Hegseth's Prayer Service & Bombatorium

Pentagon & prayer, what could possibly go wrong? 🤯

Today brought news of Secretary of Defense (!) Pete Hegseth leading a prayer service with his white nationalist pastor at the Pentagon.

Yes, there are a million other things going on today that are equally (or more) outrageous, but this one in particular caught my attention and cried out for a cartoon.

Combining the Pentagon and religion always seems like a bad idea: which agency within the Department of Defense would Jesus work for?

There are so many things that get me sputtering mad about this ridiculous “prayer service,” starting with thanking God for divinely appointing Trump to whip the United States back into shape.

Through the magic (miracle?) of cartoons, I was able to locate a copy of Hegseth’s prayer . . .

For someone to bomb civilians, provide bombs to a nation that mercilessly bombs civilians, all while welcoming a luxury jet/bribe from a foreign nation after reaching a settlement over a very credible sexual assault allegation and then have the nerve to lead a prayer service for the world’s largest military . . . seems like something you don’t read about in the Bible.

And now, a little behind-the-scenes tidbit for you.

This cartoon was inspired by a illuminated manuscript I came across at Green Library here at Stanford — from 1484! Here it is in all its glory . . .

I had to make mine more legible and cartoony, even though I would have loved to recreate the original a little more faithfully.

I’ll be spending a little less time at the Stanford libraries now that my John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship is coming to an end. (More on that to come!)

Keep your eyes peeled for more cartoons and animation, and thanks so much for your support!

-Mark