"Maybe We Like a Dictator"
Why Christian nationalism’s "Gospel of the Strong Man" puts American democracy at risk.
Pete Hegseth presents himself as a warrior for God. His tattoo reading Deus Vult, the medieval battle cry of the Crusades, adorns his arm. In his book American Crusade, he declared that leftists and Islamists stand in permanent conflict with "Americanism" and suggested that the only response is a holy war to preserve freedom. This type of rhetoric, the church as the last bastion of “Western Civilization” in a world that has gone towards multi-cultarism, pluralism, and secularism has been taken up by many men like Hegseth.
However, instead of just being someone in your church or that extremely online acquaintance, as Secretary of Defense Hegseth has brought that militant Christianity into the Pentagon. He hosted a Christian prayer service during working hours, invoking divine authority while praising Trump as divinely appointed. Meanwhile, recruitment videos emerging from the Pentagon blend scripture with combat imagery, signaling a melding of spiritual and military identity that veterans warn is dividing the ranks.
Hegseth is not acting in isolation. He belongs to a church network, the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, co-founded by Doug Wilson, committed to a rigid patriarchal theology. Wilson has argued that women should not vote, must be subject to male authority, and that homosexuality is sinful. Hegseth reposted Wilson’s “All of Christ for All of Life” slogan, signaling theological alignment
This is not religion. It is a vision of faith that crowns masculinity as sacred. Within that worldview, this Gospel of the Strong Man, power is virtue, prayer tools are weapons, patriarchy is divine order, and Christians are warriors first.
Donald Trump has embraced this. In late August 2025, he signed an executive order empowering Hegseth to develop specialized National Guard units trained to quell domestic unrest and enforced under Title 32 without local consent. The order authorizes rapid-response forces—reportedly 600 troops ready to deploy within an hour. Trump even floated deploying troops to cities like Chicago and New York, bypassing state officials and framing his own authority as necessary in “crime emergencies” that often do not exist.
In Washington, D.C., Trump declared a public-safety emergency under the Home Rule Act, jumped the city’s police under federal control, and deployed 800 Guard troops—all while violent crime was at a 30-year low. Critics argue this federalization, unique to D.C., sets a dangerous precedent for other cities.
Trump’s public framing intensifies the strong-man mythology. At one rally he mused that “maybe we like a dictator,” calling it smart leadership rather than authoritarianism.
What emerges is a dangerous blend: presidential authority wrapped in crusader imagery, reinforced by patriarchal theology, and deployed through the machinery of the military. It signals that true strength is cast as masculine, divinely sanctioned, and unbound by democratic limits.
This is the warning. In a democracy, if this mindset has the numbers, the seats, and the power, it gets to interpret the rules. That is the gospel of the strong man.
Further Reading
These articles and analyses provide context for the themes in this piece:
How Pete Hegseth’s zeal to bring religiosity to the Pentagon is dividing the military - The Guardian
Pete Hegseth’s embrace of un-Christian Christian nationalism - Los Angeles Times
What to know about the archconservative church Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends - PBS NewsHour
Trump’s plan to create Guard units to quell civil unrest alarms experts - ABC News
Trump order calls for broader National Guard role in domestic unrest - Washington Post
Trump Took Over the D.C. Police. He Can’t Do It in Other Cities, Legal Experts Say - TIME
Trump Says People ‘Like a Dictator’ as He Launches New Crackdown - Daily Beast