Dear Editor:

When the U.S. and Israeli air strikes triggered a new war in the Middle East, I worried that it might be another case of the tail wagging Trump’s dog: patriotic fervor distracting us from his incompetence, corruption, and association with Epstein — along with Bibi’s dog of an impending corruption trial and war-crimes indictments.

My anxiety on this score was soon allayed, though: An American commander ordered his officers to tell their troops that these attacks are “all part of God’s divine plan.” Clearly laid out in the Book of Revelation, this war is a step toward Armageddon, the final battle between Christians and nonbelievers. Our military forces will fight against the Beast; for the return of Christ; and to bring about the Last Judgment, when the unrighteous are cast into the eternal Lake of Fire.

Of course, hundreds of ‘woke’ soldiers complained about this violation of the First Amendment, but still — we are leading a crusade against infidels and following the commandment to spread the Gospel throughout the world. This mission is led by Def. Sec. Pete Hegseth himself. An acolyte of Doug Wilson, the founder of a chain of churches proclaiming that Scripture must control the government of every country, Hegseth is a radical Christian nationalist in lockstep with Donald Trump. Most recently, the secretary has told right-wing leaders of the ‘Shield of the Americas’ (Kristi Noem’s time-out room) that they represent “Christian nations, under God, proud of our shared heritage.”

The president, however, pays only lip service to this creed. His Christianity is performative and politically expedient. Watch the video of him during tne 2025 National Prayer Service in the Washington National Cathedral: Incapable of sitting through the inaugural sermon without fiddling with his program, he squirms in his pew and cracks jokes with his family.

This is the state of the country right now. A cynical, hypocritical president orders a fanatic evangelical to attack eight countries in the last thirteen months. For some, it is the prelude to the Biblical end times; for the rest of us, it feels like the end of our free democracy.

Bill Hammond

Boothbay