WASHINGTON- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, leading a prayer meeting at the Pentagon, cited a fictional Bible verse taken from a violent monologue in Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film “Pulp Fiction,” originally spoken by actor Samuel L. Jackson just before his character shot and killed a defenseless man.
The secretary used the prayer to frame the war in Iran as an act of divine justice, the same justification Jackson's character cites in the film before pulling the trigger.
Hegseth told the audience at a monthly Pentagon worship service held Wednesday that he learned the prayer from the lead mission planner for a team called “Sandy 1,” which recently rescued downed Air Force crew members in Iran.
Hegseth said the verse is frequently uttered by combat search and rescue teams, who call the prayer “CSAR 25:17, which I believe is intended to reflect Ezekiel 25:17” from the Bible.
“And I will strike against you with great vengeance and furious wrath those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother,” Hegseth recited. “And you'll know my call sign is Sandy 1, when I punish you.”
The infamous Ezekiel 25:17 speech from “Pulp Fiction” is almost entirely the creation of a screenwriter; only the final chorus is loosely inspired by the actual Bible verse. Most of the monologue in Tarantino's film is adapted from the opening of the 1976 Japanese martial arts film “The Bodyguard,” starring action star Sonny Chiba.
Hegseth's one-minute prayer closely followed those scripts, with only the last two lines resembling the language of the Bible. In Hegseth's version, he replaced “and they will know that I am the Lord,” from the book of Ezekiel, with the call sign of an American A-10 Warthog aircraft.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said some outlets accused Hegseth of confusing Jackson's Golden Globe-winning performance with actual scripture, calling that narrative “fake news.”
“Secretary Hegseth on Wednesday shared a custom prayer, called the CSAR prayer, used by the brave Sandy-1 fighters who led Dude 44 Alpha's daytime rescue mission out of Iran, which was obviously inspired by the dialogue in Pulp Fiction,” Parnell wrote in prayer service anyone who says the Secretary misquoted Ezekiel 25:17 is peddling fake news and ignoring reality.”
“Pulp Fiction” co-writer Roger Avary, who shared the Academy Award for original screenplay with Tarantino, weighed in Thursday, posting on X: “I'm perfectly fine with @SecWar
quoting Jules in Pulp Fiction if it stops the bullets from hitting our soldiers.”
Hegseth has frequently used his prayer sessions to call for violence in the ongoing Iran war. In last month's sermon, he asked God to “grant this task force clear and just goals for violence.”
The services are not mandatory, a senior defense analyst with knowledge of Pentagon operations told The Times, but some who work closely with Hegseth's office feel an “implicit pressure” to attend and “fill seats.”
The effect, some say, is less attention to the Pentagon's wartime efforts and more to support political maneuvering, according to the source, who is not authorized to speak to the media and requested anonymity.
“We have managers and leaders who are missing mission-critical work to go listen to 'Pulp Fiction' quotes,” the source said. “It delays our ability to make operational and mission-related warfighting decisions.”
The prayer came amid an ongoing standoff between the Trump administration and Pope Leo XIV, who has spoken out in recent weeks against the US-Israel war in Iran. The Vatican's statements were met with a series of retaliations from President Trump, who said that he does not “want a Pope” who criticizes the president of the United States.
On Thursday, the Pope issued a statement against military leaders who confuse war with divinity.
“Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging what is sacred into darkness and filth,” he said.
