Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth quoted almost word-for-word a violent prayer used in Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic “Pulp Fiction” that’s loosely based on a Bible passage in honor of the Iran war during one of a series of controversial Christian worship services he’s been hosting at the Pentagon.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on April 13, 2026.
AFP via Getty Images
Hegseth told his audience he spoke with Admiral Brad Cooper, who has led U.S. forces during the Iran War, about how they use religious teachings to influence the policy and military decisions they later make.
He then said that reminded him of a prayer given to him by the head of the recent combat search and rescue (CSAR) mission to find and save Air Force crew members shot down in Iran.
He said he was told the prayer is titled “CSAR 2517,” and said it borrows some wording from Bible verse Ezekiel 25:17, but didn’t mention it was adapted almost word-for-word from a violent monologue delivered by actor Samuel L. Jackson in “Pulp Fiction” before the character kills someone.
A video of Wednesday night’s sermon has circulated online and drew mostly stunned reactions on social media Thursday morning, with some questioning if it was satire and others pointing out the controversy the Trump administration has courted the last two weeks from factions of its conservative Christian base.
The service was reportedly the second in a row that Hegseth used violent verses and messaging in discussing the war in Iran: “Grant this task force clear and righteous targets for violence,” he prayed last month.
Forbes has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.
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“Pete Hegseth is doing to Christianity what Al-Qaeda did to Islam,” Christopher Hale, editor of the popular Letters from Leo Catholic newsletter, posted on X,
“The path of the downed aviator is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of camaraderie and duty, shepherd the lost through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother. And you will know my call sign is Sandy 1 when I lay my vengeance upon thee, and amen.”
“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.”
“And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them,” reads the Bible’s King James Version.
Trump offended some Christians on Easter Sunday after a post in which he referred to Iranian leaders as "crazy bastards" and threatened they'd be "living in Hell" if they didn't re-open the Strait of Hormuz, ending the threatening post with the phrase, "Praise be to Allah." He was slammed for the harsh language and timing of the post—former ally Tucker Carlson called it “vile on every level"—for which he did not apologize. On Sunday, Orthodox Easter, he courted even more controversy when he attacked Pope Leo XIV, who has criticized the Trump administration for starting a war in Iran, in a long Truth Social post labeling him as "weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy.” He then told reporters he was "not a big fan" of the world's first American pontiff, and then posted an AI-generated image that depicted Trump as Jesus himself descending from the heavens and holding an orb of light as he places one hand on the forehead of a sick man. Conservative Christian factions of Trump’s base reacted strongly and slammed him for what they called “OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy” and making a mockery of God. Trump said he thought the image “was me as a doctor” and did delete the post, but did not apologize, and on Wednesday posted another AI image in which he was embracing Jesus.
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