Nick Fish at American Atheists tells us in AA’a latest newsletter:

American Atheists doesn’t always weigh in on presidential cabinet nominations, so when we do, you can trust enough evidence has mounted to warrant a response. 

For example, we issued a statement last month regarding the selection of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. We received some flak for that, but as an organization that values reason and science, ignoring his long history of spreading dangerous misinformation is not an option. 

Granted, atheism is not the same thing as reason & science, but they are related. Theism is a form of Big Lie, so it’s not surprising that atheists can be interested in other big lies. No doubt the flak they got was because talking about Kennedy is political, and atheism isn’t necessarily political. But that’s the thing about Trump and all his works: he’d be just as loathsome, or more so, if he were in that other party. Kennedy would be just as wrong and dangerous if he were in that other party.

Similarly, we cannot remain silent about the nomination of former Fox & Friends weekend co-host Pete Hegseth to head the Department of Defense. With an annual operating budget of $900 billion and over two million civilian workers and troops, it is the federal government’s largest agency. If confirmed, Hegseth would be the least experienced defense secretary in American history. 

We’re compelled to oppose Hegseth’s nomination not because his résumé is short but because his reputation is long in religious extremism, and we have grave concerns about the consequences of elevating a person who unreservedly romanticizes Christian warfare.

Oh does he. Well that’s exciting.

Hegseth has several tattoos that have been flagged by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism for their adoption by far-right extremists, including mass murderers Mauricio Garcia and Anders Breivik. One of them, “Deus Vult,” is associated with militant white supremacist groups who, like Hegseth, revere the myth of a white Christian medieval past and romanticize the Christian slaughter of Jews and Muslims during the Crusades. One expert on religious violence said, “There is no version of ‘Deus Vult’ that means anything other than a call for violence.” 

…

Last year, Hegseth and his family joined a school and church associated with Doug Wilson, a co-founder of CREC and founder of the Association of Classical Christian Schools. Wilson, an accused abuser and town tyrant, has defended slavery and believes women shouldn’t have the right to vote. He has said Christian dominance is a divine conflict in which women and children are legitimate military targets. Likewise, in The American Crusade, Hegseth calls for a “360-degree holy war” to “mock, humiliate, intimidate, and crush our leftist opponents.” He goes on to say, in the event of such a civil war, “The military and police… will be forced to make a choice.”

Fasten your seatbelts.