The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org/tag/pete-hegseth)
Over the course of the 2010s, it felt as though Heathens in the U.S. military made steady, if slow, progress on their religious rights. Pete Hegseth claims to have reversed all those gains in a matter of weeks. Karl E.H. Seigfried considers where Heathens go from here.
A now verified Pentagon memorandum circulating online suggests new scrutiny of religious grooming exemptions for service members, raising concerns among Pagan and Heathen practitioners and echoing tensions following earlier controversial “Nordic Pagan” remarks by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in 2025.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth invited Idaho pastor Doug Wilson, a self-described Christian nationalist, to deliver a worship service inside the Pentagon. The event has sparked debate over religious pluralism, church–state boundaries, and the role of theology in military leadership.
Calling the Army’s Spiritual Fitness Guide “new age” and unserious, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered its immediate removal, raising concerns about how future chaplain reforms could affect religious pluralism within the U.S. military.
In this week’s Pagan Community Notes: Hegseth dismisses Pagans as a “fake religious affiliation,” the ATC shares its award-ceremony video, a new bagpipe world record is set, Catholic bishops reject gender-affirming care in their hospitals, Star offers the tarot of the week, and more.