Trumps Crusaders: Christian Nationalists Are Gaining A Solid Foothold In Washington -- Der Spiegel

[erronis]

https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/trumps-crusaders-christian-nationalists-are-gaining-a-solid-foothold-in-washington-a-643ab80d-fd36-4b45-924a-20fcef6b2e03
Jörg Schindler

U.S. President Donald Trump has opened the doors of a power to far-right Christian Nationalists. Their goal: An American theocracy. The separation of church and state in America is at risk.

God’s friendly army is up early on this Sunday morning in Washington. Long before services begin, around 150 people begin crowding into the first floor of a crimson-colored residential building on Pennsylvania Avenue, not even a 10-minute walk from the U.S. Capitol.

Christ Church D.C., the evangelical church being inaugurated on this very day, is extremely close to the centers of power. Which is why it’s not all that surprising when Pete Hegseth, his family and his secret service detail suddenly join the faithful.

Hegseth is the U.S. secretary of defense, and among the things he seeks to defend in that capacity is the true faith. His body is covered with crusader tattoos. And in his 2020 book "American Crusade,” he writes: "Our American crusade is not about literal swords, and our fight is not with guns. Yet.”

On this day in July, he is the only cabinet member to attend services here. But he is just one of many in U.S. President Donald Trump’s inner circle who is deeply involved in the world of extremist Christians and shares a single goal: to bring America under biblical rule.

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