The Pentagon dismissed media reports claiming Secretary of War Pete Hegseth used a fake Pulp Fiction Bible verse, with a spokesman calling the coverage “ignorant of reality.”
On Wednesday, during one of the regular Pentegon’s worship services, Pete Hegseth read a prayer allegedly made up by members of the combat search and rescue teams who took part in the rescue operation of the US airman shot down in Iran.
According to him, the prayer has been named CSAR 25:17, and its text has some connection with the Biblical chapter Ezekiel 25:17.
However, there is no relation between Hegseth’s prayer and the Bible whatsoever.
In particular, Hegseth’s prayers have nothing to do with the Bible except for the last several lines which remind of the text of Ezekiel 25:17.
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The initial part of this prayer is an invention of the film screenwriter. Moreover, its first lines are taken from the opening speech of a 1976 Japanese movie.
A religion and politics blog called A Public Witness was the first to notice the link between Hegseth’s prayer and the Tarantino movie.
A Reddit post with the caption “Hegseth quoting the fake verse” quickly went viral, getting more than 22,000 upvotes.
The Pentagon strikes back
On Thursday, Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s main spokesperson, posted a statement on X saying that the prayer was a “custom prayer” used by search and rescue teams that helped get a pilot out of Iran who was codenamed “Dude 44 Alpha.”
He said that the prayer was “obviously inspired by dialogue in Pulp Fiction,” but he also said that both the CSAR prayer and the movie speech were based on the same biblical verse.
“Parnell said those who alleged that Hegseth misquoted Ezekiel 25:17 were ‘peddling fake news and ignorant of reality.'”
Snopes, an outfit that verifies facts, revealed that the prayers did not include a mention of the scripture being genuine, and it appears plausible that Hegseth might not have been aware that it came from a movie.
When asked if Hegseth was aware that the prayer had been scripted in a movie, the Pentagon refused to comment and deferred to Parnell’s response.
Hegseth’s attitude toward the press did not seem to change with the latest controversy.
During a Thursday press briefing, he quoted scripture once again, likening the press to the Pharisees in Jesus’ life as described in the New Testament.
Hegseth told press members gathered there that during a Sunday visit to church, he found himself thinking “our press are just like these Pharisees,” in relation to “Trump hating press.”
Since he took office, Hegseth has made Christian worship a big part of his leadership at the Pentagon.
He has held regular services that have gotten both praise and criticism from people who want church and state to be separate.
Most people think this was just a symbolic move because Republicans control the lower chamber.
