What happens when religious fundamentalists come to power? (Part Two)
On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti
WBUR
4.3 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 7 April 2026
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Military service members are filing a flood of complaints about religious justifications for the U.S. war in Iran. How Christian extremism came to influence the Trump administration and offer moral underpinnings for the new war in the Middle East.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | WVUR Podcasts, Boston. |
| 0:09.0 | This is On Point. I'm Megna Chakra-Bardi. |
| 0:12.0 | Today, we're going to have our second episode in our look at what happens to a nation when religious fundamentalism comes to power. |
| 0:19.3 | This little pop-up series is inspired by questions you sent us |
| 0:22.9 | when I asked you several weeks ago what you want to know about the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran. |
| 0:28.8 | Yesterday, we talked about the rise of Shia extremism in Iran. Today, we turn our attention to |
| 0:36.0 | religious fundamentalism in the United States government. |
| 0:40.2 | You really need to talk about Pete Hegsath and Christian nationalists who are actually wanting a massive war with Iran on purpose because they want to trigger Armageddon. |
| 0:55.3 | How Christian nationalists and their idea about the rapture influenced this. |
| 1:01.3 | What does it mean for Keith Hegsef to be so devoutly Christian and leading his troops against Iran? |
| 1:09.3 | Was he telling his base that he was ready to start a holy war in the Middle East? |
| 1:14.5 | There is nowhere in the Bible, especially in Jesus' teachings, that Jesus commands us to wage war against our enemies. |
| 1:22.1 | So from top to bottom there, you heard listeners Alexandra in Oregon, Aaron in Austin, Texas, Stewart in Hudson, Massachusetts, Mel in Madison, Wisconsin, and Carolyn in Park City, Kentucky. |
| 1:34.4 | Well, let's start with Catherine Stewart. She's author of Money, Lies, and God, Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy. |
| 1:42.0 | Catherine, welcome. Hi, thanks for having me. |
| 1:45.5 | You know, I actually want to just lead off here with the little sound of the Secretary of Defense himself, Pete Hegseth, and how he infuses his version of Christianity into almost every one of his public statements. |
| 1:59.0 | So this was just yesterday when the secretary was talking about the rescue of the U.S. airmen who had been down in Iran. |
| 2:08.3 | And here is how Secretary Hegeseth phrased it. |
| 2:12.9 | Shot down on a Friday. Good Friday. |
| 2:16.6 | Hidden in a cave. A crevice, all of Saturday, and rescued on Sunday. |
| 2:25.5 | Flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday. |
| 2:31.0 | A pilot reborn, all home and accounted for a nation rejoicing. |
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