This government is clearly planning to put boots on the ground in Iran. They’re declaring that it is Jesus/Trump’s will to launch Armageddon now.
A combat-unit commander told non-commissioned officers at a briefing Monday that the Iran war is part of God’s plan and that Pres. Donald Trump was “anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,” according to a complaint by a non-commissioned officer.
From Saturday morning through Monday night, more than 110 similar complaints about commanders in every branch of the military had been logged by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF).
The complaints came from more than 40 different units spread across at least 30 military installations, the MRFF told me Monday night.
When our military leaders start using apocalyptic language at the start of a war, worry.
“This morning our commander opened up the combat readiness status briefing by urging us to not be “afraid” as to what is happening with our combat operations in Iran right now. He urged us to tell our troops that this was “all part of God’s divine plan” and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ. He said that “President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth.”
— MRFF active duty NCO client, writing on behalf of themself and 15 other unit members
Let’s hope that this doesn’t happen and that we aren’t sifting through the ashes looking for something to eat next week. And if it doesn’t happen, every single one of these goddamn bible-thumping murderous commanders must be dismissed and drummed out of the military in disgrace.
While we’re at it, can we also get the names of all the White House personnel who are currently lining up to put inside bets on the date of the invasion on Polymarket? They need to be jailed or executed, too.
This behavior and/or belief is standard for Republicans. Remember James Watt (Interior Secretary under Ronald Fucking Reagan) who pushed the “Wise Use” idea to use up the environment before the end of the world, which was per Watt close at hand.
Every stressful moment causes this sort of craziness to start leaking out. Remember 9/11? People who claim that the establishment/general public aren’t THAT crazy need to pay attention!
Annoying shortage of details. Was this a company commander, a brigade commander, or what? How many independent events are represented by these 200 complaints? How far up the chain of command does this go? I mean, it clearly is represented at the top, i.e. the “Secretary of War”, but one can hope it’s not ubiquitous below that.
As a counter, one of the South Park writers created a DraftBarronTrump.com website. I doubt any of the lemmings will rally to have the representative blood of their saviour fight for their ultimate holy war, but it’s a nice thought.
xtian f*cking terrorists. it’s as simple as that. They are murdering superstitious imbeciles.
IMO, a land war invasion of Iran would be very dumb and might well end the Trump reign of terror.
Iran is a large country with a large population at 93 million.
The general rule is that an attacking army needs to have 3 times as much military power as the defenders. This is because an invasion favors the defenders.
Ask the Russians and Ukrainians how that works.
We fought the North Vietnamese in Asia in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The population of North Vietnam at that time was around 20 million. We had a population of 200 million and a much larger economy.
And, we lost.
This isn’t anything hard to figure out.
We lost in Vietnam because the Vietnamese didn’t have anywhere else to go.
They lived there and it isn’t like they could just retreat or go home and take a break.
The US on the other hand, always had the option of getting on a plane and flying from Saigon to California or Hawaii. Which is what we ended up doing.
Many sites are reporting this:
https://newrepublic.com/post/207270/military-leaders-iran-war-donald-trump-jesus-armageddon
Without any clear message coming from the White House with regard to the purpose of the Iran war, U.S. military commanders have turned to Jesus, apparently telling American troops that the war is “biblically sanctioned.”
Monday evening, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, or MRFF, was “inundated” with complaints, receiving more than 110 grievances from U.S. military personnel stationed at dozens of sites across the Middle East, reported independent journalist Jonathan Larsen.
Hegseth has parroted the views of Douglas Wilson, a conservative theologian who advocated for Christian dominance over government and society. He has followed through in practice, instating regular prayer services at America’s military headquarters. He also entered office with several Christian symbols already emblazoned on his skin—a Jerusalem cross and the phrase “Deus vult”—in what Hegseth has described as emblems of the “modern-day American Christian crusade.”
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2026/03/03/military-officers-accused-of-framing-iran-war-biblical-mandate.html
Commanders Accused of Framing Iran War as Biblical Mandate, Jesus …
20260303 More than 100 complaints were made by military officers between Monday and Tuesday, totaling over 200 in total across every installation.
Whenever we have one of these wars, I always get nervous and it brings back bad memories.
I knew people killed in Vietnam.
One was my friend’s father. Her mother was pregnant at the time.
Two of my friends were killed in Iraq.
They are still dead.
So, who do I know who will be killed in this war?
At this point, it probably won’t be anyone I personally know.
We are now working on killing our children and grandchildren.
One final comment: according to these xtian terrorist aholes, jebus is advocating mass murder and destroying the hellhole of a planet these xtian terrorists have created. That just reinforces that I wouldn’t want to have anything to do with any of these xtian death cults.
Martha and the Vandellas, “nowhere to run to baby, nowhere to hide!”
Anyone using Revelations to justify any action scares me. That book is nuts.
John Harshman @#3 — You’re right that there’s not much detail about the scope of this claim. The more officers and the higher the rank, the more worrisome it will be. And of course, Dumb Don has Messianic delusions.
Hey! Maybe we could tell him we have to nail him to a cross to fulfill the prophesy.
whywhywhy @ #10 — That book is nuts particularly out of context as some Christians use it. If you put it in the context of Jewish/Christian events in the 1st/2nd century CE, it makes a little more sense…the series of revolutions against the Romans, the harsh suppression of those revolts, the destruction and looting of the so-called “Second Temple” and so forth. And don’t fail to consider the two centuries of political turmoil in Judea beginning with the so called Hasmoneans. Things were a little nuts in the Levant beginning perhaps with the invasion of the Greeks, but certainly by the introduction of the Romans. I suspect this period represented a fairly significant cultural shift and conflict different from previous conflicts with regional power entities like the Egyptians and Babylonians.
No different than what the military leaders spewed out about Bush Jr. when the 9/11 attack occurred over 2 decades ago.
“God chose Dubya, Dubya is the modern day version of Cyrus the Great, no one must speak evil of him, wailing songs featuring voice overs of Dubya played on Christian radio stations, etc.etc.etc.”
It’s like the 20 year Afghan war all over again… And in the end, just like before we will lose, just like the Christian Crusaders who failed to drive out the Muslims from the Holy Land time and time again.
Hemant Mehta applies a bit of scrutiny to these claims. Something to keep in mind:
https://www.friendlyatheist.com/p/before-you-share-that-story-about
Why are these people not locked up?If they believe it sincerely, they belong in mental institutions. If they are attempting to dupe people into risking their lives, they belong in prison. But either way, they should not be out on the streets.
@14: Just goes to show how much leeway religion is given to divorce a person from reality or permit any unlawful action.
re HidariMak@4:
Given the penchant of the older siblings to slaughter animals and proudly display their trophies, I would say that Don Jr. and Eric have earned themselves a front-line post so that they have someone shooting back at them. But yes, draft all of The Orange Turd’s offspring and send them.
Hemidactylus @ #13 — While I agree we should be cautious about these claims, I think we realize they are not out of the realm of possibility. Such as strategy would play right into Trump’s megalomania and narcissism.
Plus the war has largely shut down the outcry over the Epstein files which is the one thing that could…maybe…actually break his power base.
Hemidactylus, I’ve never thought much of Hemant Mehta’s acumen.
Read his blog at first, even commented there, then gave up on Mr. Soft-pedal.
A proper accommodationist, he.
“Also, none of the reports list the name of the actual commander who made the comments, arguably the most important aspect of this story and the one person whose name shouldn’t remain anonymous.”
Sure.
A true journalistic standard, that — to publish the names of people who wish to remain anonymous.
FWUW: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/12/06/pete-hegseth-defense-religion-christian-00192117
You know why it went viral? Because it’s fucking credible.
@whywhywhy, # 10: Yeah, but it’s better than the Apocrypha. Probably good they decided to leave that book out.
[addendum]
re #18, to pre-empt re anonymity: “It’s the fact that our commander feels as though he is fully supported and justified by the entire (combat unit’s name withheld) chain of command to inflict his Armageddon views of our attack on Iran on those of us beneath him in the chain of command.”
(From my earlier comment https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/03/01/i-have-opinions-on-sam-harris-and-murdering-iranian-people/comment-page-1/#comment-2294072 )
John Morales @18 and @20
Looks like your mind is made up already then.
Here’s a third party view that looks at Mehta’s claims, looks at Weinstein’s claims, and kinda leaves one (or at least me) wondering. It was linked by Mehta in a Bluesky post.
https://thedebrief.org/questions-mount-over-viral-claims-of-apocalyptic-iran-war-briefings-in-the-military/
On Weinstein’s side there’s this about the alleged similarity of the emails:
Made up about what?
That I found Hemant to be wishy-washy and not very cluey?
That the story is not so incredible?
That his claim that the commander in question in that specific email should be named, thus vitiating the anonymity request from the NCO?
Sure. Until and unless new information becomes available, that is my opinion.
That noted, your insinuation that I think it’s a veridical claim and that my “mind is made up” is not something I stated and certainly not warranted.
—
In passing, from the article I adduced earlier, this is the USA Defense secretary:
A bit of a contrast to your adduced piece:
From my adduced article:
John Morales @23
Yeah. I have no idea why a Christian would make trips to Israel, where Jesus himself is said to hail from.
The Jerusalem Cross proves a lot here that’s damning to Mehta I’m sure.
Christian Nationalist nutter goes to Israel and gets a Jerusalem Cross tattoo. Ok. Not confirmation bias at all.
Sure. He’s a typical Christian, who regularly visits Israel.
Typically, Christians are all about war and crusading and tattoo themselves with warlike symbols after visiting Israel.
Nothing to see here.
Here: “Additionally, he [Hemanant] notes that while Pete Hegseth and his pastor, Doug Wilson, may hold objectionable views to some, this sort of apocalyptic interest in Israel is not specifically present among them.”
This is the guy who literally compares himself to a Jihadist and had a Crusader cross tattooed after visiting Israel.
Who leads the military.
(https://www.war.gov/About/Secretary-of-war/)
Here, for you:
(https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/399181)
You’re aware that dispensationalist Christian theology posits that a physical Third Temple must be built in Jerusalem as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy prior to the return of Jesus Christ, no?
—
Perhaps it’s not the case that leadership affects organisational culture, so his Crusading aspirations are not propagated or encourage such talk from people down the chain. Such as commanders speaking to NCOs.
Sure, that very specific claim may be hyperbole, but the pattern is clear as could be.
Which, again, is why it’s so credible and went viral.
The late Ed Brayton had a friend who is active in a group that is fighting religious discrimination in the military, usually it is about brass who are into Christian dominoist stuff.
Re @ 26
The organisation is ‘MRFF’.
PZ and others that have relatives in the service may tip them off, in case they ever get a cultist wing nut as boss.
About the current war:
There is a game theory specialist who predicted Trump would win in 2024 and predicted Trump would go to war with Iran.
He also predicts this:
“Game Theory Expert: America WILL Lose Iran War! – Professor Jiang”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=YJJRjK2fWnA
Truly a specialist, Birger — from the transcript of your video:
(https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/03/01/i-have-opinions-on-sam-harris-and-murdering-iranian-people/comment-page-1/#comment-2294156)
I didn’t find the claims of xian cultists in the military rambling on about the Apocalypse not believable. They do this often anyway.
I tried to check it with Google.
A lot of news sources are carrying this story.
It all traces back to Mikey Weinstein and the MRFF. Other reporters have seen the complaints.
As Weinstein points out, your commanding officer isn’t like your shift supervisor at Starbucks. The soldiers really aren’t free to complain about their commander, even if he is a crazy person.
I do not find the claim that…
…implausible. In fact, given the level of evangelical christi-insanity in the US, it seems highly probable that there is more than one delusional leader among the ranks.
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lseupr/2025/02/07/the-politics-of-apocalypse-the-rise-of-american-evangelical-zionism/
John Morales @29
Not a deal breaker in itself but his China connection might introduce a little bias. I was more put off by the ridiculous psychohistory thing:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiang_Xueqin
He could still be right despite all that. Kyle Kulinski also ran with his speculation:
That said, anyone who talks of Illuminati beyond their historical existence as a Bavarian freethought group is pretty sus in my book.
Oh good. Omnipotent guy’s got it handled. No need to fight then. That plan looks really *really* evil though.
What does god need with a signal flare?
If he needs human buy-in to carry out the plan, that’s something one could deny and thereby save the world. Big damn heroes.
anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth
@34 – CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain
That was my first thought, what the fuck is God doing he is if not paying attention to us? Maybe God, with all his mighty power, could just take out these evil Iranians with one of his magic fire and brimstone stunts just like he did to Sodom and Gomorrah. Now that I think of it, God only does stuff like that when he needs to test us. All the suffering that comes from war must be part of God’s plan. Guess we just have to go into WWIII to signal God it is time to end humanities reign.
As for Armageddon, these nuts are almost making me wish for it just to put an end to their nonsense. The scary part is we may be much closer than we think.
[OT]
anointed?
I just went to Mikey Weinstein’s website, MRFF.
This religious abuse is apparently very widespread. All branches of service, 40 different units, 30 different military installations.
Hard to believe such a widespread violation could be fake.
It’s known that the supposed head of the Department of Defense, Hegseth, is a religious kook with a cross tattooed on him.
Unrelated but details the thought process of these god loving cretins and how they use religion to reason away their errant ways (sociopathic behavior).
Tony Gonzales claims God has forgiven him for affair with Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, who set herself on fire
“Very direct, Pags, I made a mistake – I had a lapse in judgment and it was a lack of faith, and I take full responsibility for those actions,” Gonzales said. “Since then, I’ve reconciled with my wife, Angel. I’ve asked God to forgive me, which he has, and my faith is as strong as ever.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/04/tony-gonzales-texas-rep-alleged-affair
Stuffin @ 38
Tony Gonzales is a POS.
Am sure the more sensible part of the military is thinking along the lines of commando raids and similar short-duration land attacks, not anything lie a full scale ground invasion. For one thing they haven’t moved even close to enough troops into the area to being to contemplate holding anything bigger than a patch of desert in a spot isolated enough even the Iranians never go there. What we’ve got in the area is more along the lines of what you would expect to defend friendly bases in non-hostile countries against Iranian commando raids.
I didn’t know this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_syndrome
Hm.
Appealing to the goddish demographic: