Overview
- Hegseth, who led a Pentagon prayer service Wednesday, recited a passage he called “CSAR 25:17” that mirrored the famous monologue from Pulp Fiction rather than the brief verse in Ezekiel 25:17.
- Pentagon press secretary Sean Parnell acknowledged the words were “obviously” inspired by the film and defended them as an individual Combat Search and Rescue prayer, even calling misquote claims “fake news.”
- The biblical Ezekiel 25:17 is short and direct, while the longer phrasing popularized by Quentin Tarantino and co-writer Roger Avary adds invented lines that many viewers wrongly assume are in the Bible.
- Hegseth said the wording came from the leader of “Sandy One,” the team credited with rescuing a downed U.S. Air Force pilot in Iran, and he described it as a unit prayer labeled “CSAR 25:17” for Combat Search and Rescue.
- After the clip spread online, Hegseth compared the press to New Testament Pharisees in a briefing, as critics warned his faith-infused rhetoric risks blurring religion and military policy.