‘Did you know that God also hates?’: Department of War Christmas message urges Christians to embrace hatred and violence

Ho ho ho! Christmastime is here and the festive spirit has well and truly set in. It’s a time for family, charity, kindness, and compassion – you know, all that “goodwill to all men” stuff! And so, as the tree twinkles in the nighttime, coals glow in the fireplace, and presents are carefully wrapped, a nation looks to its leaders for some warming words on these cold nights!

So let’s go over to Pete Hegseth’s Department of War and see what their Christmas message to the nation is:

Franklin Graham's message at the Department of War's Christmas worship service at the Pentagon yesterday: "But did you know that God also hates? Do you know that God also is a God of war? Many people don't want to think about that or forget that." pic.twitter.com/wZgN7Xs5lh

— Christian Nightmares (@ChristnNitemare) December 18, 2025

“Did you know that God also hates? Do you know that God also is a God of war? And um, many people don’t want to think about that or forget that.”

Ho ho… hang on a minute! That’s not very festive at all! Yup, Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, spoke at the “Christmas Worship Service” at the Pentagon and took the opportunity to remind those present that while they might be feeling cozy and kind, they should be ready to unleash unimaginable death on innocent civilians at a moment’s notice.

Nothing says Christmas quite like mass murder

Graham went on to use Exodus 17 as an example and said:

““Samuel said, ‘Now, go and attack Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have. … Don’t spare them, but kill them, both man and woman, infant, nursing child, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey.’ So Samuel gave the instructions for the mission. Now, people will say, ‘But, Franklin, that is so hard; that’s not the God I believe in.’ Well, you had better believe in him.”

Ugh, c’mon, man! It’s Christmas! Can we give the mass murder of men, women, children, babies, and livestock a rest until at least the new year? And why do you need to single out the donkey? What the heck did a donkey do to anyone?!

Graham is, of course, correct that the Old Testament God was a violent, vindictive and vengeful deity. But, at least if the last 2,000 years are anything to go by, becoming a Dad substantially chilled him out and the flames of divine retribution have been remarkably quiet ever since.

But Christians in Trump’s America would do better to remember a much more relevant Bible story for this season: the story of a family of poor refugees struggling to find shelter while an insecure and cruel ruler dealt indiscriminate violence in their wake. Seems like that’d be something to dwell on rather than whatever was going on in Amalek.