Radical left's latest hit piece on Pete Hegseth says he practices 'aggressive form of Christianity'

When the radical left goes out of its way to attempt to undermine someone on the right, it is pretty much certain that conservatives are over the target. 

The obsessive smear campaign against Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, took another absurd turn this weekend when Politico wrote that Hegseth- war hero, dual Bronze Star recipient, and graduate of Princeton and Harvard, practices an “aggressive form of Christianity,” Post Millennial reports. 

The piece, written by someone named “Jasper Craven,” which proves his parents must have hated him, said the following:

Hegseth has “embraced an aggressive form of Christianity that is at war with the military’s nonpartisan and pluralistic culture.”

Craven criticized Hegseth’s tattoo of the Jerusalem Cross, saying it is “associated with the Christian right.” He further claims that, along with the Jerusalem Cross, he also has a tattoo that reads “Deus Vult.” The humanity. 

The Jerusalem Cross, according to the National Catholic Register, represents Christ’s sacrifice on the cross through his five wounds. The smaller crosses depict the wounds on Christ’s feet and hands, and the main cross represents the piercing of his side by the Centurion’s spear.” 

Pretty “white supremacist.” 

Another version has four smaller crosses representing the Four Evangelists–Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—while the fifth cross represents Christ. 

Meanwhile, Deus Vult, which Jasper claims is “a motto from the Crusades that has been adopted by white supremacists and was seen at the deadly march Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, in actuality means “God wills it.” To claim that saying is a dog whistle for some type of white supremacist screed is absurd. 

After the January 6, 2021 “insurrection” that wasn’t, “a member of the Army National Guard flagged Hegseth’s tattoos as evidence he was a potential ‘insider threat,’” Craven wrote. “Along with the Jerusalem cross, Hegseth has a tattoo that reads ‘Deus Vult,’ or ‘God wills it’--a motto from the Crusades that has been adopted by white supremacists and was seen at the deadly march in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017.” 

In modern times, the term Deus Vult is used as a metaphor for God’s will,” and has been used by Christians throughout history, including the Puritans. Because the term has been co-opted by some on the radical fringes as a racist dog whistle doesn’t automatically mean that was the intent of Pete Hegseth in getting that tattoo. 

After making a mountain out of a molehill with Hegseth’s tattoos, Craven went entirely off the rails. 

“Based on numerous public statements and writings, it’s likely he will aim to undermine the military’s longstanding nonpartisan pluralism by scrubbing diversity from the ranks, banning women in combat, urging the military to choose sides in a ‘civil war’ against ‘domestic enemies’ on the left, and orienting the military’s mission around his fixation on the Muslim world, which he feels represents an existential threat to Western civilization.” 

Let’s address Craven’s insane rantings one at a time. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which has led to gender-confused individuals being placed in positions of authority and drag queen performances being held on military bases, is well overdue being replaced. The duty of the military is to kill people and break things, as the late great Rush Limbaugh used to say. It is not intended as a breeding ground for social experimentation. 

We will make an unpopular statement by agreeing with Hegseth that women do not belong in combat, at least of the type where they are on the ground engaged with enemy troops. This type of duty requires physical and mental fitness that does not lend itself to women…period. They simply do not possess the muscle mass or stamina inherent in men, period. 

Third, the oath all members of the military take says they will protect the country “from all enemies, foreign and domestic.” Craven is simply making up the part about using the military domestically against “enemies on the left.” The only demographic that President-elect Trump has intimated using the military for is sending illegal aliens back to where they came from, with violent criminals at the front of the train. 

Finally, Pete Hegseth served in Iraq and Afghanistan and witnessed firsthand the carnage perpetrated by radical Muslim extremists. He knows all too well that for some of that demographic they are all in on Jihad and support a fatwa to eliminate America and Christians. It is entirely within reason to believe that radical Muslim extremism presents an existential threat to the United States of America. 

Craven made sure to include unsubstantiated and anonymous allegations against Hegseth of “sexual assault, public drunkenness, and financial mismanagement–all of which have been thoroughly debunked. It doesn’t matter to the radical left–if you repeat something enough times, it becomes the truth–even if it is only their truth. 

Our esteemed Politico writer of garbage then reveals his anti-Christian bias, writing that since he resigned from the military in 2021, “Hegseth has increasingly turned to his other “tribe,” Christianity. 

In Craven’s view, the type of Christianity embraced by Hegseth through a series of twists and turns worthy of a pretzel factory comes up with the notion that because his church identifies with “reformed reconstructionism,” Hegseth must be a slave-loving, racist bigot. Because the founder of the church, Doug Wilson, wrote that owning slaves in biblical times was not antithetical to being a Christian,” 

Also, because Wilson accurately claimed that “the system of slave-holding in the South was far more humane than that of ancient Rome,” that must mean that Hegseth believes ending slavery was a mistake. While he doesn’t come out and say it, the implication is there. Also, one need not read between the lines. Still, by his attempt to turn Hegseth into a slave-loving racist, it is clear that Craven likewise has issues with our country’s founders, many of whom owned slaves, which was standard practice during that period in our history. 

Craven clearly doesn’t understand that the Christian Lord is a forgiving Lord. He criticizes Hegseth for being twice divorced and having a child out of wedlock, but in Christianity, “if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1John 1:9. 

Hegseth has admitted his mistakes, and truth be told, much of what he went through could rightly be attributed to post-traumatic stress from his time on the battlefield. Many of those who will ultimately decide Hegseth’s fate in the Senate never served in combat or even the military. For those who did, Hegseth’s mistakes, although concerning, do not make him unqualified for the position of Secretary of Defense. 

As the Apostle John wrote in his Gospel, John 8:7, where Jesus said- “Let those without sin cast the first stone.” 

Certainly, Jasper Craven will not be casting stones any time soon.