Trump’s unofficially re-named "Department of War" likes to post clips of military personnel performing outdoor training as Bible verses play across the screen. In early August, Religion News reports the Department of Defense posted a video on X showing military aircraft and soldiers in operations as the words, “I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed” from Psalm 18:37, appear onscreen.
Brian Kaylor, a Baptist minister and the author of the upcoming book “The Bible According to Christian Nationalists,” said the videos thwart the original intent of these words.
“Those verses were not about the United States military,” Kaylor told RNS. “They weren’t really even about any imperial military force, and quite the opposite. These were passages about marginalized people, people under attack. It’s a very dangerous conflation of scriptural ideals with the U.S. military.”
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By Wednesday, the video was shared 1,600 times on X and received 8,100 likes.
Kaylor told Religion News that the DOD’s videos, like the Department of Homeland Security’s Bible-quoting social media posts, promote a literal interpretation of Scripture, a key feature of Christian nationalist rhetoric.
“Christian nationalism is itself selectively literal,” said Kaylor, who is also president and editor-in-chief of Word&Way, a Christian media company in Missouri. “… The irony about this Christian nationalism is that they’re justifying themselves with the Bible, but they’re only able to do it because they’re being very selective on what verses they choose.”
Religion News reports one post, shared on the [DOD] Rapid Response X account on Aug. 24, quoted Psalm 23: “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for YOU are with me.” The video shows U.S. military members equipping each other, firing weapons and jumping out of helicopters.
Kaylor said the inclusion of this prayer, written by King David, which is asking God for support and guidance in difficult times, was particularly inappropriate, as the passage actually talks about God leading someone away from a fight.
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Michael Weinstein, a Jewish former Air Force officer who founded the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said the posts suggest that non-Christian military members aren’t “worthy or honorable or trustworthy human beings to be able to fight for your country.”
The U.S. Constitution bans religious tests for positions in the federal government, including military personnel, but Weinstein’s organization has flagged examples the DOD’s “evangelization efforts” in events like the lunch break with “Christian prayer and worship service”
“This is nothing more than a fast-ticking time bomb that will blow up in our faces,” said Weinstein, adding “… It is encouraging a tremendous response by our enemies who are out there, many of whom follow their own extremist religious views.”
Read the full Religion News report at this link.