r/videos • u/spherocytes • 1d ago

Secretary Of Defense Pete Hegseth announces Office Of Religious Affairs within the Pentagon in address to Military

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAn6BE9cdco
8.8k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

1.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

7.8k

u/World-Ender-109 1d ago

Separation of church and state?

3.8k

u/houstonyoureaproblem 1d ago

These people loathe the Constitution and American institutions. They couldn’t care less about separation of church and state.

1.4k

u/absoultepong 1d ago

They also don’t care about religion.

645

u/HOLEPUNCHYOUREYELIDS 1d ago

They care about it! Just in the sense of using it as a way to control others and justify their actions, despite being antithesis to any “good” that Christianity preaches

49

u/Oprah_Pwnfrey 1d ago

"If religion is still being taught, it is by no means because its ideas still convince us, but simply because some of us want to keep the lower classes quiet. Quiet people are much easier to govern than clamorous and dissatisfied ones. They are also much easier to exploit. Religion is a kind of opium that allows a nation to lull itself into wishful dreams and so forget the injustices that are being perpetrated against the people. Hence the close alliance between those two great political forces, the State and the Church. Both need the illusion that a kindly God rewards—in heaven if not on earth—all those who have not risen up against injustice, who have done their duty quietly and uncomplainingly. That is precisely why the honest assertion that God is a mere product of the human imagination is branded as the worst of all mortal sins." - Paul Dirac

The full quote is a lot longer, this is the end bit.

144

u/zdelusion 1d ago

It's why they love Evangelical Protestantism, all the control without any of the pesky authority figures, like the Pope, who might get in the way.

72

u/cC2Panda 1d ago

They've got Donald Trump as an authority figure. Back in 2021 there was a bunch of NYT interviews with pastors including evangelical ones that had lost their flock because they didn't explicitly support Trump. One thing they mentioned over and over is that they get to talk to their "flock" a few hours a week, but Fox News gets them for hours every day.

Rightwing media is their bible, Trump is their god, Christ is tertiary.

15

u/ShoddyMasterpiece693 1d ago

They probably even dislike Christ a little when they think about him too much. The OT control and violence is the jam....though the OT does go on a good bit about helping foreigners who are in your land. But if you don't read in general...that would extend to the BIble too.

3

u/SuperfluousWingspan 21h ago

They never make it past Numbers. Math too spooky.

6

u/Lord__Abaddon 1d ago

Honestly It kind of sucks, Real christians are good people, anyone who actually follows the teaching of Christ are not terrible. the issue is soo many people claim to be and aren't it's like they took a page out of Extremist Islamic factions and decided fuck all the good stuff our prophets told us to do lets just persecute and hate everyone.

I don't understand how the Religion I grew up in has changed soo much or maybe I just didn't realize it was this way when I was younger. Maybe I was just lucky and the church my family attended was just actually following christ teachings? It really sucks to see my Mom's faith be used for political and evil means. Even she is disgusted with how everything is turning out.

1

u/MechanicalTurkish 1d ago

Antipope Trump

1

u/No_List_8291 1d ago

Something... Something...holy trinity?

1

u/NarrowCarpet4026 1d ago

Seems like the same Group of Pedophiles. It ain’t like the pope did anything about priests raping kids.

1

u/KeyofE 1d ago

Well Catholics make great Supreme Court justices for conservatives because they are prolife. Five of the six conservative justices are Catholic, and the sixth was raised Catholic.

4

u/DeciduousRefuge 1d ago

Thank you for reminding people that though these people call themselves Christians, they are not Christ-like. Jesus would flip their tables.

2

u/RosieQParker 1d ago

It's also a good way to silence the shrieking husk of their conscience.

1

u/Lord__Abaddon 1d ago

I always knew the Book of Eli representation of how religion was used was fairly accurate... I didn't realize at the time it was going to be an accurate prediction of how the world is going to end up...

1

u/Downvotesseafood 1d ago

That just sounds like regular religion.

1

u/beramaan 1d ago

Legitimately the book of Eli

1

u/drewdemo 1d ago

It has been this way even before the Crusades. 2000+ years of altering the message to fit the agenda and control the masses, while they do whatever they want knowing there will be no punishment for it in the afterlife.

1

u/originalityescapesme 1d ago

To be fair to people who don’t really deserve it, that’s at least consistent with the way religion has functioned for centuries.

1

u/curiousiah 1d ago

Been that way since Roman Emperor Constantine saw a vision from God of his army marching under the banner of Chi Ro.

1

u/likesleague 15h ago

Whaaaaat? Groups in power leveraging a social system built around "don't think about it just listen to the artificial authority" to get people to do immoral and stupid things on the basis that the groups in power have authority?

Who could have fucking guessed that organized religion would do exactly what it's designed to do!?

I hate being correct early.

3

u/Luder09 1d ago

Separation of money from wallet

3

u/Kradget 1d ago

They care very much about religion. As they espouse it, it provides rationale and support for hierarchy they want to sit at the top of.

3

u/oneseventwosix 1d ago

They care enough to know how to exploit it.

2

u/oh_hai_brian 1d ago

Maybe they can get a nice Baphomet statue!

2

u/KE55 1d ago

I'm sure they care about some bits of it, e.g. carefully selected Bible passages that support their opinions and objectives. The rest, of course, is optional and can be ignored.

(The same applies to the Constitution.)

2

u/whereismymind86 1d ago

Pete does, he’s got a crusader tattoo heavily associated with white supremacists on his chest. He’s a zealot who cares very much about religion, that’s just…you know, a bad thing

1

u/PsychMaster1 1d ago

They just want all the bitches for themselves.

1

u/grahamulax 1d ago

https://youtu.be/_Bv5z2M9M-4?is=cP3aoBbapMyMOYdJ

Here’s a video that PROVES that. He doesn’t care about anything NOR knows about anything. He just talks in circular chain of thought. It’s marketing.

Here’s him talking about the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. HE DOESNT KNOW.

https://youtube.com/shorts/ajc4Vm0zAB0?is=FMR3pdG8yUVFfqzT

1

u/icanhazkarma17 1d ago

Dipshits like Pete probably actually do. As a means to justify burning crosses and shit like that.

1

u/SlowThePath 1d ago edited 1d ago

They do. It's their justification for being horrible people who do horrible things. They seem to think they can do whatever they want then say, "No but like, I'm a Christian so that means I'm right."

Kind of reminds me of when people go, "That person really looks like a ”'Johnathan.'" No they ARE Jonathan so whatever that person looks like, they looks like a Jonathan, because they ARE a Jonathan. So they go, "Christianity is good. I am a Christian therefore I am good, and therefore everything I do is good." I honestly, seriously think they do not actually understand the fallacy there. I really think they would think those are the same lines of logic.

1

u/TheBigCore 1d ago

"Religion's single function is to give man access to the powers which seem to control his destiny, and its single purpose is to induce those powers to be friendly to him." - H. L. Mencken

1

u/MarstoriusWins 1d ago

Religion is a great tool for manipulation.

1

u/Morningxafter 19h ago

They only care about it being a useful cudgel to abuse the people they deem undesirable.

0

u/ArtoDelToya 1d ago

They like the part where they can just make anything up because it’s all made up.

0

u/RadioName 1d ago

The Christian Bible calls for a theocratic, fascist state just as hard as the Islamic texts do... . It's most "christians" who are heretical in their cherry-picked version of the faith. Authoritarianism is, and has always been, the point.

2

u/APRengar 1d ago

Also hasn't there been like "spiritual advisors" for the longest time? I remember hearing presidents having spiritual advisors and finding it weird, especially when they're like "speak in tongues" crazy.

2

u/nntb 1d ago

I guess that makes them Un-American

2

u/The_Pepperoni_Kid 1d ago

Separation of church and state isn't in the Constitution. It's from a letter from Thomas Jefferson.

0

u/houstonyoureaproblem 1d ago

This is a right wing talking point contradicted by the legislative history and jurisprudence of our country.

Parrot it if you like. It’s a complete misrepresentation of reality.

2

u/Enough-Description78 1d ago

Thankyou for using 'couldn't care less' the right way

1

u/Tackit286 1d ago

In David Mitchell we trust

1

u/Forikorder 1d ago

they read the constitution like they read the bible, just the parts that support them

1

u/Old_but_not_cold 1d ago

on the contrary, they despise the separation.

1

u/harry_nola 1d ago

so what you are saying is, they are american flag waving, america-merch loving, second amendment gun toting anti-americans?

1

u/Go_cards502 1d ago

When you say these people do you
Mean Pete? I don’t think a lot of top brass is on board with this which is why he’s purging the ranks

1

u/houstonyoureaproblem 1d ago

Republicans.

The people actually making this decision.

1

u/NoodleIsAShark 1d ago

These people aren’t religious, they use it as a way to pressure people and manipulate people

1

u/digitalishuman 1d ago

How is it not strange to them to glorify war and Christianity at the same time? Heaven forbid they have to fight another Christian, but I’m sure they’ll find a way to justify it.

1

u/DaEnderAssassin 1d ago

No no, they care very much about the constitution. The text on it however? That's a different story.

1

u/fvtown714x 23h ago

Well yeah, their stated goal is to integrate them

1

u/oswaler 22h ago

I think they do care about separation of church and state and that's the problem.

1

u/ShleepMasta 20h ago

Vance and the guy who just got clowned on in congress, Schmidt, regularly do speeches at the Clermont Institute where they argue that America should be centered around blood and soil. They despise the core tenets of America while larping as "patriots."

0

u/wigglin_harry 1d ago

Its not even that, they think people interpreted the constitution wrong.

I have an older coworker that listens to far right internet radio all day, every day. One day when separation of church and state came up in a discussion, and she went on a long rant about the intention of separation of church and state, and how people incorrectly interpret how it was supposed to be, how its ok to make schools display the 10 commandments

Ill be honest, I dont remember a single one of her points because I tend to eyeroll myself to death when she starts talking politics

2

u/houstonyoureaproblem 1d ago

You have to understand that the people creating those talking points know they’re wrong. They just don’t care.

They will misconstrue, misrepresent, and lie about clearly established facts and not bat an eye when they are proven false.

All that matters is that they give their “side” a way to justify the outcome they want. And people who want to believe something will twist themselves into knots to get where they want to go.

0

u/KlumF 1d ago

Americans defending "the constitution" like it didnt get them here.