NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth greeted the annual convention of the National Religious Broadcasters on Thursday (Feb. 19) by quoting from a famed Christian hymn, often sung on Palm Sunday: “All glory, laud and honor to you, Redeemer King. To whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring.”
“No matter what we have accomplished, what levels of success we may have reached, what joys or what trials are in our lives, it is to God alone that the glory belongs,” Hegseth told convention attendees, most of whom are evangelical Christians, in a ballroom at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville.
Hegseth, who was greeted with cheers and music from an Army band, was a headliner of a patriotic celebration at the Christian communications convention, anticipating the 250th anniversary of America’s founding later this year. After an opening prayer from a pastor who thanked God for protecting the country from “pandemics and plan-demics” — a reference to conspiracy theories about COVID-19 — and asked God to protect the United States from communists and foreign invaders, Hegseth took to the stage.
“My fellow Americans, patriots, brothers and sisters in Christ, I bring greetings from a fighter for the people of faith, President Donald J. Tru …
