The Freedom From Religion Foundation is slamming Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s recent overtly sectarian and inflammatory remarks.
In his headline address at the National Religious Broadcasters 2026 International Christian Media Convention in Nashville, Tenn., Hegseth railed against what he called the “Godless left,” praised “Western Christian” values and declared, “We are not in woke we trust, we are in God we trust.” He celebrated the Trump administration’s ban on transgender service members, mocked diversity initiatives and climate policy as “worship to a false God,” and asserted that protecting various policy priorities “is not political – it is BIBLICAL.”
FFRF is warning that such rhetoric from the nation’s top civilian defense official dangerously undermines the constitutional principle of government neutrality toward religion.
“The secretary of defense swears an oath to the Constitution — not to a bible, not to ‘Western Christian’ ideology, and not to any particular theology,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Labeling millions of Americans, including service members, as ‘godless’ and ‘foreign’ because they do not share his religious views is divisive, un-American and profoundly inappropriate.”
Hegseth’s remarks come after he invited Christian nationalist pastor Doug Wilson to lead a Pentagon prayer service. Wilson’s church has espoused extreme positions, including criminalizing homosexuality and repealing women’s right to vote.
“Hosting sectarian worship services inside the Pentagon is already among the most serious First Amendment Establishment Clause violations we’ve seen in recent memory,” notes FFRF Legal Counsel Chris Line. “Now, Secretary Hegseth is using the authority and platform of his office to advance Christian nationalist rhetoric and openly disparage nonreligious Americans — a deeply troubling abuse of constitutional power.”
The First Amendment guarantees that the government may not favor religion over nonreligion or one religion over another. The U.S. military serves — and is made up of — Americans of every faith and of none. Many service members identify as atheist, agnostic or nonreligious. Many others belong to minority faiths.
“When the defense secretary declares that policy disagreements are ‘biblical’ rather than political, he sends a message that religious doctrine, not constitutional governance, is driving decision-making at the Pentagon,” adds Line. “That alienates non-Christian service members and signals that their full participation in military life may be contingent on religious conformity.”
Hegseth’s speech also featured partisan culture war rhetoric targeting transgender Americans and dismissing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Defense secretaries have traditionally avoided overt political commentary to preserve the military’s reputation as a nonpartisan institution.
“The military exists to defend a secular Constitution that protects freedom of conscience for all,” Gaylor emphasizes. “It is not a vehicle for advancing Christian nationalist ideology or attacking Americans who do not subscribe to it.”
FFRF calls on the Defense Department to reaffirm its commitment to religious neutrality and to ensure that official communications and events do not promote or endorse sectarian religious views.
“The Constitution does not recognize ‘Western Christian’ citizenship and second-class ‘godless’ citizenship,” Gaylor concludes. “Our armed forces must defend the rights of all Americans equally — believers and nonbelievers alike.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With about 42,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org
