Pete Hegseth is facing backlash following claims that he is pressuring service members to practice Christianity.

In a video posted on Dec. 16, Hegseth claimed that the Chaplain Corps has been “weakened” and “degraded” by “political correctness” and “Secular Humanism.”

According to the International Business Times UK, he also attacked the Army’s 112-page, Spiritual Fitness Guide. The guide was designed to support service members of all faiths and belief systems. In his video, Hegseth mocked the guide for its focus on emotional well-being and inclusive language. He also criticized the guide for references to “feelings” and for only mentioning God once.

Now, there are growing concerns after he characterized the guide as “unserious” and announced that he would sign directives to eliminate its use immediately. He hinted that secular and non-Christian approaches to spirituality would no longer be accepted as he works to “simplify” faith and belief codes that service members use.

As USA Today previously reported, Hegseth’s actions are in line with a sweeping push to purge “wokeness” from the military. The Defense Secretary has been vocal about a vision of the military being guided distinctly by Christian faith and has introduced monthly Christian prayer services into Pentagon settings. These actions are sparking fears that he is alienating non-Christian service members. 

Following Hegseth’s comments, Fish Stark, executive director of the American Humanist Association, and Ben Iten, president of the Humanist Society, condemned the Defence Secretary.   

In a different statement, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) sent a letter to Hegseth, objecting to his actions. The organization also filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking all records related to the directives, internal communications about chaplaincy reform, and any planned changes to religious affiliation coding practices.

“Chaplains exist to ensure the free exercise rights of all service members, not to serve as instruments of religious conformity,” wrote FFRF’s legal counsel Chris Line.

He continued: “Any attempt to transform the chaplaincy into a mechanism for privileging particular religious doctrines or encouraging service members to believe in a particular religion would violate service members’ constitutional rights and undermine the very purpose of the corps.” 

The American Humanist Society, Humanist Society, Freedom From Religion Foundation are all trying to take God and Christianity out of American society which I hope would be abhorrent to most Americans.