US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is being hit with criticism after he read a fake Bible quote from Pulp Fiction during a Pentagon prayer service.
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During the event, Hegseth shared with the audience that he was reading “a prayer” that was recited by Sandy 1, who is one of the US Air Force Combat Search and Rescue teams that rescued an airman behind enemy lines in Iran.
“They call it CSAR 25:17, which I think is meant to reflect Ezekiel 25:17,” he stated. “It reads — and pray with me, please — ‘The path of the downed aviator 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 camaraderie and duty shepherds the lost through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children.”
Continuing the “prayer,” Hegseth said, “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 1 when I lay my vengeance upon thee.’ Amen.”
In Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic film, Samuel L. Jackson’s character, Jules, recites the “prayer” before killing Brett (Frank Whaley).
The film’s version is based on the actual Ezekiel 25:17. “And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes,” the scripture reads. “And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.”
The Pentagon Says Hegseth Intentionally Read a ‘Custom Prayer’ During the Service
In a statement, the chief Pentagon spokesperson, Sean Parnell, insisted that Hegseth intentionally read a “custom prayer” at the event.
“Secretary Hegseth on Wednesday shared a custom prayer, referenced as the CSAR prayer,” Parnell wrote on X. “Used by the brave warfighters of Sandy-1 who led the daylight rescue mission of Dude 44 Alpha out of Iran, which was obviously inspired by dialogue in Pulp Fiction.”
Parnell then wrote, “However, both the CSAR prayer and the dialogue in Pulp Fiction were reflections of the verse Ezekiel 25:17, as Secretary Hegseth clearly said in his remarks at the prayer service. Anyone saying the Secretary misquoted Ezekiel 25:17 is peddling fake news and ignorant of reality.”
Not everyone was buying Parnell’s statement. Many X users quickly shared their thoughts about the moment.
“He’s twisting scripture,” one X user wrote. “The scripture was written as is, and he misquoted it misquoted the book it was from that is blasphemy… He rewrote the whole scripture to exclude Jesus.. literal blasphemy.. You are a bunch of fake f—ing Christians 98% will never meet our savior.”
Another X user stated, “Haha stretch the truth how you want. Other than the last line there is no similarity between the two. Hegseth clearly did not realize he was quoting Tarantino’s rewritten verse. Once again we are told do not believe what we saw or heard.”
A fellow critic went on to add, “Dude. Stop. Good Lord, man.”