How Pete Hegseth brought Pulp Fiction Bible verse to Pentagon

The US Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, is an individual who wears his religion on his sleeve. And also in his tattoo. When he's not waging a crusade against "wokeness" (like blocking the promotion of black and women officers), or instilling what he calls "warrior ethos" into the US Armed Forces, Hegseth can be found hosting monthly Christian prayer and worship services. His latest service, however, saw him picking a verse, not from the Bible, but rather, from a speech by actor Samuel L Jackson delivered in Quentin Tarantino's blood-soaked iconic movie, Pulp Fiction.

This particular incident took place during his monthly Pentagon Christian worship service on Wednesday, April 15. The War Secretary was leading a prayer tied to the Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) mission that was conducted by the US earlier this month to rescue the Weapons Systems Officer (WSO) of an F-15E shot down over Iran.

The service saw Hegseth say a prayer handed to him a couple of days ago that was "delivered from the lead mission planner of Sandy 1," the head of the recent rescue mission that recently located and extracted Air Force crew members shot down in Iran, reported the US-based news outlet, A Public Witness.

Hegseth was reported as mentioning that the prayer is titled "CSAR 2517", which stands for "Combat Search And Rescue" and alludes to the fact that it borrows some wording from Ezekiel 25:17, a Biblical verse. But what he failed to mention, is that, except for the last two sentences, the rest of the prayer draws its origins from something far less biblical.

In fact, Hegseth's prayer is actually an adaptation of a speech delivered by Hollywood actor Samuel L Jackson in a role he played in the Quentin Tarantino blood-drenched film, Pulp Fiction. For context, Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American independent black comedy crime film co-written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It's widely regarded as one of the most influential movies of the 1990s and a landmark in postmodern cinema, and comes with a veritable star-studded cast, including Samuel L Jackson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis among others.

Don't believe us. Let's compare the two.

This is what the US Secretary of War said: "The path of the downed aviator is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of camaraderie and duty, shepherd the lost through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother. And you will know my call sign is Sandy One, when I lay my vengeance upon thee. Amen."

And this is what Samuel L Jackson's character delivered in Pulp Fiction: "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."

Hegseth's version adapts the Pulp Fiction monologue to fit a military rescue context, swapping "righteous man" for "downed aviator," "charity and good will" for "camaraderie and duty", and changing the final line to reference the call sign "Sandy 1" in place of the "the Lord".

Whether Hegseth knowingly introduced a Pulp Fiction monologue into a religious setting or simply embraced its rhetorical power is unclear. The reality is, in the midst of a prayer service in the Pentagon, Hegseth saw fit to replace holy scripture with Hollywood dialogue. As Samuel L Jackson’s character in Pulp Fiction puts it, "This is a miracle I'm tryin' to figure out what it means."

This comes even as his boss, Donald Trump, is mired in controversy over his Jesus images.

In any case, "Dumb McNamara" as Hegseth is known by some in the Pentagon, has more pressing matters to deal with. America's air assets, including the costliest drone, are dropping down like flies in the Middle East.

Then there's the introduction of six articles for Hegseth's impeachment, introduced by Democrat representatives for alleged war crimes, abuse of power, and other charges, on the same day as he said he would "strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother". Not exactly a situation he can "negotiate with bombs".