[the book describes wars fought by Christians, such as the Crusades, as intended to defend and protect other Christians.]
Ah, yes... which is why the Crusaders famously murdered a lot of Christians, sacked Constantinople, and committed genocide in Jerusalem.
Also where the famous phrase was spoken to kill them all because God would know his own.
Hell, we don't even have to go back to the middle ages, let's ask people in Northern Ireland how loving and compassionate Christianity was 20 years ago when shit was blowing up and people were murdered in the name of Christ for having the wrong faith and politics.
Yes, the 4th Crusade (sacking of Constantinople) is my favorite Crusade. Of course there’s always the 30 yrs war, I especially enjoy Catholic France’s actions supporting the Protestants. And of course the beginnings, the defenestration of Catholics in Prague by the Protestants.
I’m sure Hegseth and company will cover these glorious Christian moments in history.
The entire history of Europe since the Reformation too. The "age of exploration"... colonialism... the missions... the Magdalena laundries... Native Americans... the KKK... lynchings... the civil rights movement response by white Christians...
I think their reply would be September 11, 2001. True believers of any faith be it religious or secular are more than willing to commit acts of violence and murder to get their way.
Point being: radical, fundamentalist religions generally don't play well with others. For them, it's my way or the highway, and that goes for all three Abrahamic religions. The problem with Hegseth is that he doesn't want to acknowledge the entire playing field, but skew the attention AWAY from Christianity.
The easiest counter to that is to point out that the KKK and other white supremacist groups are explicitly Christian. Not to mention incidents like the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the Tulsa Race Massacre.
And, they in turn would bring up counterexamples of violence committed by members of other religions. As long as someone thinks that their beliefs be they secular or religious can justify violence, we're going to have this problem. It's a shame that Trump went with someone like Hegseth.
Trump went with Whiskey Pete because he would uphold Trump's desire to turn the military into white conservative men with itchy trigger fingers loyal to Trump and not loyal to the Constitution. Hell, they want to rename an aircraft carrier after Trump because it was originally going to be named after s black man.
I would say that the problem are true believers whether they be secular or religious. The followers of Marx could be just as bloodthirsty as the Inquisition when it came to dealing with people who did not share their views.
Like the slave trade? Nowhere in the bible is slavery condemned. Nowhere in the bible does it even hint that women are people, too. Out of the last 20 centuries of Christianity, only for the last 1.5 has Christianity slowly moved toward the realization that women are leople and that slavery is bad. And how many Christians just like Whiskey Pete want to turn back the clock?
Further Thought: I can't help but suspect that, once parents get wind of this change in curriculum, at least some of them will be screaming bloody murder about it and insist that their school system return to a course structure better based in FACTS, rather than Christian propaganda.
Hegseth thinks he can run roughshod over the educational system. He needs a little educating of his own.
"Soldier, your wife is getting pretty lippy about the school situation, and the higher-ups aren't happy. You'd better get her under control before we ship her and the kids back to the States and your career is over. Understood?"
The hook is that these parents are military people, so they have to be extremely careful about criticizing the Department of Defense leadership. In this environment, they will find themselves in trouble with their own leadership.
A lot of that depends on how reasonable their mid-line officer corps are and how receptive they are to the needs of the enlisted, as well as their own ranks. I simply do not see this issue getting swept under the rug.
Maybe a few would scream bloody murder, but most won't even blink. In my experience, the vast majority of Americans don't give a damn about history (or democracy, for that matter). Most people only care about their spending power.
Consider:
The "president" can mount a multi-pronged assault against voting rights, and most Americans don't say a word.
The "president" can send armed, masked, thugs into American cities to terrorize/murder citizens, and the majority of Americans don't say a word.
But when the price of gas & groceries rise, people begin to turn against the ruling regime.
All it takes is a few people, indeed even one registering a complaint, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation will come down on Hegseth and this whole scheme like a ton of bricks. Don't mistake the FFRF for lightweights, either. They kick ass and they take names, and they have a habit of winning.
Most military parents follow orders and know to not question them. Pistol Pete is counting on that. Military leans heavily R because that's who funds them. True fundies.
Casting Islam as inherently more violent than Christiany? Islam didn't create/run the Inquisitions. The Witch Hunts were also a Christian enterprise, as were the Conquistadors, the convert-or-die missionaries and the slaughter of indiginous peoples of this hemisphere. Christians even went so far as to practice cannibalism on the Muslims during the Crusades.
The evangelicals never stop pushing their religion as the solution to all the world problems, while always turning a blind eye to the countless horrors perpetrated by Christians in the name of Christianity. Pickled Pete Hegseth is the most grotesquely incompetent and unfit person to ever lead our military.
Well, what do you expect from people who are certain that the Bible is ‘inerrant’? This text book starts with that premise and then adds that white christians are always right. It is just another instance of Christian Nationalism screaming hooray for our tribe!
And it was written, rewritten, and heavily edited over about an 800 year period. If we had the autograph (originally released version) of each book, it would be a completely different critter.
"- - - the book describes wars fought by Christians [protecting Christians], Islam, in contrast, glorifies violence and war." Sounds like something Pete Hegseth would wholeheartedly embrace as a warrior hero.
"...how 'large numbers of ordinary Christians' in 'recent decades' have celebrated ICE raids that terrorize communities of color, or the deportation of refugees who have lived in the country for years.."
While at the same time tell each other to hide their children when the Islamists, the "communists," the "evolutionists," and other forms of Christian made boogie men come to take their children away to indoctrinate them in their so-called "dangerous ideologies" the same way the white man came and took all the children of the indigenous people away to indoctrinate them in American/Christian/White Man ideology.
[the book describes wars fought by Christians, such as the Crusades, as intended to defend and protect other Christians.]
Ah, yes... which is why the Crusaders famously murdered a lot of Christians, sacked Constantinople, and committed genocide in Jerusalem.
Also where the famous phrase was spoken to kill them all because God would know his own.
Hell, we don't even have to go back to the middle ages, let's ask people in Northern Ireland how loving and compassionate Christianity was 20 years ago when shit was blowing up and people were murdered in the name of Christ for having the wrong faith and politics.
You don’t even need to go that far back…
Yes, the 4th Crusade (sacking of Constantinople) is my favorite Crusade. Of course there’s always the 30 yrs war, I especially enjoy Catholic France’s actions supporting the Protestants. And of course the beginnings, the defenestration of Catholics in Prague by the Protestants.
I’m sure Hegseth and company will cover these glorious Christian moments in history.
If you want to see what genuine persecution looks like, hand power to the preachers.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑠 𝐼𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑚 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦.
Ummm ... January 6th, 2021, anyone?
The entire history of Europe since the Reformation too. The "age of exploration"... colonialism... the missions... the Magdalena laundries... Native Americans... the KKK... lynchings... the civil rights movement response by white Christians...
What about the history of Europe before the Reformation? The Church was handed the power of the state before 400 c.e.
The 30-Years War?
Or, perhaps, Trump's war with Iran.
Yeah, there sure is that, isn't there?
I think their reply would be September 11, 2001. True believers of any faith be it religious or secular are more than willing to commit acts of violence and murder to get their way.
Point being: radical, fundamentalist religions generally don't play well with others. For them, it's my way or the highway, and that goes for all three Abrahamic religions. The problem with Hegseth is that he doesn't want to acknowledge the entire playing field, but skew the attention AWAY from Christianity.
He cannot be allowed to do that.
The easiest counter to that is to point out that the KKK and other white supremacist groups are explicitly Christian. Not to mention incidents like the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the Tulsa Race Massacre.
Dr. George Tiller, shot dead as he entered his church.
And, they in turn would bring up counterexamples of violence committed by members of other religions. As long as someone thinks that their beliefs be they secular or religious can justify violence, we're going to have this problem. It's a shame that Trump went with someone like Hegseth.
Trump went with Whiskey Pete because he would uphold Trump's desire to turn the military into white conservative men with itchy trigger fingers loyal to Trump and not loyal to the Constitution. Hell, they want to rename an aircraft carrier after Trump because it was originally going to be named after s black man.
"Doris is a chick's name, Sir. We really should name it after the most High-T manly man I know: Donald John Trump!" ~ P. Kegbreath, SecDerp
Trump will sign an executive order mandating he/him pronouns to refer to the ship instead of the customary she/her.
To counter their counter: "So you agree that it is religious extremism that is the problem, regardless of which particular faith it stems from."
I would say that the problem are true believers whether they be secular or religious. The followers of Marx could be just as bloodthirsty as the Inquisition when it came to dealing with people who did not share their views.
Julius seems to get all the attention, but my favorite is Adolph Marx. 😉
Although there are others, 9/11 is likely the only one most folks can name.....but they just *know* there're countless others.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘’𝑠 𝑎𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑡 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑙𝑦.
Like the slave trade? Nowhere in the bible is slavery condemned. Nowhere in the bible does it even hint that women are people, too. Out of the last 20 centuries of Christianity, only for the last 1.5 has Christianity slowly moved toward the realization that women are leople and that slavery is bad. And how many Christians just like Whiskey Pete want to turn back the clock?
𝐼𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 “𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑚𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑚.”
Uh-oh. Kegsbreath better be careful. "Humane cosmopolitanism" is awfully close to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Further Thought: I can't help but suspect that, once parents get wind of this change in curriculum, at least some of them will be screaming bloody murder about it and insist that their school system return to a course structure better based in FACTS, rather than Christian propaganda.
Hegseth thinks he can run roughshod over the educational system. He needs a little educating of his own.
"Soldier, your wife is getting pretty lippy about the school situation, and the higher-ups aren't happy. You'd better get her under control before we ship her and the kids back to the States and your career is over. Understood?"
The hook is that these parents are military people, so they have to be extremely careful about criticizing the Department of Defense leadership. In this environment, they will find themselves in trouble with their own leadership.
A lot of that depends on how reasonable their mid-line officer corps are and how receptive they are to the needs of the enlisted, as well as their own ranks. I simply do not see this issue getting swept under the rug.
Maybe a few would scream bloody murder, but most won't even blink. In my experience, the vast majority of Americans don't give a damn about history (or democracy, for that matter). Most people only care about their spending power.
Consider:
The "president" can mount a multi-pronged assault against voting rights, and most Americans don't say a word.
The "president" can send armed, masked, thugs into American cities to terrorize/murder citizens, and the majority of Americans don't say a word.
But when the price of gas & groceries rise, people begin to turn against the ruling regime.
That's America for you.
All it takes is a few people, indeed even one registering a complaint, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation will come down on Hegseth and this whole scheme like a ton of bricks. Don't mistake the FFRF for lightweights, either. They kick ass and they take names, and they have a habit of winning.
It is pretty obvious that Pete’s education didn’t take.
Most military parents follow orders and know to not question them. Pistol Pete is counting on that. Military leans heavily R because that's who funds them. True fundies.
Most, perhaps. Maybe not all, and maybe with a sympathetic superior officer. As I said before, all it takes is one.
White Claw Petey Kegbreath is, on his very best days, bloody effin' incompetent.
Is it me, or is Petey trying too hard to come across as butch?
He likes sweaty, buff manly men.
Oh ... like John Beluchi in that old SNL skit! 😁
Hillsdale is pure Evangeliban.
Not a damn bit better than Taliban.
Casting Islam as inherently more violent than Christiany? Islam didn't create/run the Inquisitions. The Witch Hunts were also a Christian enterprise, as were the Conquistadors, the convert-or-die missionaries and the slaughter of indiginous peoples of this hemisphere. Christians even went so far as to practice cannibalism on the Muslims during the Crusades.
The evangelicals never stop pushing their religion as the solution to all the world problems, while always turning a blind eye to the countless horrors perpetrated by Christians in the name of Christianity. Pickled Pete Hegseth is the most grotesquely incompetent and unfit person to ever lead our military.
Well, what do you expect from people who are certain that the Bible is ‘inerrant’? This text book starts with that premise and then adds that white christians are always right. It is just another instance of Christian Nationalism screaming hooray for our tribe!
There is little to nothing in the way of objective evidence to validate the Bible.
And it was written, rewritten, and heavily edited over about an 800 year period. If we had the autograph (originally released version) of each book, it would be a completely different critter.
And those kids better be clean shaven. No Beardos!
"- - - the book describes wars fought by Christians [protecting Christians], Islam, in contrast, glorifies violence and war." Sounds like something Pete Hegseth would wholeheartedly embrace as a warrior hero.
"...how 'large numbers of ordinary Christians' in 'recent decades' have celebrated ICE raids that terrorize communities of color, or the deportation of refugees who have lived in the country for years.."
While at the same time tell each other to hide their children when the Islamists, the "communists," the "evolutionists," and other forms of Christian made boogie men come to take their children away to indoctrinate them in their so-called "dangerous ideologies" the same way the white man came and took all the children of the indigenous people away to indoctrinate them in American/Christian/White Man ideology.
It’s bad enough that they show Faux News on military bases, but adults can make up their own minds. Indoctrinating kids is wrong!
Pete Hegseth. That good Christian
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Hegseth#Personal_life
Pete Hegseth. That loon:
https://americanloons.blogspot.com/2026/03/3000-pete-hegseth.html
Americans could fight back by trying nothing. It's not very effective, but they're very experienced at it.
A trivial part of Hemant's post, I know, but "humane cosmopolitanism?" Sounds rather New Agey, more Timothy Leary than Billy Graham.
I can't wait until Hegseth is no longer Secretary of Defense/War (your choice).
Department of Defense is the name. It requires an act of Congress to officially change it. Department of War is just branding by the Regime.