Using Bible verses to justify violence is not only the opposite of what Jesus teaches, it’s a direct contradiction of the passage Hegseth cites in this video. “Here am I, send me” was the prophet Isaiah’s response after being called by God to deliver a message to the people and their leaders. What was the message? “Your leaders are rebels, the companions of thieves. All of them love bribes and demand payoffs, but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans or fight for the rights of widows.” Isaiah 1:23 What were these corrupt and rebellious leaders doing? “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches?” Isaiah 10:1-3 God is sending Isaiah to warn the people, and more specifically their leaders, that if they do not turn from their corrupt ways and begin caring for the most vulnerable among them, they will suffer God’s judgment. Isaiah answers that call by saying, “Here am I, send me.” This isn’t just about taking a few Bible verses out of context. For an administration filled corrupt leaders to claim these verses while perpetrating the very marginalization and oppression being condemned in this passage is the height of blasphemy.