Pete Hegseth Follows the Teachings of a Pastor Who Says Slavery Was A "Time of Harmony"

Pete Hegseth's website is a lot and if you're looking for multiple ways in which the American flag can be used, this is the place for you. There is a photo of Hegseth awkwardly clutching a microphone while sporting an American flag t-shirt. We could never skip over the image of Hegseth casually slinging a blue blazer over one shoulder, the inside of which is red and white stripes. And last but not least the covers of all his books feature, you guessed it, American flags.

Taking a quick glance at Hegseth's bio also yields interesting results. Did you know he's a Fox News commentator who can't seem to get his own show? It's true! There is no need to wonder if Hegseth served in the military because the enormous camouflage-clad, gun-wielding photo to the left of his "About Pete" section is answer enough.

Hegseth is also a huge fan of God. No really, he once co-hosted The Life Of Jesus Christ alongside his own pastor. With that in mind, let's get into his religion.

According to The New York Times, Hegseth and his family moved to Tennessee in 2022 so they could be part of the Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship, a small church [that] opened in 2021 as part of the growing Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches." In December 2023 he told the Nashville Christian Family website that, "We knew we wanted its [Tennessee] all-around general values but also knew we would need a smaller community, and that has come through our kids’ school and through church."

Hegseth was raised by Christian parents who attended a Baptist church and as a teenager, he gave his life to Christ. Although he was very committed to his beliefs, Hegseth felt torn between his religious life and secular education. "It’s fair to say I had a Christian veneer but a secular core and thought I was ready to go out into the world and profess Christ. I wasn’t." When he got to Princeton, Hegseth chose a path that involved really digging into the gospels. He was often defending his faith.

Eventually, Hegseth found the teachings of a pastor named Doug Wilson, a pastor out of Moscow, Idaho. Wilson's beliefs were briefly touched on by Brad Onishi, who studies religious extremism while chatting with PBS's Laura Barron-Lopez.

Onishi described Wilson as a firebrand pastor and theologian who is known for his controversial beliefs about race, gender, and anyone who doesn't follow his denomination of Christianity.

"He doesn't believe that women should have any authority in the home or in society, much less the church," explained Onishi. "He has said that the time of enslavement in this country was the time of harmony between the races." Onishi went on to say that if you don't "share the same hymnal book as Wilson" then you shouldn't hold any positions of power.

Hegseth not only attends a church that preaches Wilson's teachings, but he considers the contentious pastor to be a mentor.

Despite what Hegseth may feel about Wilson, the pastor told The New York Times they two have never met. That didn't dissuade Wilson from having an opinion about how Hegseth should lead the Department of Defense. "I would hope Pete Hegseth would be a disrupter of the Pentagon’s way of doing things," said Wilson. "I would like to see a rebuilt military that’s far more lethal and a lot smaller."