{"id":28562,"date":"2025-08-12T15:47:36","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T19:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=28562"},"modified":"2025-08-12T15:47:36","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T19:47:36","slug":"pete-hegseth-reposts-pastors-claim-women-shouldnt-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/08\/pete-hegseth-reposts-pastors-claim-women-shouldnt-vote","title":{"rendered":"Pete Hegseth Reposts Pastor\u2019s Claim: \u201cWomen Shouldn\u2019t Vote\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Left: The White House | Right: CNN \/ X<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last Friday, CNN aired an interview with Doug Wilson, a pastor described as a \u201cChristian nationalist\u201d with ties to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. In the interview, Wilson stated that he does not believe women should be allowed to vote\u2014a position echoed by other pastors in his church.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shortly after the segment aired, Hegseth reposted the video on X, adding the phrase, \u201cAll of Christ for all of life,\u201d sparking renewed debate over the intersection of faith, politics, and gender roles in American Christianity.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to remember that not all Christians endorse this view. Furthermore, support or opposition to this opinion is not simply a \u201cconservative vs. progressive\u201d matter. The broader issue relates to two elements of the Apostle Paul\u2019s teaching: first, that the husband is \u201cthe head of the wife\u201d (<\/span>Ephesians 5:23-24<\/span><\/a>); second, that women should not \u201cteach or exercise authority over a man\u201d (<\/span>1 Timothy 2:12<\/span><\/a>).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many Christian scholars and theologians believe that the overall context of Scripture tempers these individual passages. This issue arises more often in discussion of women serving as pastors, but clearly some groups apply it even more broadly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Obviously, such views trouble some people. The opposition, however, is on a number of levels. First, people who resist any religious influence in public affairs would be concerned about a \u201cChristian nationalist pastor.\u201d The connection between Pastor Wilson\u2019s church and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth causes even more alarm for these \u201cstrict secularists.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, the CNN reporter who interviewed Wilson described\u00a0 his views as \u201ccontroversial\u201d and \u201cnationalist.\u201d Those who see no role for religion in the \u201cpublic square\u201d would obviously oppose someone who says that he\u2019d like to see the United States be a \u201cChristian nation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cProgressive Christians\u201d would likely resist Wilson\u2019s views as being grounded in a misconstruction of Scripture.\u00a0 In the interview, Wilson says that there are no women in leadership in his church, because \u201cthe Bible says not to.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The CNN report also features a woman pastor described as a \u201cprogressive faith leader\u201d who notes that women in fact served in leadership positions in the Bible. The actual practice of the early Church is part of the context that influences the interpretation of passages such as those noted above.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, there are other significant segments of the global Church who would not be considered \u201cprogressive\u201d but which support women in leadership roles (even pastoral roles). For example, the Church of the Nazarene has always accepted women in leadership and pastoral roles since its inception in the late 1800s. In fact, two women have served as General Superintendents, the highest office in the Church of the Nazarene. Theologically, Nazarenes would not be considered \u201cprogressive\u201d as that term is commonly understood; but women are allowed to vote for church leaders, and to serve as leaders in any level of the church.<\/span><\/p>\n

Clearly, CNN did not air this interview simply to highlight the views of one segment of the very broad \u201ctent\u201d of Christianity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The title for the interview is: \u201cThe Christian nationalist pastor with ties to Defense Secretary Hegseth.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Apparently, CNN\u2019s concern is with the possible political influence of this particular pastor because of his \u201cties\u201d to Secretary Hegseth. The \u201cprogressive faith leader\u201d featured in the CNN video expresses concern that Pastor Wilson and his followers \u201cactually literally want to take over towns and cities.\u201d The reporter then connects this thought to the \u201cbroader Christian nationalist movement\u201d which has \u201caccess to this administration.\u201d (It\u2019s interesting that the CNN report mentions the \u201cnewly created faith office\u201d in the Trump administration \u2013 led by a female evangelical pastor!\u00a0 Evidently the reporter didn\u2019t recognize the irony of a female pastor leading an \u201coffice\u201d in the administration in this story about a pastor who says women shouldn\u2019t vote.)<\/span><\/p>\n

So what does all this mean? Is this a growing \u201cChristian nationalist movement\u201d that is seeking to \u201ctake over\u201d by taking away women\u2019s right to vote? Is it just one segment of a very broad and diverse Christian church in the United States?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The reality is likely somewhere in between. Yes, the Church in the United States is very broad and diverse. Not every Christian believes that women shouldn\u2019t vote. Many Christians reject the idea that women should be excluded from leadership and teaching roles in the Church. The fact that the Secretary of Defense apparently agrees with some of Pastor Wilson\u2019s positions doesn\u2019t mean that the entire administration does.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0(In fact, the Trump administration includes a wide range of views on religious and social issues. Clearly, the views of any particular official do not set policy for the entire administration.)<\/span><\/p>\n

One final note: the CNN reporter mentioned Pastor Wilson\u2019s goal to make the whole world a Christian world. She specifically asked him about that, and he said \u201cyes.\u201d However \u2013 and here\u2019s the important part \u2013 he said, \u201cPeacefully, by sharing the gospel.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most Christians would (hopefully) agree with that goal \u2013 and with the belief that the world would be better if everyone accepted and submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ! Christians may not always agree on the specific steps, or the priority of one step over another.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But in the end, the Bible says, \u201cthat at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father\u201d (<\/span>Philippians 2:10-11<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Friday, CNN aired an interview with Doug Wilson, a pastor described as a \u201cChristian nationalist\u201d with ties to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. In the interview, Wilson stated that he does not believe women should be allowed to vote\u2014a position echoed by other pastors in his church. Shortly after the segment aired, Hegseth reposted the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":28565,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nPete Hegseth Reposts Pastor\u2019s Claim: \u201cWomen Shouldn\u2019t Vote\u201d<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CNN interview with pastor opposing women\u2019s voting sparks debate on faith, politics, and gender roles in Christianity.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/08\/pete-hegseth-reposts-pastors-claim-women-shouldnt-vote\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pete Hegseth Reposts Pastor\u2019s Claim: \u201cWomen Shouldn\u2019t Vote\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CNN interview with pastor opposing women\u2019s voting sparks debate on faith, politics, and gender roles in Christianity.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/08\/pete-hegseth-reposts-pastors-claim-women-shouldnt-vote\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beliefnet News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-12T19:47:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2025\/08\/Hegseth-Wilson_credit-Left-White-House-Right-CNN-X.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rick Rice\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pete Hegseth Reposts Pastor\u2019s Claim: \u201cWomen Shouldn\u2019t Vote\u201d","description":"CNN interview with pastor opposing women\u2019s voting sparks debate on faith, politics, and gender roles in Christianity.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/08\/pete-hegseth-reposts-pastors-claim-women-shouldnt-vote","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pete Hegseth Reposts Pastor\u2019s Claim: \u201cWomen Shouldn\u2019t Vote\u201d","og_description":"CNN interview with pastor opposing women\u2019s voting sparks debate on faith, politics, and gender roles in Christianity.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/08\/pete-hegseth-reposts-pastors-claim-women-shouldnt-vote","og_site_name":"Beliefnet News","article_published_time":"2025-08-12T19:47:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2025\/08\/Hegseth-Wilson_credit-Left-White-House-Right-CNN-X.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rick Rice","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/08\/pete-hegseth-reposts-pastors-claim-women-shouldnt-vote","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/08\/pete-hegseth-reposts-pastors-claim-women-shouldnt-vote","name":"Pete Hegseth Reposts Pastor\u2019s Claim: \u201cWomen Shouldn\u2019t Vote\u201d","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/08\/pete-hegseth-reposts-pastors-claim-women-shouldnt-vote#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/08\/pete-hegseth-reposts-pastors-claim-women-shouldnt-vote#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2025\/08\/Hegseth-Wilson_credit-Left-White-House-Right-CNN-X.jpg","datePublished":"2025-08-12T19:47:36+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-12T19:47:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/450625ec20bf3e8a84060b9321455f3d"},"description":"CNN interview with pastor opposing women\u2019s voting sparks debate on faith, politics, and gender roles in Christianity.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/08\/pete-hegseth-reposts-pastors-claim-women-shouldnt-vote#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/08\/pete-hegseth-reposts-pastors-claim-women-shouldnt-vote"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/08\/pete-hegseth-reposts-pastors-claim-women-shouldnt-vote#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2025\/08\/Hegseth-Wilson_credit-Left-White-House-Right-CNN-X.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2025\/08\/Hegseth-Wilson_credit-Left-White-House-Right-CNN-X.jpg","width":1200,"height":900,"caption":"Left: The White House | Right: CNN \/ X"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/08\/pete-hegseth-reposts-pastors-claim-women-shouldnt-vote#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pete Hegseth Reposts Pastor\u2019s Claim: \u201cWomen Shouldn\u2019t Vote\u201d"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/","name":"Beliefnet News","description":"Top Religious News From Around the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/450625ec20bf3e8a84060b9321455f3d","name":"Brandy Grenier","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/e53\/e53f6ea4c6b15081d4df68e2d7d7750ex96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/e53\/e53f6ea4c6b15081d4df68e2d7d7750ex96.jpg","caption":"Brandy Grenier"},"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/author\/bgrenier"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/516"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28562"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28568,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28562\/revisions\/28568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}