US military personnel object to Armageddon talk - Baptist News Global

U.S. military personnel are being briefed by superiors that ongoing combat operations in Iran are willed by God and will help usher in the end times, according to independent journalist Jonathan Larsen.

In one instance, the commander of a combat unit told noncommissioned officers “that the Iran war is part of God’s plan and that Pres. Donald Trump was ‘anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,’ according to a complaint by a noncommissioned officer,” Larsen reported on his Substack.

The report draws on similar complaints to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation from personnel in more than 40 units located in at least 30 installations. The complaints have been coming in since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran Feb. 28.

Their commander “urged us to tell our troops that this was all part of God’s divine plan.”

While the foundation is withholding the identities of the complainants, it said a Christian NCO had submitted a complaint on behalf of at least 11 Christians, one Muslim and one Jew: “The NCO wrote to the MRFF that their commander urged us to tell our troops that this was ‘all part of God’s divine plan’ and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has made no secret of his adherence to a nationalist and militaristic form of Christianity. He has established prayer meetings within the Pentagon and recently claimed Americans go to heaven if they die in combat.

In an interview with MRFF president and military veteran Mikey Weinstein, Larsen said he learned the foundation has been “inundated” with complaints since the war began.

“These calls have one damn thing in freaking common: Our MRFF clients (service members who seek MRFF aid) report the unrestricted euphoria of their commanders and command chains as to how this new ‘biblically-sanctioned’ war is clearly the undeniable sign of the expeditious approach of the fundamentalist Christian ‘end times’ as vividly described in the New Testament book of Revelation,” Weinstein said.

“Many of their commanders are especially delighted with how graphic this battle will be zeroing in on how bloody all of this must become in order to fulfill and be in 100% accordance with fundamentalist Christian end-of-the-world eschatology.”

Larsen also reported Weinstein’s explanation that the Uniform Code of Military Justice prohibits inclusion of religious belief in official messaging.

“Any military members seeking to take advantage of their subordinates by advancing their blood-soaked, Christian nationalist wet dreams upon the flames of this latest non-Congressionally sanctioned attack against Iran should be swiftly, aggressively and visibly prosecuted,” Weinstein said in the Substack.

The NCO who reported on behalf of numerous fellow unit personnel added that they had seen the inappropriate infusion of religion and military operations before.

“Our commander would probably be described as a ‘Christian First’ supporter. He has been this way for a very long time and makes it clear that he desires all of us under him to become just like him as a Christian. But what he did this morning was so toxic and over the line that it shocked many of us in attendance at the ops readiness briefing.”

The complaint added that these actions “destroy morale and unit cohesion and are in violation of the oaths we swore to support the constitution.”

Larsen wrote: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has enshrined evangelical Christianity at the uppermost levels of the U.S. military, airing monthly prayer meetings throughout the Pentagon. Last year, the Pentagon confirmed to me that Hegseth attends a weekly White House Bible study. It’s led by a preacher who says God commands America to support Israel.”

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