30 Congress Members Urge DoD Inspector General to Investigate MRFF Clients’ Complaints of Commanders Framing Iran War as End-Times Prophecy

Friday Afternoon, March 6, 2026

30 DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS MEMBERS URGE

DoD INSPECTOR GENERAL TO INVESTIGATE

MRFF CLIENTS’ COMPLAINTS OF COMMANDERS

FRAMING IRAN WAR AS END-TIMES PROPHECY

“We must ensure that military operations are guided by facts and the law, not end-times prophecy and extreme religious beliefs.”

— Letter from thirty Democratic members of Congress, led by Reps. Jared Huffman and Jamie Raskin, to Department of Defense Inspector General

MRFF has received over 200 calls from more than 50 military installations since Saturday reporting disturbing declarations from their Christian zealot commanders that Iran war is “part of God’s divine plan” to usher in the return of Jesus Christ

Open Bible with nuclear explosion in background

Veteran journalist Jonathan Larsen (CNN, MSNBC, TYT), who broke the now-viral story on Monday with his article “U.S. Troops Were Told Iran War Is for ‘Armageddon,’ Return of Jesus,” continues his coverage with reports of commanders holding emergency Bible studies and the congressional letter to the DoD Inspector General.

JONATHAN LARSEN

COVERS MRFF

Huffman, Raskin Lead Call for Investigation of "Armageddon" Briefings

By: Jonathan Larsen

Friday, March 6, 2026

Article excerpt:

“Members of Congress this morning asked the Pentagon’s top watchdog to investigate allegations of military briefings tying the Iran war to end-times prophecies, including the return of Jesus.

“The letter was led by Reps. Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD). The two co-chair the Congressional Freethought Caucus, which advocates for constitutional and other legal safeguards of secularism and freedom from religion.

“Thirty Democrats signed on, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), previously a supporter of controversial religious observances in Congress, most notably the National Prayer Breakfast. Former Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) is one notable progressive signatory, along with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who is Muslim.

“Most of the signatories, like a disproportionate number of members of Congress, are Christian.

“The request for Pentagon Inspector General Platte B. Moring III to investigate the allegations follows my report Monday about complainants who came forward to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF).”

Click to continue reading on Substack

Jonathan Larsen has worked at CNN, MSNBC, and TYT.

He created Up with Chris Hayes, helped launch Anderson Cooper 360, was a senior producer on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and was managing editor/executive producer at TYT. His original reporting has been cited by members of Congress resisting Christian nationalism.

Click to read entire original letter from 30 Democratic members of Congress to DoD Inspector General

MRFF’s Mikey Weinstein on FOX 11 Los Angeles

Thursday, March 5, 2026

Click to watch (17:46) video on FOX 11 Los Angeles

KATIE COURIC

COVERS MRFF

Click to watch Katie Couric’s video on Instagram

USA TODAY

COVERS MRFF

Iran war, Hegseth agenda test religious freedom in ranks

By: BrieAnna J. Frank

Friday, March 6, 2026

Article excerpts:

“The United States’ war in Iran has heightened existing concerns among some service members about the influence of Christian nationalism on the military under Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth’s leadership.”

“Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, told USA TODAY on March 4 the organization had received ‘far greater than’ 200 complaints related to religious freedom from service members across more than 50 military installations since the war broke out.

“One such complaint alleged that a commander told non-commissioned officers in a March 2 briefing that President Donald Trump was ‘anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth.’”

Click to read on USA Today

Video with Mikey Weinstein from USA Today

Click to watch USA Today video on YouTube

THE INDEPENDENT (UK)

COVERS MRFF

Commander claimed Trump was

‘anointed by Jesus to cause Armageddon’ to justify Iran strikes: Complaint

By: Joe Sommerlad

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Article excerpt:

“A military commander told a group of non-commissioned officers that President Donald Trump was ‘anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,’ according to a complaint filed with a religious freedom watchdog.

“The anonymous complaint was provided to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation by one of the NCOs in attendance at the Monday briefing on behalf of 15 troops – 11 of whom were Christians, one Muslim, one Jewish, and two atheists – and was first reported by freelance journalist Jonathan Larsen on his Substack.

“The NCO said of the commander: ‘He urged us to tell our troops that this was ‘all part of God’s divine plan’ and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ.’”

Click to read on the Independent

TRUTHOUT

COVERS MRFF

Johnson: US Must Wage War With Iran Because of Its “Misguided Religion”

By: Sharon Zhang

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Article excerpt:

“Hegseth is an avowed Christian nationalist. He has tattoos referencing the Crusaders, who launched a religious war against Muslims, a tattoo that is unequivocally Islamophobic, and once called for a new U.S.-led Crusade in his 2020 book, American Crusade: Our Fight to Stay Free.

“Christian nationalism, which embraces Islamophobia as a key tenet, is well-represented in the Trump administration. On Tuesday, independent journalist Jonathan Larsen reported that a combat unit commander told officers at a briefing on Monday that President Donald Trump was ‘anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,’ according to complaints filed with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.”

Click to read on Truthout

THE INTERCEPT

COVERS MRFF

Military Leaders See Iran War as “God's Divine Plan” — a Chilling Turn for Trump's Fascism

By: Natasha Lennard

Thursday, March 5, 2026

Article excerpt:

“The United States is waging a religious war. This is, at least, how dozens of fanatical U.S. military commanders understand President Donald Trump’s illegal assault on Iran: a messianic battle to bring about Jesus Christ’s return.

“‘President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,’ one military commander told his combat unit, which could be deployed to fight in Iran ‘at any moment,’ according to a complaint reportedly filed by one of the unit’s officers to a military watchdog group.

“The Military Religious Freedom Foundation says it has been ‘inundated’ with more than 200 calls across dozens of military installations, including 110 complaints filed between Saturday morning and Monday evening, from service members reporting their commanders have invoked similar extremist rhetoric of Christian Zionist messianism when justifying the unprovoked war on Iran.”

Click to read on The Intercept

Fundamentalist Christian commanders pushed same claims of biblical prophecy being fulfilled at the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war and the last time the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran

10/13/23 – Disturbing But Not Surprising: Fundamentalist Christian U.S. Military Commanders Gleefully Proclaiming Israel-Hamas War is Fulfilling Prophecy

6/24/25 – Dominionist Military Commanders Giddy Over Israeli-Iran-U.S. War Ushering in the End Times — MRFF’s Mikey Weinstein Hits Back in New Video and Op-Ed

Scroll down below email for much more coverage from:

The New Arab • Premier Christian News • The Palestine Chronicle • The Baptist Standard • The Economic Times • Cornell University • Wes O’Donell • The Charlotte Observer • The Kansas City Star • South Florida Sun Sentinel • JubileeCast

Full email from MRFF active duty NCO client quoted in numerous articles

“Unit combat readiness briefing and Armageddon”

From: (Active Duty Military NCO and MRFF Client’s email address withheld)

Subject: Unit combat readiness briefing and Armageddon

Date: March 2, 2026 at 1:02:53 PM MST

To: Information Weinstein <mikey@militaryreligiousfreedom.org>

Mr. Weinstein thank you for taking my calls and the calls of some of my colleagues as to what happened earlier this morning with our combat unit.

Please protect my identity and the identities of those I'm speaking for as we discussed.

Our unit is not currently in the combat zone AOR regarding the Iranian attacks but we are in a “Ready-Support" function where we could be deployed there at any moment to join and augment the combat operations as participants.

I am a (NCO rank withheld) in our unit. This morning our commander opened up the combat readiness status briefing by urging us to not be "afraid" as to what is happening with our combat operations in Iran right now. He urged us to tell our troops that this was "all part of God's divine plan" and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ. He said that “President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth”. He had a big grin on his face when he said all of this which made his message seem even more crazy. Our commander would probably be described as a "Christian First" supporter. He has been this way for a very long time and makes it clear that he desires all of us under him to become just like him as a Christian. But what he did this morning was so toxic and over the line that it shocked many of us in attendance at the ops readiness briefing. Besides myself I am reaching out to MRFF on behalf of 15 fellow troops. I know you asked me about the religious views of our group who has requested help from the MRFF. I can only tell you that I am Christian and at least 10 of the others are also Christians. One of the others is Jewish and one is Muslim. I don't know the religious or non-religious status for the other three at this time.

I and my fellow troops know that it is completely wrong to have to suffer through what our commander said today. It's not just the separation of church and state as we discussed Mr. Weinstein. It's the fact that our commander feels as though he is fully supported and justified by the entire (combat unit’s name withheld) chain of command to inflict his Armageddon views of our attack on Iran on those of us beneath him in the chain of command.

I hope by sending this email to you that this will help expose these wrong actions which destroy morale and unit cohesion and are in violation of the oaths we swore to support the constitution.