Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth thinks God is the U.S. military’s secret weapon. To better utilize this heavenly ally, he’s launching an office designed to provide “first-class religious support” to members of the armed forces. “Our department is, you might say, putting on the full armor of God, because while we wage physical war, we all know the real battle is spiritual,” explained Hegseth last week during his annual State of the Force address in Quantico, Virginia.

Although its first director has yet to be named, the new Office of Religious Affairs’ mission is clear. According to the Military Times , a Sept. 30 memo defines its core responsibilities as ensuring that

the Pentagon and military departments obtain sufficient funding and resources for […] chaplain-led programs and faith-based initiatives, as well as sponsoring and overseeing research [related to] spiritual fitness and readiness across the military.

The office will also align and issue policies on religious affairs for the secretary; represent him on all religious affairs matters in engagements with Congress, religious endorsing organizations, and external governmental departments; and realign the Armed Forces Chaplains Board and its executive director under the office’s authority for chaplain advisement.

According to the Associated Press , the director will also coordinate “faith-based homeschool support for military families,” including “ more coursework that draws from conservative and Christian influences.”

The announcement quickly came under fire for breaching the constitutional wall between church and state. Rachel Laser, head of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told the AP that the Pentagon “owes it to the nation’s service members to defend religious freedom,” and that “Hegseth’s latest announcement violates that promise by elevating Christianity to an even higher role in shaping U.S. military policy.”

It is difficult to take seriously Pentagon denials that there is any explicit Christian nationalist motivation behind the creation of the new office. Hegseth — who belongs to the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, an extreme branch within the wider constellation of conservative Christian churches — has reposted videos of pastors saying that women should not be allowed to vote, and cited his faith in justifying America’s war with Iran. The new office also continues a series of controversial changes to the chaplain corps. As reported by the Military Times, Hegseth has cut down the number of officially recognized faith affiliations from more than 200 to 31, directed chaplains to wear symbols of faith on their uniforms rather than their rank insignia and ordered service members to include religious affiliation in their personnel records.

These moves are driving dissatisfaction among faith leaders in the military. According to the Independent, active-duty military chaplains

say the secretary is evaluating whether faith leaders are ideologically aligned with Donald Trump’s administration and Hegseth’s Christianity.

Several chaplains, who serve as officers in the branches, said they fear unconstitutional retaliation and other professional repercussions if their views don’t align with Hegseth, an Evangelical Christian who has implemented sweeping changes to the military’s Chaplain Corps.

“There appears to be an ongoing effort to determine whether subordinate chaplains ideologically align with the Secretary of Defense and the current leadership,” one chaplain wrote to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation , a nonprofit group supporting service members’ rights to religious expression. “The messaging is consistent enough that many of us understand what is being rewarded and what is not.”

These disturbing developments come against a broader, systematic purge of women and people of color from military leadership. In public remarks last week, Hegseth described his perfect fighting force as “no fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals — just warriors.”

It is now evident that he doesn’t mean warriors committed to defending the flag, but ones who fight, first and foremost, under a cross.

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