian campaigning for a Texas U.S. Senate seat. He stands as a bright light in the current disgraceful and shameful landscape of political discourse. In recent statements he reminds us that love is more powerful than hate, intentional cruelty is unforgivable, and there is absolutely nothing “Christian” about Christian nationalism. Amen to that brother!
Neal Guyer
Thomaston