Praying for War: The Pentagon’s Liturgy of Annihilation

About this episode

Doug Scott critiques a Pentagon prayer by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, highlighting its implications for sacred language and violence.

Doug Scott examines Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s March 25 Pentagon prayer—asking God for “every round” to find its mark—and argues it reveals a dangerous politicized liturgy that sanctifies annihilation, misuses Christ’s name, and feeds a planetary thought-form he calls the Great BASH. Scott traces the theological, psychological, and institutional stakes, contrasts this moment with Francis of Assisi’s encounter with the Sultan, and urges readers to recognize and resist the conflation of sacred language with redemptive violence.--Endnotes1. Online Etymology Dictionary, “diabolic,” accessed March 2026, https://www.etymonline.com/word/diabolic. See also Merriam-Webster, “diabolical,” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diabolical. The Greek diabolos derives from dia- (“across, through”) + ballein (“to throw”), literally “to throw across/apart.” Its opposite is symbolon, from sym- (“together”) + ballein, literally “to throw together.” The Septuagint translators chose diabolos to render the Hebrew satan (“adversary”).2. Doug Scott, “How the Egregore Great BASH Shows Itself at the Threshold of Human Shift,” cosmicchrist.net, March 10, 2026; Doug Scott, “The Terran Self at…

People in this episode

Host: Doug Scott

Topics covered

• politicized liturgy
• sacred language
• redemptive violence
• theological stakes
• psychological stakes
• institutional stakes

Keywords

• Pentagon
• prayer
• annihilation
• Great BASH
• sacred language
• redemptive violence
• theology
• psychology

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Law of One, How the Egregore Great BASH Shows Itself at the Threshold of Human Shift, The Terran Self at War with Itself

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