Liberal and Establishment Offense at the Department of War

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgr9r4qr0ppo

Last month (September 2025) the Trump administration and Secretary Hegseth changed the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War. The move upset some as it contradicts their understanding of the military and its role related to American foreign policy. Others saw it as characteristic of the kind of toxic bombast Trump has become known for. Hegseth is keen to promote his 'warrior ethos' - a twisted and heretical form of Crusader Christianity. This is further exemplified by his dressing down of generals and his celebration of aerial assassinations in the Caribbean.

But for many it was upsetting simply because it sends the wrong message. I even heard that in person from retired military people I know. The US is not militant, it's not aggressive, seeking to start wars or throw its weight around. At least that's the perception. It's a narrative that is absolutely delusional.

Actually I think the name change is entirely apropos and perfectly expresses what the US is and what its military is all about. I think these detractors are mistaken if not simply deceived when it comes to the United States. The US foments war, drops bombs with abandon, fuels proxy wars, and is (far and away) the biggest arms dealer on Earth. Of the top ten arms manufacturers in the world - the top five slots are American companies. China's top 3 companies (numbers 8, 9, and 10 respectively) when combined cannot equal the sales revenue earned by Lockheed Martin alone. The US Empire is all about war - so is the US economy. Virtually everyone who owns a 401k, is invested in mutual funds, and certainly index funds is somehow invested in the US war machine. The US is a militant nation, a bellicose empire that lives to make war. Or rather it lives to make money and thus war always follows.

It is entirely appropriate that the US re-names the department. It was never about defense. In fact I have long cringed at having to use that term knowing full well it's euphemistic and farcical nature.

Part of the Trump dilemma is he doesn't play the public game. It's the same ugly empire sans the mask. Trump thuggish mafioso style (on display with Venezuela and Colombia) is in keeping with how the US has always operated. It just did so with some style, paying lip service to the diplomatic game and the rule of law, or doing things quietly or on the sly - always maintaining the smokescreen of plausible deniability. In a manner reminiscent of a spoiled child, Trump has no shame, conscience, or patience, and so he proclaims what he's doing and what he thinks.

He is vile and evil and while he's worse than previous presidents in some respects, he's not different in the way some seem to think. I think Trumpism marks a sea change or watershed for the American Church, and in some respects for the country, but this has been a long time coming. History shows the same patterns. Just look at Rome during the Late Republic - from the Gracchi brothers, to Marius, and Sulla, the landscape is familiar.

Trump and Hegseth are certainly detestable people - but not because they changed the name of the war department. As a Christian I hardly care - it's a choice to between diarrhea or vomit.

But given that these men are looked up to in the Church and affect its thinking and posture - then I take great umbrage and consider the name shift yet another warning as to what these people are about, and where they are headed. I'm not speaking of their eternal destiny which is self-evident, but rather where these seeming reprobates would take their heretically-driven vision of the US Empire, and how this idolatrous syncretism will yet further pollute and deceive the Church.