Amid controversy for preaching at a Christian worship inside the Pentagon last week, Doug Wilson is punching back at his critics. But he showed he understands the complaints about as well as he does the rights of women or the horrors of slavery.
In a blog post, Wilson dismissed his critics as “the swarming harpies” and “the people who are whizzed up” about the service. Since there’s no one who’s written more about the Pentagon worship services than me, I guess one must count me in that number.
Brian Kaylor
Although the first service organized by Pete Hegseth, who likes to call himself “Secretary of War,” received attention last May, they were virtually ignored after that — except by me — until Wilson stepped on stage. I was the only person to report last year on all of the preachers, the only one to cover the November service, the first to report on the December service where evangelist Franklin Graham praised a “God of war,” the only one to cover the January service, and the one who broke the news about Wilson preaching (even publicizing that before the Pentagon did). I created “Government Worship Watch” precisely because I’m, to borrow Wilson’s phrase, “whizzed up” about the services.
So what does Wilson think motivates the critics of these services? He thinks we’re all anti-Christian pagans.
“It is also worth noting that the people who are whizzed up about this Christian prayer meeting would be ardent defenders of the whole thing if the object of the worship were Marduk, Chemosh, or a sub-Saharan goat demon,” Wilson claimed.
Uh, nope.
If the Secretary of Defense started a monthly worship service for Marduk, Chemosh, a goat demon, Mars, Ares, or even another god, I would criticize that as well. (And at some points during the services, I do wonder what “god” they are actually worshiping.) Government leaders should not be trying to establish their faith, no matter what it is. It goes against the wisdom of the First Amendment, is coercive, creates disunity in the military, and marginalizes citizens in their own nation.
I’m not sure if Wilson’s ignorant or dishonest, but he seems to think the only people who oppose the worship services at the Pentagon are non-Christians who want to establish their religion instead. Hegseth uses this same kind of rhetorical trick as he defended the services last week with remarks at the convention of the National Religious Broadcasters.
“We hear a lot from the freedom-from-religion crowd. They hate it. The left wing shrieks, which means we’re right over the target,” he declared.
It’s problematic that the head of a secular military full of religious diversity attacks atheists and secularists as if they don’t matter. But it’s also wrong for him to suggest there aren’t Christians opposing his worship services. And as for the “leftwing” retort, when it comes to personal morality — especially sex and drinking — he makes me look like a fundamentalist Baptist. He’s hitting this target about as poorly as that one with the ax.
Screengrab of Pete Hegseth (left) standing next to Doug Wilson while leading a prayer during a worship service at the Pentagon on Feb. 17, 2026.
I oppose the Pentagon worship services because I care about the sanctity of the Christian faith. And because I value our nation’s vision of religious liberty. I don’t want the government to endorse or promote any religion. Instead, I’d like us to live into that radical American experiment of religious liberty for all people that requires a healthy separation of church and state. That’s why the idea of church-state separation largely came from religious individuals, like Roger Williams and John Leland.
In his blog post, Wilson tossed in a lot of other misunderstandings. He claimed there’s “no compulsion at all, not even a squidge” for people in the Pentagon, but people have complained about feeling pressure to go in order to advance their careers. As “proof” of his assertion, he said the worship services are held during the “lunch hour,” though that has not always been true.
Wilson also dismissed concerns about the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, arguing that people pointing to that “are saying that to allow Christians who work at the Pentagon to ‘exercise freely’ is tantamount to establishing a religion.” But that misrepresents the services. This isn’t about people reading the Bible at their desk or praying over their lunch. This is a government-organized, government-hosted worship service. People are free to pray, but when the government establishes the prayer that’s something different. If Hegseth wants to exercise his religion, there are plenty of churches in the area — including one started by Wilson — where he can do that (or in his own closet).
Wilson invoked Thomas Jefferson to argue that states should be allowed to establish their own religion. Yes, the guy who literally wrote the statute that disestablished the state church in Virginia. But that’s a particularly dumb argument when addressing worship services at the Pentagon, which …. checks notes … is part of the federal government and not one of the states.
Doug Wilson and Pete Hegseth are wrong on history, the Constitution, and theology. And I will keep pointing that out as long as they are whizzing on our nation and faith.
Brian Kaylor is president & editor-in-chief of Word&Way. You can follow him on Bluesky and YouTube. His latest book is The Bible According to Christian Nationalists: Exploiting Scripture for Political Power.
