Since Hegseth is making the military's physical APPEARANCE code ("no fatsos or beardos") mandatory in the armed services, no matter what the rank, this needs to be noted:
The U.S. Army's tattoo policy, outlined in AR 670-1, prohibits tattoos on the head, face, and neck (above the t-shirt collar) but allows certain visible tattoos on the hands, neck, and behind the ears under specific size and placement restrictions as detailed in Army Directive 2022-09. Tattoos on arms and legs are permissible as long as they are not visible above the collar in the Army Combat Uniform.
ALL tattoos, regardless of location or size, are PROHIBITED if their content includes extremist, indecent, sexist, or racist symbols or words. The following types of tattoos or brands are prejudicial to good order and discipline and are, therefore, prohibited anywhere on a soldier 's body:
Extremist: Extremist tattoos or brands are those affiliated with. depicting. or symbolizing extremist philosophies, organizations. or activities. Extremist philosophies, organizations and activities are those which advocate racial, gender or ethnic hatred or intolerance: advocate, create, or engage in illegal discrimination based on race, color, gender, ethnicity, religion, or national origin: or advocate violence or other unlawful means of depriving individual rights under the U.S. Constitution, and Federal or State law.
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The Jerusalem Cross - one large cross surrounded by 4 smaller crosses. The symbol dates back to the Crusades, but has more recently been linked to extremist Christian nationalists. In 2021, Hegseth was one of several National Guard members ordered to stand down from Joe Bidenâs inauguration, and he himself has said in interviews that it was due to this tattoo.
Hegseth also has the words âDeus Vult,â Latin for âGod will it,â on his arm. Similar to the Jerusalem Cross, the âDeus Vultâ is linked to the First Crusade in the early 1000s, when it was supposedly a battle cry for Christian invaders. "Deus Vult" has enjoyed popularity with members of the alt-right because of its perceived representation of a white Christian (i.e. Catholic) medieval past and its militant supremacy over Islam and other religions.
The same arm features a cross with a sword that references the New Testament verse Matthew 10:34, which reads âDo not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.â Hegseth later added the word Yahweh in Hebrew lettering. Hegseth said the word means âJesus in Hebrew,â but the phrase, meaning âI amâ, is actually the name of God (the Father) in the Old Testament.
He also has the Greek symbols "Chi Ro", the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, meaning Christ is âthe beginning and the end.â The Roman Emperor Constantine, so the story goes, had a dream the night before a battle in 312 CE, telling him he would conquer if he had this symbol on his shield. He did, and Constantine went on to make Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire - the beginning of Roman Catholicism.
Hegsethâs upper arm is decorated with a reversed 13 star American flag with an AR-15 rifle making up the bottom stripe.
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Hegseth says heâs proud to be part of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, an archconservative network of Christian congregations. Founded in 1998, CREC is a network of more than 130 churches in the United States and around the world.
CREC ascribes to a strict version of Reformed theology, rooted in the teachings of 16th-century Protestant reformer John Calvin, that preaches dominion over all aspects of society.
Hegseth recently made headlines when he shared a CNN video on social media about CREC, showing its leader arguing that women should not have the right to vote. Women within CREC churches cannot hold church leadership positions, and married women are to submit to their husbands.
Hegseth has questioned women serving in combat roles in the military, and has removed high ranking women from Pentagon leadership positions. His speech Tuesday says all military members must take the same physical tests regardless of gender, and pass "the highest male standard".
He said that physical standards altered in 2015 "when combat arms standards were changed to ensure females could qualify" will be returned to their original form.
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And he said this also included standards he claimed were "manipulated to hit racial quotas," were "just as unacceptable." His extremist white supremacist views were proudly on display. "No more identity months, DEI
offices..... As I've said before, and I'll say again, we are done with that sâ-." He defended his firings of flag officers, including the top U.S. general, who is Black, and the Navy's top admiral, who is a woman, by saying the officers he relieved were part of a "broken culture".
It should be remembered that the first weeks of his leadership of the Department of Defense saw websites stripped of all references to people of color. Even the Tuskegee Airmen's page disappeared. Winners of the Congressional Medal of Honor had "DEI medal" stamped across their pictures. He is not just trying to make the Military racial neutral. He is re-establishing white supremacy, by clearly dismissing honors achieved by minorities as consolation prizes.
The KKK was - and still is - a CHRISTIAN organization. Its racist agenda is based on the notion that Jesus and Adam looked like them, because the Bible says they are all "made in God's image". Therefore, anybody who doesn't match THEM is something other than true humans - the "others" outside the Garden of Eden, that Cain feared, when God cast him out. God put his "mark" upon Cain, and many extremist conservative sects teach that this was "a skin of darkness".
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Hegseth he made clear that his creed contains no Christian compassion - only terror, outside of law, and outside of morality. "We don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement. Just maximum lethality."
American Christian nationalism involves four overlapping movements. Among them are evangelicals who view Trump as a political champion; a charismatic movement that sees politics as part of a larger spiritual war; a Catholic movement envisioning a muscular government promoting traditional morality; and Hegseth's faction, influenced by Christian Reconstructionist ideas, according to a report by PBS.
It should be noted that although he feels that others should adhere to his strict religious and moral standards, Hegseth himself has been married three times and divorced twice, and incidents surrounding his notorious alcohol consumption and subsequent behavior and actions have been well documented.
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Sources include PBS, Reuters, FOX, and New Lines. Links are posted in the comments section below. Photos from Instagram.
~Glee Violette
