Freedom Can Be Delayed

On Juneteenth, we celebrate freedom. Or perhaps more accurately, we celebrate the ongoing struggle for freedom.

Juneteenth reminds us of a difficult truth: Freedom Ain’t Free.

Freedom must be claimed, protected, and nurtured. Freedom requires participation. And what the last several years have shown us is that freedom can be taken. And as Juneteenth reminds us: freedom can be delayed.

Recently, I have spent a lot of time reflecting on the political and spiritual landscape of our nation. As I do, my mind often returns to the pivotal moment in November 2008 when the nation elected its first Black president.

For many Black Americans, Barack Obama’s election felt impossible until it happened. Until that moment not one Black person would have told you honestly that they believed they would live to see the election of the first Black president.

However, to my surprise, I got to witness what I thought was the moment when the ideals of a post-racist society had finally been realized. I believed we, as a nation, had entered into a new dispensation of life.

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Freedom Can Be Lost

Looking back, I see that the most powerful thing about Obama’s presidency was the symbolism of his presidency. Obama was in no way, shape, or form a perfect president.

Obama expanded the amount of drone strikes in the Middle East. Obama set record numbers of deportations and removals of migrant families from the US. And during his tenure the Supreme Court paved the way for corporations to have increased power over our national elections.

And yet, his presidency also made marriage equality law. The Affordable Care Act was enacted. And growing numbers of Black and minority leaders emerged in ways we had not seen since Reconstruction.

The symbolism of Obama’s presidency led many people—myself included—to take our foot off the proverbial gas. And record voting numbers in 2008 and 2012 dwindled in the years between presidential elections.

Those who showed up in 2008 and 2012 seemed to have disengaged in the years between elections. And during those moments, right-wing Christian Nationalists began to emerge and mobilize.

Plans were put in motion to weaken voter turnout. On June 25, 2013, after the start of Obama’s second term, the Supreme Court ruled against a key provision of the Voting Rights Act requiring federal preclearance. The Equal Justice Initiative reports that jurisdictions freed from federal oversight moved almost immediately to enact restrictive voting measures. States imposed strict voter ID requirements. Restricted early voting. Purged voter rolls. Closed down polling locations in Black communities.

The same year Donald Trump promised he would make America great again, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that North Carolina lawmakers had targeted African American voters with “almost surgical precision” to dilute Black political power.

And in 2026, Black people now have fewer voting rights than we’ve had since 1965.

Additionally, plans were put in place so women would have fewer reproductive rights than they’ve had since 1973. And soon we might discover that we all have fewer rights to citizenship, fewer rights to due process, fewer rights to equal protection under the law than since the Fourteenth Amendment was established in 1868.

And for almost two decades, Christian Nationalists have worked to secure power so that a political minority could take majority control of our national politics. Knowing they cannot prevail on the efficacy of their policy alone, they have used the levers of democracy in all levels to undermine the democratic process.

In 2008 and 2012, many of us seemed to believe that by electing the right singular leader the restoration of the nation could be achieved. But what we have since learned is that those who seek power believe if they can convince us that our participation in the political process does not matter, they can hold power without our consent.

Those who seek power have learned to steal elections and weaponize the government against its citizens. They have learned to send our children to war and raise our prices on groceries and gas, and they have learned how to make a profit for themselves in the process. All of this to make sure we are too distracted, too distraught, too disheartened to engage and vote in our democracy.

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Freedom Requires Participation

Because the only way for democracy to survive is when people participate. Which is why I have lamented the fact that every election cycle feels like running in circles on a dumpster fire of a hamster wheel.

But what has become increasingly clear is that voting has consequences and not voting has consequences.

And what has also become increasingly clear is that much of the reason it feels like we are participating in a system that produces nothing and leads us nowhere is because we put sole responsibility for the restoration of the nation in one leader.

One president.

One election.

One vote every four years.

And as people of faith, we have placed the burden squarely on God to fix the mess of a broken world that our actions and inactions have created.

I recently heard environmentalist Natalie Kyriacou speaking at a “Reclaiming Democracy Together” event in Melbourne, Australia, where she observed how human beings often treat social, political, and economic systems as though they are laws of nature. Which they are not!

As she put it: “There is nothing inevitable about the way we run our economies, draft our laws, or govern our societies. These systems have no independent existence; they exist because we will them to.” And this insight struck me deeply and reminded me of something I deeply believe.

That the systems which govern our lives are not acts of God.

They are acts of human will.

Human beings create and sustain them. And with the grace of God, human beings can change, rebuild, and repair them.

And what Juneteenth reminds me is that freedom does not come because it arrives on horseback. Freedom does not wait until it is read aloud by courier.

Freedom endures when we embrace the sacred responsibility that comes with being made in the image and likeness of God.

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Freedom Must Be Paid Forward

Freedom ain’t free. And a cost has already been paid.

A cost was paid by Fannie Lou Hamer.

A cost was paid by Martin Luther King Jr.

A cost was paid by Jimmie Lee Jackson.

A cost was paid by James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner.

A cost was paid by Viola Liuzzo and James Reeb.

A price was paid by Medgar Evers and Herbert Lee.

A price was paid by the countless people whose names we do not know but who sacrificed their life and love for generations they would never live to see. Generations they could, nonetheless, see by faith! Who would not only walk into promised lands but would help bring the promised Kingdom to make on earth as it is in heaven.

And God has already paid and given the best of what God has to give.

God has given us Christ.

God has given us God’s Spirit.

God has given us each other.

And by the grace of God we can do the work of freedom together.

Juneteenth reminds us that freedom may be delayed. Freedom can be tested. Freedom can be threatened. But freedom can never be denied!

Freedom is ours! It has already been bought and paid for.

And we must do our part to pay it forward, so that freedom remains the inheritance we leave for generations yet unborn.

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This is a community-sourced publication meant to encourage you on your journey, whether you’re deconstructing, reconstructing, or just looking for community. Please consider submitting a piece to be published in an upcoming post.

Submit your piece here: TNE Substack Submission

The New Evangelicals is a digital-first 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to creating a better path forward at the intersection of faith, politics, and culture. Through educational resources and inclusive community spaces, we empower people to reject Christian Nationalism and boldly advocate for their neighbors while holding onto a faith rooted in the way of Jesus: with love, justice, and compassion for all.

As a student of American political science, I have to share that what the southern states did in immediate response, and are still doing as I write, is just as sinister, evil, and un-American. Immediately after being told that Black people do not deserve any representation in government, they took that as a clarion call to make sure they don’t in those states.

I truly struggled with the anti-mask people that I saw and interacted with during COVID because I just could not fathom the problem. We’re Americans—we come together for each other in times of great national need. So why was wearing a mask that can help you a bit and help others a lot, such a problem in the midst of a global pandemic? And now I know.

Because they were already wearing another mask. And I suppose wearing two did cause some breathing issues since their main one was so thick as to hide their identity or true facial expressions. The mask they were already wearing has now been taken off and the full worldview of the anti-mask MAGA faithful is in full view for all to see. Turns out, the problem all this time in this country is that Black people have a voice.

MAGA leaders in Louisiana are so unashamed of their racism that they have declared a state of emergency to stop an election. As best I can tell, the emergency is that Black people might get representation in Congress. This institutional racism was supposed to be over after the Civil War. But some battles never truly end it seems.

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What is a Christ-follower supposed to do with all of this? The classical liberal in me sees some very needed changes to the structure of our body politic, but Christ never talked about forms of government. He cared about people and that is what He told us to focus our time and energy and life on.

Initially, I would think Christ-followers need to take a real hard look at the known segregation we all see in our churches. We can’t follow Christ the way He asked us to while building walls that separate us from one another in our houses of worship. And we certainly cannot fall back on the trope that “our ways and practices are just so different.” That’s an excuse to ignore the central tenet of Christianity—love God and love each other.

We also need to stop attending the places of worship that support this, even if we’ve called them home forever. If your church supports any of this at all, it is not the ekklesia but an institution of refuge for the support of our nation’s sinful past where the dignity of a human being was defined by the color of their skin. Your spiritual health is being harmed by the political failure of that church’s people and leadership.

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We need to stand up with our Black brothers and sisters when they are standing—stand in front of them when they are being attacked and stand behind them when they are leading because we will stand next to them before God. We need our collective faith to mean more than four songs and a forty-five-minute speech on a Sunday while falling into the cultural differences that define us every other day of the week. We need to see that there is an evil in our church right now that, horrifically, is nurturing the ideal that Christ only loves certain people.

Apparently, making America great again just means making sure mediocre white men get to keep their place of power to the detriment of everyone else. Because when you are used to privilege, equality feels like oppression. The leaders of that world view have infested our churches for so long that now Christianity in America is indistinguishable from racism, bigotry, sexism, and rage against “others.”

There are glimmers of hope and churches that do not support this. There are Christian men and women throughout our country that are fighting against this and have been their entire lives. Christ will always win—that book has already been written. When He left the tomb, He made that clear. But we’ve been given the opportunity to share His message, worldview, teaching, and life with everyone. Instead, we’ve allowed our churches to use the gospel as a weapon wielded by MAGA, declaring Christ would support these actions to ensure that those with darker colored skin are kept down and never allowed to rise up.

They took their masks off for good. We can’t unsee that or ignore it anymore. How we choose to react as followers of Jesus Christ will define our eternity.

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This is a community-sourced publication meant to encourage you on your journey, whether you’re deconstructing, reconstructing, or just looking for community. Please consider submitting a piece to be published in an upcoming post.

Submit your piece here: TNE Substack Submission

The New Evangelicals is a digital-first 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to creating a better path forward at the intersection of faith, politics, and culture. Through educational resources and inclusive community spaces, we empower people to reject Christian Nationalism and boldly advocate for their neighbors while holding onto a faith rooted in the way of Jesus: with love, justice, and compassion for all.

This past weekend, two glaringly disparate events took place in the United States that reflect our current epoch. On Saturday, thousands of organizers, and civil rights and faith leaders gathered in Selma and Montgomery for “All Roads Lead to the South.” On Sunday, mostly evangelical influencers, politicians, and celebrities (why Chris Tomlin, why?!) gathered on the National Mall for the Trump Administration’s “Rededicate 250.” One event was a Black-led act of resistance in response to the recent Supreme Court ruling that essentially killed the Voting Rights Act, and the other was a white Christian Nationalist rally built entirely upon the myth that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. Spoiler alert: you cannot rededicate something to that which never existed. Let’s allow Diana Butler Bass in my film, True Believer, to debunk that for us before we move on:

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The Edmund Pettus Bridge is considered the birthplace of modern voting rights. After years of resistance and organizing, the horrific, televised 1965 “Bloody Sunday” attacks shocked the nation’s conscience, with public outcry leading Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act that same year. The purposeful significance of stories and imagery coming out of the 2026 “All Roads Lead to the South” march cannot be overstated, nor can the contrasting, culture-warrior-led clan rally in Washington, D.C. The split-screen looks something like this: conservative “Christian” lawmakers and faith leaders gather to worship the bigoted idol of their own making after gutting the sacred rights of Black voters (and women, LGBTQ+ people, Palestinians, etc.), just as multiracial, interfaith communities retrace the historic steps of Civil Rights leaders who made those freedoms possible.

Sixty years ago, a sermon was given by the founding father of modern day, politicized, white evangelicalism that captures this same sentiment. On a Sunday evening in March, 1965, with his wife at the piano and fire in his throat, Jerry Falwell Sr. preached a sermon to his Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA. Like most of his far-reaching sermons, his reflections on humanity and God shaped and reflected the values of most white Southern Christians of the time. What distinguished this particular Sunday’s message, “Ministers and Marches,” though, from the others, was that at exactly the same time Falwell preached, the third march from Selma to Montgomery commenced. Two weeks after the events of Bloody Sunday, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led tens of thousands of people of faith and conscience across the Edmund Pettus Bridge just as tens of thousands1 of Americans received a very different message from Minister Falwell. The audacity of his timing can only be explained as deliberate, antagonistic white supremacy. Scholar and historian Randall Balmer first brought this simultaneous incident to my attention via my interview with him in 2018:

Kristen: Your argument is rooted in the idea that race was the motivating factor in the rise of the religious right, maintaining segregation. However, secularization was a real fear for Christian parents at the time. Help me understand the distinction.

Randall Balmer: In the middle decades of the 20th century, there was a sense that we wanted to protect our children from what they came to regard as secularizing impulses within the larger culture, but race was interlocked with that as well. I think it’s impossible to make that distinction, saying that was merely for reasons of protecting their children from ungodly influences in public education. Because, especially with the Brown ruling in 1954, you have the fears about race or racial mixing, and some of the evangelical leaders are quite explicit about that. Jerry Falwell, for example, believed that God had created the races separate, and to try to bring them together was a violation of God’s rule. He called the Civil Rights Movement “civil wrongs” for example, because he was so firm in his segregationist ways. In 1967, Jerry Falwell set up Lynchburg Christian Academy, which was a segregation academy. So it was for whites only and quite intentionally so, and that was an embodiment of his conviction that God had separated the races, and that to try to bring them together was a violation of God’s will.

Kristen: How did Falwell’s mentality reflect the broader evangelical thinking around race and Civil Rights at the time?

Randall Balmer: One of the saddest things, for me, was that in the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, where you had Martin Luther King, of course, leading the march, but also Abraham Joshua Heschel. You had representatives from the Orthodox community, the Greek Patriarch was present there as well. You had clergy from all bands involved in the march. Roman Catholic priests, Roman Catholic nuns. No evangelicals, as far as I can tell. That, to me, is tragic. Where was Billy Graham? Where were some other prominent evangelical leaders in a march like that? Not only that, but at the same time this march was taking place, Falwell gave perhaps his most famous sermon, “Ministers and Marches,” condemning those Christians who were active in the Civil Rights Movement.

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Below are some excerpts from Falwell’s 1965 sermon. If you have the time and stomach to read the entire thing, you can find it here, still shamelessly accessible on Liberty’s archive site. Pay close attention to the similarities in Falwell’s messaging to the rhetoric of the far right today:

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It’s worth noting that Jerry Falwell’s son, Jonathan Falwell, senior pastor at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, and Chancellor at Liberty University, symbolically participated in “Rededicate 250.”

For my fellow white people, for the folks of European descent, THIS IS THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT OF OUR GENERATION. All those MLK posts, the black squares, this is the time to follow the leadership of Black activists and organizers with our time, our body, our platforms, and our money. I don’t know about you, but I believe Jesus would have been with the thousands in Alabama this weekend, and just like those who stood in the way of progress and humanity in 1965, history will not remember opposition to this movement kindly.

If you’d like to learn more about Kristen Cesario Irving, please follow her documentary, True Believer, on Instagram and Facebook, and watch it now!

This is a community-sourced publication meant to encourage you on your journey, whether you’re deconstructing, reconstructing, or just looking for community. Please consider submitting a piece to be published in an upcoming post.

Submit your piece here: TNE Substack Submission

The New Evangelicals is a digital-first 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to creating a better path forward at the intersection of faith, politics, and culture. Through educational resources and inclusive community spaces, we empower people to reject Christian Nationalism and boldly advocate for their neighbors while holding onto a faith rooted in the way of Jesus: with love, justice, and compassion for all.

In my academic work, I study discourse through the lens of critical and psychoanalytic theory. Christian Nationalism is a rich discourse to understand through this lens. It is not subtle.

The discourse of Christian Nationalism is organized around a lost object (the imagined Christian nation of the past), sustained by the enjoyment of antagonism with the secular Other, erotically attached to apocalypse, purity, authority, and law. Desire is kept alive by impossibility.

If you really gave the movement everything it says it wants: prayer in schools, Ten Commandments in the courthouse, pastors as politicians, every knee bowing, a strict hierarchy and patriarchy, the engine would stall. The fantasy only works so long as the object remains missing. The desire is not for the Christian nation achieved, but for the Christian nation stolen. Desecrated. Under threat. Forever just out of reach.

This is why “we are being persecuted” is not a lament, but a pleasure.

Why the movement thrives more in grievance than governance.
Why every victory is immediately followed by a new panic.
Why Satan is always one step away from taking your kids, your country, your masculinity, your wife’s uterus.

The loss is the point.

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The Lost Object

Track with me here; let’s head to the deep end of the pool. Jacques Lacan illustrated the desiring subject like this:

The subject is driven in pursuit of the objet petit a, The little object, which is forever unattainable, but the desire and the drive for that unattainable thing, that lack of the unattainable thing, is what makes or constitutes the subject. Therefore, without the drive for the object and without the lack of the object, the subject would cease to exist.

The objet petit a in Christian Nationalist ideology is not the flag-wrapped cross itself, but the fantasy of recovering it, even though it never really existed. The return to a time that never existed, when America was supposedly God-fearing, obedient, morally upright, and white in a way we prefer not to say too loudly. The promise of restoration is more intoxicating than any restored world could ever be.

As Todd McGowan might put it: Enjoyment arises not from possession, but from lack.

The Christian nation is so enjoyable because it is unobtainable.
The struggle to get it back is what keeps the heart beating and the movement alive.

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The Enemy is the Enjoyment

Lacan again: desire needs a blockage.

So Christian Nationalism requires its villains: secularists, queer folks, immigrants, academics, feminists, “globalists,” whoever fits this week’s script. It needs them to occupy the role of the one who steals our enjoyment. They are the reason we can’t have the America we deserve. Their very existence sustains the fantasy.

Remove the enemy, and the fantasy collapses.
It is not about inclusion or conversion, it is about opposition. Christian Nationalists and Christian fundamentalists need the “Other.”

The secular Other is necessary as the thief, the corrupter, the obstacle.
Hatred is not an unfortunate byproduct; it is the libidinal glue.

Why the Apocalypse Feels So Good

There is a dark thrill in imagining being right at the end of the world.

The Rapture, civil war prophecies, “God’s judgment on America,” all of it is an eschatological kink. This is not passive hope, but a charged fantasy of vindication. Christian nationalism dreams of being proven right in flame and blood. It is not looking for peace; it is looking for righteous victory.

The pleasure is in imagining yourself as the last faithful one.

The apocalypse is better in fantasy than fulfillment.
The end times are only enjoyable if they are always near.

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Purity, Authority, and the Sweet Taste of the Law

As I’ve already been hinting, Christian fundamentalism is a similar ideology, which is why it and Christian Nationalism go so well together. Grace is doctrine. Law is jouissance, Lacan’s term for excessive enjoyment.

Despite protestations about salvation by faith alone, fundamentalist Christianity finds its pleasure in rule-keeping, boundary-drawing, moral policing, in being “set apart from the world.” Purity is never achieved, which means it must be pursued endlessly. The very failure to be holy keeps desire in motion.

The law is pleasurable precisely because it cannot finally satisfy.

Obedience is the treadmill.
Shame is the energy drink.
Forgiveness is for doctrine. The law is what people really desire.

So What is Christian Nationalism, Really?

Not a political vision but a fantasy structure. It is not a blueprint for a society, but a machine that produces meaning through loss. It perpetually needs threat, conflict, to be the victim, and fantasy more than fulfillment.

But what would Christianity look like without the enjoyment of grievance? Without the erotic thrill of purity, persecution, and power? Without the missing object? Without the Other to blame?

What would faith become if it stopped wanting to want and actually desired the Good?

Not control, power, or victory, but love, justice, mercy, neighborliness, the stranger, the cross, without the flag stapled to it.

Because maybe the real Christianity is one that does not need an enemy to exist. Maybe the kingdom of God is not the lost object at all. Maybe it is already among us, small, hidden, unglorious.

And maybe that is why it is so easily missed, and perpetually not enjoyed.

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Caleb Land is a former pastor and is now an educator and education researcher.

This is a community-sourced publication meant to encourage you on your journey, whether you’re deconstructing, reconstructing, or just looking for community. Please consider submitting a piece to be published in an upcoming post.

Submit your piece here: TNE Substack Submission

The New Evangelicals is a digital-first 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to creating a better path forward at the intersection of faith, politics, and culture. Through educational resources and inclusive community spaces, we empower people to reject Christian Nationalism and boldly advocate for their neighbors while holding onto a faith rooted in the way of Jesus: with love, justice, and compassion for all.

This administration has collected every last drop of blood spilled, from its followers and its detractors, and used it to baptize its cause of abhorrent, evil desire for the subjugation of all people that do not fit into the white Christian Nationalist mold. It baptizes xenophobia, transphobia, homophobia, Islamophobia, and all forms of hateful, racist ideologies. It baptizes misogyny, using the bodies of dead women as incubators for the children they were carrying. It baptizes torture in American concentration camps. It baptizes the kidnapping of children, the kidnapping of their parents, the ripping apart of families seeking hope and safety. It baptizes rape culture, upheld inside the doors of the white evangelical church.

The blood of the innocent is poured out by the bucketful by the rich and powerful—it’s poured atop this nation drowning the poor and marginalized, all the while the billionaires, the white evangelical preachers, the corporate leaders, and right-wing sycophants bathe in it.

This is on the white evangelical church. This is on the people who raised up this Caesar and crowned him as their god. For every atrocity committed against the least of these is another man, woman, and child who the white evangelical church has nailed to a cross next to Jesus. And to Jesus, they grab ahold of the spear and revel in the blood that flows from his side.

You think I’m being harsh? Perhaps I should flip your tables of Bible tracts and rip apart your signs that say, “abortion is sin” and chase you around the sanctuary of your church with a whip. Or maybe you’d prefer I insult you by calling you a brood of vipers, white-washed tombs, or a fox. Maybe I should tell you that every new person who trusts in what you say from behind your podium, you turn into twice a child of hell as you are.

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This administration, Trump, the Christians that praise him, make a mockery of Jesus and his ministry. They spit on his broken body as he carries the cross on his back. They get high on the blood that is spilled, seeing it as another opportunity for their own gain, and not as a moment to grieve, to wail out in conviction, asking for forgiveness of the evils they have committed.

Then there’s the silent. The ones that know the truth but do not speak it, they pretend the blood is not washing over them as well. They pretend that they can’t see or taste it, that they can’t feel it dripping from their hands. They ignore the twisting in their gut; they actively deny the truth because they fear it. They too pick up the buckets of blood and pour them out, turning their backs as they do it, pretending they don’t know what they’re doing, unwilling to admit the part they play in the silence they sit in.

This country, America, is not baptized in the saving blood of Jesus. It is baptized by the blood of millions of innocents, from the Native Americans to the slaves, the Venezuelan refugees to the abused and martyred in Minnesota. And this blood stretches across borders; it covers the tortured in Ecuador, the hungry in Cuba, the exterminated and displaced in Gaza, and the bombed men, women, and children in Iran. All to stroke the ego of a madman. This is the blood used to baptize Christian Nationalism—racism, misogyny, patriarchy, imperialism, and all forms of atrocious and hateful phobias and prejudices.

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A version of this article was originally published on January 7, 2026, on Drew Anderson’s Substack. Republished with permission from the author.

This is a community-sourced publication meant to encourage you on your journey, whether you’re deconstructing, reconstructing, or just looking for community. Please consider submitting a piece to be published in an upcoming post.

Submit your piece here: TNE Substack Submission

The New Evangelicals is a digital-first 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to creating a better path forward at the intersection of faith, politics, and culture. Through educational resources and inclusive community spaces, we empower people to reject Christian Nationalism and boldly advocate for their neighbors while holding onto a faith rooted in the way of Jesus: with love, justice, and compassion for all.

I would like to propose a radical idea: You can apply this premise to your MAGA neighbors as well. I can already hear some of you screaming, “But we have no shared values! That’s the whole problem!” I understand this sentiment. And I’m going to ask you to keep reading.

I’d like to start with some caveats: I am not suggesting that you stay in relationships with abusive people. I am not suggesting that you destroy your mental health trying to have unproductive conversations with people who are not willing to engage in good faith. I am not suggesting that every person who reads this must engage with every person they vehemently disagree with.

What I am suggesting is that none of us changed our minds by being shamed, bullied, or punished into another position. Your MAGA friends and family members won’t either. We have to learn how to engage in more productive ways.

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Many of us were raised in evangelical churches that taught apologetics, a system of “logically” defending your faith by learning all of the “correct” answers to any questions your non-Christian friends might ask. Let me ask you: how many people did you convince? I was an avid student of apologetics. I learned about every topic that I thought my friends might ask about, and I had a particular interest in the creation/evolution debate. Throughout high school I attended a variety of apologetics-themed events and conferences—I even went on a cruise with Ken Ham himself through Answers in Genesis. You know how many people I convinced that Christianity was the one true faith? None. Zero. I’m guessing many of you had similar results.

What I want you to consider is that it wasn’t simply the faulty arguments that failed to convince people. It was the system itself. Facts don’t change minds. James Clear wrote an article a few years back to explain why this is. I strongly suggest you give the whole article a read, but his main point is that people do not usually change their minds if they risk losing their social group as a result:

Convincing someone to change their mind is really the process of convincing them to change their tribe. If they abandon their beliefs, they run the risk of losing social ties. You can’t expect someone to change their mind if you take away their community too. You have to give them somewhere to go. Nobody wants their worldview torn apart if loneliness is the outcome.

I realize that this point may not land well with many of us in TNE who changed our minds in spite of the social losses we would incur. However, I invite you to really think about what allowed you to change your mind. For me, TNE played a huge role in my ability to rethink my beliefs. It allowed me to hear from people who held wildly different beliefs from myself even though they claimed to be Christians—this meant a community already existed outside of my own. My husband had started to change some of his beliefs before I did, which gave me the opportunity to have discussions with someone I trusted. My best friend was also travelling the path of deconstruction. Without these influences, I am not sure I could have felt brave enough to engage with content that disagreed with my worldview so thoroughly.

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Humans are social creatures. We need to recognize the impact this has on a person’s willingness to entertain new ideas—instead of just debating them to death. Look at the MAGA people in your life. How many of them are lone rangers, holding fast to MAGA ideologies in a sea of progressives? How many of them are members of identity-forming groups that hold MAGA doctrines as gospel truth? If your answers are anything like mine, you might be one of the few progressive voices in their lives.

I would like to invite you to take advantage of your position of influence in the lives of your MAGA neighbors, however small it might be. But not in the apologetics-style, debate-heavy way that comes much too easily to many of us. Instead, I would encourage you to learn new ways of talking to people you disagree with. Fortunately, there is an upcoming free event that will allow you to do exactly this.

Smart Politics is an organization dedicated to training people to have better conversations with the MAGA people in their lives. It does not give you talking points or “gotcha” phrases. Instead, Smart Politics uses scientifically proven methods from the fields of psychology and neuroscience to build trust, foster empathy, and provoke curiosity. On April 28 at 8:30 pm ET, Smart Politics is hosting a free introductory session to teach their basic method of trust building and persuasive communication techniques. If you cannot participate in this event, you can also check out their regular weekly meetings or their kit for reaching MAGA family members. All of these resources are available for free.

The Smart Politics methods are based on a foundation of trust and shared values. This means they are much easier to use with the people already in your life than with strangers (though they have great stories about how to do this as well). So instead of cutting off your MAGA neighbors, consider learning how to better communicate with them. Just as we cannot afford to stay silent in these times, we also cannot afford to keep having fruitless debates. If we are to create any meaningful change, we have to start building bridges instead of burning them down.

This is a community-sourced publication meant to encourage you on your journey, whether you’re deconstructing, reconstructing, or just looking for community. Please consider submitting a piece to be published in an upcoming post.

Submit your piece here: TNE Substack Submission

The New Evangelicals is a digital-first 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to creating a better path forward at the intersection of faith, politics, and culture. Through educational resources and inclusive community spaces, we empower people to reject Christian Nationalism and boldly advocate for their neighbors while holding onto a faith rooted in the way of Jesus: with love, justice, and compassion for all.

During the half-hour film, we hear from Christians who are fleeing their countries because their lives are in danger due to religious persecution or pressure from criminal organizations. They risk life and literal limb to come to the US, which they have been told is a Christian nation, to be able to live safely as followers of Christ. When they arrive at the border, they find that they are unable to even apply for asylum, and they are left stranded in crime-ridden border towns with nothing.

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This is where FaithWorks, a migration advocacy organization, steps in. Through their shelters, food programs, and church network, they provide support for migrants and asylum seekers at the border. Jesus Was a Migrant takes place in one of these shelters. We meet a woman who is fleeing violence to save the life of her daughter and a family who was detained by ICE and denied food for their child with special needs. We hear these families express sadness and frustration, but also an unshakeable trust in God. We hear them sing “How Great Our God” in Spanish, demonstrating the bond of faith that ties them together with the very people who would deny them entry into the United States.

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During the premiere, the makers of the film emphasized that their intended audience is not those who are vehemently opposed to immigration. Rather, they hope that the film can be used to educate and motivate those who want to help the people trying to come to the US who have been unable to do so in this current climate. To that end, they have provided an application for anyone who is interested in hosting a film screening for their community. The documentary is best watched in a community setting, so people have an opportunity to discuss ways they can get involved in migration advocacy and support. Those who host a screening will also receive discussion questions and a screening guide to help direct these conversations.

If you are interested in participating with immigration advocacy, consider hosting a screening or contacting FaithWorks to find out how to participate in a more hands-on way.

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The New Evangelicals is a digital-first 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to creating a better path forward at the intersection of faith, politics, and culture. Through educational resources and inclusive community spaces, we empower people to reject Christian Nationalism and boldly advocate for their neighbors while holding onto a faith rooted in the way of Jesus: with love, justice, and compassion for all.

In this episode, Tim Whitaker and Lisa Sharon Harper discuss the urgent need for embodied, community-driven action to combat systemic injustice, particularly the economic targeting of Black women. She shares stories of resilience and emphasizes the importance of faith, local activism, and understanding historical narratives to drive real change. Harper highlights initiatives like “The Clearing” project, which supports Black women, and offers practical steps for moving from digital activism to tangible on-the-ground efforts.

This is a community-sourced publication meant to encourage you on your journey whether you’re deconstruction, reconstructing, or just looking for community. Please consider submitting a piece to be published in an upcoming post.

Submit your piece here: TNE Substack Submission

The New Evangelicals is a digital-first 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to creating a better path forward at the intersection of faith, politics, and culture. Through educational resources and inclusive community spaces, we empower people to reject Christian Nationalism and boldly advocate for their neighbors while holding onto a faith rooted in the way of Jesus: with love, justice, and compassion for all.

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Advocacy Hour, hosted by Malynda Hale and Rebecca Thomas of The New Evangelicals, is a monthly podcast on Spotify that spotlights organizations, leaders, and movements working for justice, equity, and compassion. It provides encouragement, awareness, and practical steps to advocate for change, with episodes also available on YouTube.

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This is a community-sourced publication meant to encourage you on your journey whether you’re deconstruction, reconstructing, or just looking for community. Please consider submitting a piece to be published in an upcoming post.

Submit your piece here: TNE Substack Submission

The New Evangelicals is a digital-first 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to creating a better path forward at the intersection of faith, politics, and culture. Through educational resources and inclusive community spaces, we empower people to reject Christian Nationalism and boldly advocate for their neighbors while holding onto a faith rooted in the way of Jesus: with love, justice, and compassion for all.

For centuries, Christian theology has taught that God is spirit, not a physical being reduced to the limits of human biology. God isn’t flesh and blood or anatomy. God is the creator of the universe and the source of all life and existence. So if God isn’t a body, why are we so determined to assign one?

The language so many Christians use for God is often masculine. “Father,” “He,” “Lord.” But historically, theologians have understood this language as relational or metaphorical, not literal descriptions of God’s physical nature.

If as Christians we also believe that every human being is made in the image of God, then the implications of that belief would confirm this. Human beings exist across many expressions of gender. Humanity includes men, women, and people who experience gender in ways that don’t fit neatly into binary categories. If all of humanity reflects the image of God, then God can’t be confined to a single gender expression.

God is bigger than that.

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Reducing God to being strictly male would mean the creator of the entire universe somehow possesses human anatomy. God transcends gender. And the pronouns people use when they pray—whether “he,” “she,” or “they”—are simply human attempts to describe something far beyond the limits of language. And I already know that people will respond to this conversation by saying, “But Jesus was God in the flesh.”

And for a lot of Christians, that is a deeply held belief. But even within that belief, the purpose of Jesus wasn’t to reveal God’s gender to us, it was to reveal God’s character.

Jesus preached about compassion and justice. He exemplified radical love for the marginalized and the oppressed. The life of Jesus was not about proving that God is male; it was about demonstrating what a life aligned with God actually looks like.

That distinction matters.

Because way too many Christians have become utterly and completely consumed with defending abstract theological details while ignoring the ethical teachings that Jesus actually emphasized.

However someone else refers to God—whether they pray using “he,” “she,” or “they”—that language reflects their personal relationship. Christianity has always included diverse interpretations of Scripture, doctrine, and spiritual practice. It has never been a monolith.

People often say that God’s Word never changes. But the way human beings interpret that Word has always evolved with culture, language, and historical context. The way people read the Bible hundreds or even thousands of years ago can’t simply be lifted and applied in the exact same way today.

But what has remained constant is what Jesus called us to do. Love your neighbor.
Care for the vulnerable. Challenge injustice. Treat people with dignity.

Those teachings are timeless.

What is not timeless are the interpretations that have been used throughout history to justify slavery, the silencing of women, or the exclusion of entire communities from the life of the church.

The more important question isn’t whether God can be described using a particular pronoun; it’s whether our lives actually reflect the love that Jesus told us to practice.

Because in the end, that’s the part of the faith that truly matters.

Not the labels we attach to God but the compassion we show to one another.

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This is a community-sourced publication meant to encourage you on your journey whether you’re deconstruction, reconstructing, or just looking for community. Please consider submitting a piece to be published in an upcoming post.

Submit your piece here: TNE Substack Submission

The New Evangelicals is a digital-first 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to creating a better path forward at the intersection of faith, politics, and culture. Through educational resources and inclusive community spaces, we empower people to reject Christian Nationalism and boldly advocate for their neighbors while holding onto a faith rooted in the way of Jesus: with love, justice, and compassion for all.

In the days following the murder of Renee Nicole Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, his father told reporters, “You would never find a nicer, kinder person … a committed, conservative Christian, a tremendous father, a tremendous husband. I couldn’t be more proud of him.” He also claimed his son “will not be charged with anything.”

Many people are certainly shocked by this description, but it is totally predictable to many of us raised as evangelicals. This is how the American evangelical church raises its men.

When I was in college, my parents hosted a Bible study at our house. One of the young women who attended was a student at the local, hyperconservative Christian college. Her family lived on a large plot of land on the US-side of the Mexican border. One day, her father shot at a truck full of people crossing the border on their land. He killed a man. This “good Christian man” suddenly found himself on trial for murder. He claimed self-defense, stating that the truck was coming straight at him and was going to run him over. Week after week, we heard from his distraught daughter about how the trial was progressing. Week after week, the Bible study prayed for her father’s release, for the jury to see his obvious innocence, for justice to be served, by which they meant acquittal. They prayed for the pain this white Christian family was experiencing.

I do not recall anyone praying for the murdered victim, his family, his friends, or the desperate situation that caused him to take his life in his hands to cross the border looking for a better life. No one questioned whether it was necessary or moral for a Christian man to destroy a life to “protect his property.” No one challenged the narrative that there was even any danger posed to himself or his property. It was simply understood that he was in the right and was righteous, and that his victim was in the wrong and was evil.

When this group of people prayed for the murderer instead of for the victim, when they centered a white Christian man’s exoneration over justice for his victim, they were not doing so as an aberration from their norm, or from the evangelical community as a whole.

These sentiments were supported by the book that they were reading, When I Lay My Isaac Down1, a memoir-style devotional that documents one woman’s attempt to thwart justice when her “good Christian son” murdered his wife’s ex-husband in broad daylight after months of planning and premeditation. Because he believed his victim was an abuser, he felt entirely justified in bypassing due process and planning and executing the murder. His mother, seemingly finding due process necessary for her son in a way neither of them found necessary for his victim, documents her journey trying to get him exonerated for “temporary insanity.”

Our evangelical communities have always been composed of Christian white supremacists. We have always excused the behavior of our “good Christian men” when they use God, justice, or protection as a cover for their violence. We have always found a way to blame their victims instead of holding them accountable. We disbelieve that someone who is “a tremendous father, a tremendous husband” could be capable of committing atrocities. We convince ourselves that their violence is necessary for a greater cause.

The American evangelical church has always paired devotion to God and family with masculine violence for a “good” cause. The Heritage Foundation, a Christian nationalist think tank, professes that a nation needs “a storehouse of strong and brave men to protect itself from hostile aggressors at home and abroad.”

No one believes themselves to be a villain. Nazis believed they were serving God and country. Many members of the KKK were devoted Christian husbands and fathers. I am certain that no matter how many times you show footage of the murder of Renee Good to Ross’s family and friends, they will never attribute blame to him. I am equally certain he sees absolutely nothing wrong with what he did—he himself released the most condemning footage, filmed from his own phone, because he believed it would exonerate him. What is this if not evidence that he sees himself as completely above reproach?

When his father says he is a kind and committed Christian, he is not trying to deceive. He is telling the only truth he knows: His son is a white, Christian law-enforcement officer. What could be more righteous? This is the American version of the “master race” described by Karel Stojka. It is not Trump who will put a bullet in your face for standing up for your immigrant neighbor. It’s the man who tells the best jokes at your church barbecue, the guy who offers to mow your lawn when you throw out your back. Give him a gun and a mask and tell him he’s serving his country, then give him someone to aim at. Someone who doesn’t look like him. Someone with different beliefs. Someone who refuses to conform to his idea of righteousness or authority. See how fast he shoots.

Just three days into the new year, we woke to news that the United States had invaded Venezuela and arrested its leader. President Trump vowed to run the country for the near future, including its oil infrastructure. In his trademark unapologetic tone, Trump said: “It’s going to make a lot of money.” After a cup of coffee, I mused about my time in the US Army during the Middle East conflict, which involved claims that Iraq was hiding weapons of mass destruction. This rhetoric crescendoed in December of 1998 with Operation Desert Fox, a four-day bombing campaign initiated by President Clinton in response to Iraq’s noncooperation with weapons inspectors.

Now, we all know how this movie ends. There were no weapons of mass destruction. Our presence in Iraq was tied to oil interests, and Operation Desert Fox was conveniently timed as a distraction from President Clinton’s impeachment. In hindsight, we could have benefited from some clearly articulated standard for military intervention rather than the subjective justification offered by our leaders at the time.

Note that, a little more than a year ago, President Trump promised American oil executives “a great deal” if they donated $1 billion to his campaign. In addition, Trump is currently mired in the Jeffrey Epstein debacle involving the sex trafficking of underage girls. Despite these realities, the provided justification for actions against Venezuela is similar to what was offered during the Iraq conflict. And this is where we have to be careful—not just as Americans, but as Christians—because anyone can justify anything with a cleverly selective argument.

Consider the following justifications:

Is it for public safety? The attack on Venezuela and capture of President Maduro followed his indictment on drug and weapons charges for trafficking large amounts of drugs into the US. While we want to keep the United States safe, just last month, Trump pardoned the former president of Honduras who was convicted of those same crimes in the US and sentenced to 45 years in prison. When asked to reconcile the two, Trump pointed out that the Honduran President was convicted under Biden. Huh?

Perhaps it’s the will of the people? During his campaign, Trump promised to stop “endless wars,” after criticizing the Iraq War, and vowed to prioritize peace over intervention. So, no one voted to intervene in Venezuela.

Or is Maduro a bad guy? Maduro is undoubtedly a terrible dictator, not unlike Muammar Gaddafi or Saddam Hussein, who were both removed by the US—with bad outcomes. But what about Kim Jong Un or Vladimir Putin, both ruthless dictators to whom President Trump has publicly cozied up? The “bad guy” justification seems to fluctuate wildly.

Is it a geopolitical necessity? While Venezuela is certainly not aligned with US policy, how does a US-led regime change prevent Russia’s continued presence in Ukraine or China’s pursuit of Taiwan? We’ve just given these countries the green light to do what they want.

Might it be because Christians are fleeing? Nearly 8 million people have fled Venezuela since 2018, many of whom are Christians. But when Christians have crossed our borders in response to crises, we arrest them and send them back to face the torture they tried to escape.

For those who don’t have any problem with these contradictions, note that this is precisely how former administrations justified our intervention in Iraq, a conflict that cost nearly $3 trillion and 5,000 American lives. What’s more, it left countless service members to deal with physical and mental health outcomes that stressed our Veteran services—which have been cut significantly under the current administration.

Given the foregoing, it’s not helpful to use some subjective “justification” for the conflict. Instead, let’s replace the “justification” rhetoric with a more objective standard. As Christian Americans, we can rely on US and international law as well as our own Christian teachings. Indeed, the two are related as the Bible asserts that we should follow our country’s laws (Romans 13:1-7). So let’s start there.

In terms of domestic law, the US Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, not the President, and the War Powers Resolution requires presidents to seek approval from Congress before any significant military engagements. But neither occurred in this case.

In terms of international law, we must turn to the UN Charter, given that the US and Venezuela are both member states. According to Article 2(4): “All Members shall refrain … from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.” Unlike the boat strikes that the US military carried out in international waters, attacking Venezuela is arguably a violation of this “use of force” prohibition. And while Article 51 would permit a member state like the US to defend itself from an “armed attack,” drug trafficking is too attenuated a threat to meet this standard.

Meanwhile, the Geneva Conventions address both law enforcement actions and the consequences of initiating an international “armed conflict.” As it relates to the seizure of Maduro, the US can only exercise jurisdiction to make an arrest within the US unless it has consent from Venezuela, which it didn’t have. Regardless, the US’s actions have now triggered an “international armed conflict” under Common Article 2 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which means that if the US targets any individuals not involved in this armed conflict (e.g., those involved solely in drug activities), it could constitute a war crime.

Based on a quick summation of the relevant law, the legal basis on which the US has acted is dubious at best.

Now let’s turn to the Bible, which presents a complex and oftentimes conflicting view on war, describing it as a destructive, but sometimes necessary, force for justice. Given this lack of clarity, early church leaders sought to reconcile the wrongness of killing with a nation’s duty to protect its people. For instance, St. Augustine argued that even though war is inherently evil, a just ruler has a duty to use force to defend the innocent and uphold justice. Thomas Aquinas developed these ideas further by emphasizing love as the ultimate motivation, even in war, to restore God’s order.

These thoughts eventually developed into the “just war theory,” which assesses—from a Christian perspective—when war is morally permissible. It includes principles like jus ad bellum, which requires a morally sound reason like defending against aggression, rather than for revenge or in furtherance of selfish gain. In this instance, the President’s stated purpose of pursuing oil revenue would fall short of this standard. Conflict must also be a matter of last resort, with all peaceful options exhausted before resorting to force. This is backed up by Deuteronomy 20:10: “When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall offer it terms of peace.” In this instance, it remains unclear whether diplomatic efforts took place before military intervention occurred.

For an administration that so often talks about restoring Christian values, it is perhaps not too much to ask that it meet both the standard articulated by US and international law and the Christian standard for when military action is morally permissible. Sadly, as I revert back to the relevant context of the Epstein files and rewarding oil executives for their donations, I can’t help but think of Psalm 140, which begins: “Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man; preserve me from the violent man; which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war.”

Recently, the Texas legislature passed a law that requires public schools to put a poster-sized copy of the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Now, once our visceral reaction passes—be it an eye-roll, indignant sigh, or exasperated gasp—let’s make a real effort to assess this initiative in good faith. And let’s begin by taking Texas legislators at their word that this law derived from an honest belief that, according to House sponsor Candy Noble, “we would all be better off if we [followed God’s law].” Fair enough.

Given this laudable aim, let’s temporarily put aside the fact that our Founding Fathers intended to keep church matters from interfering with government affairs. And, as difficult as it might be, let’s further ignore how the Establishment Clause contained in the First Amendment—which prohibits government from favoring one religion over another—makes a law like this unconstitutional. Perhaps let’s even put aside the unholy motivation behind this effort, which was passed at the behest of Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, two Texas billionaire pastors—that’s billionaire with a b and pastor with a p—who use their wealth to decide who gets elected in Texas. Indeed, let’s put all that aside in order to judge this new law solely on its biblical merits.

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At the outset, I should point out that it’s an exercise that does not require making great leaps from one Testament to another; no, a critical review requires looking only at the Gospel of Matthew. In Matthew 6:5-6, Jesus instructs believers to pray in private in order to maintain sincerity rather than seeking public recognition. Let’s be clear, this law is all about public recognition (I’ll get to the lack of sincerity in a moment). Also, in Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus was asked which among the commandments is the greatest, to which Jesus answered that we are to love God more than anything and love our neighbor as ourselves, with particular emphasis on the poor and the sick. Before long, it becomes rather difficult—if not impossible—to reconcile Christ’s directives with a state legislature that redirects public dollars away from underfunded schools in order to subsidize private school tuition while their federal counterparts cut hundreds of millions in health care and nutrition support for the state’s poorest. Again, it’s Matthew where Jesus reminds us what is going on: These people honor me with their lips when their hearts are far from me (15:8-9). Ouch.

I, for one, do not take solace in the fact that this theatrical religiosity and patent bullshittery has gone on since biblical times, because it only seems to be getting worse. Elected leaders are increasingly shameless in their cosplay, parading about as authentically pious servants of the Lord as they pursue a dastardly grift for earthly power. One example involved Judge Roy Moore of Alabama, who put the Ten Commandments in the state courthouse so that he could leverage any criticism to help him launch a campaign for US Senate, which he did; but it also prompted eight women to come forward with claims that Moore had sexually harassed them, including a girl who was only fourteen at the time. More and more it seems like elected officials are not only leveraging Christ for secular power, but to distract from their own conduct. Just this past week, Oklahoma’s top school official, Ryan Walters—who pushed Trump Bibles in schools and book bans—was caught watching porn during a Board of Education meeting. But Heaven forbid some Oklahoma teenager gets a copy of The Kite Runner!

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And, as if the new Texas law couldn’t be any more self-righteous, inauthentic window dressing, imagine passing a law that requires the posting of the Ten Commandments while violating the Ten Commandments in the process. But that’s precisely what the Texas legislature did by voting on the law during the Sabbath, which forbids working on that day (Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15). But to the representatives down in Texas, it’s more important to display the Ten Commandments than it is to follow them.

Once again, I return to Matthew, where Jesus mocks the Pharisees by telling his believers to not “follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. Everything they do is for show” (23:3-5). To Christ’s point, if the motivation in Texas is truly to call attention to Scripture as a better foundation for our lives (and it is), wouldn’t that be better served by actually behaving as Christ directed—by loving and serving our neighbors? After all, that’s the greatest commandment.

Michael Barrett is a Christian, a US Army Veteran, and an attorney.

The current leadership of this country sits on its throne after years of right-wing politics that demanded the only true way to be a good Christian is to vote Republican, couched in the litmus test of abortion for decades. And it appears that in order to “make America great again,” we have to go out of our way to make sure people know who Christians hate, and who the church condemns.

In the name of Jesus Christ, of course.

Allowing politicians to define the role of the church while simultaneously allowing church leaders to use their pulpit for political ends means we are not serving Christ. And we fail Him at our own peril. Especially considering that if we truly want America to be “great,” we only need to see what Jesus defined as “great.”

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“Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist” (Matt. 11:11 NIV). Jesus called John the Baptist “great.” There were many reasons. But for the purposes of trying to figure out how to make America great again, we should focus on what John said. After all, Jesus said he was great.

Speaking to a gathering of people, John was teaching them how to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. While telling them that the ax is already aimed at the roots of the tree that does not produce good fruit for the kingdom, the common people asked him, “‘What should we do then?’ … John answered, ‘Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.’” (Luke 3:9–11 NIV).

You can put yourself in the crowd at that moment and hear yourself almost screaming: Wait, that’s it? You just told us that the Lord is coming, we need to be baptized and repent of our sins and trees are getting cut down and bad things are going to happen to those who aren’t ready and we should … share our extra with those who have less? Seriously? Just be generous?

Yes. Just be generous and help someone less fortunate than you. You do not even need to give away all your shirts and food. Just the extra. John taught that this was the way for people to be ready for the coming of the Lord. Be generous and share. He also told people in positions of authority to be honorable in their work and just in the execution of the laws, but he started with the common people.

The right-wing political class and their allies in the evangelical space have focused on an American exceptionalist version of Christ that is not biblical and is incapable of true generosity and service. They would disagree and point to all the church ministries that they support and lead, all while supporting a government that is targeting those who don’t have shirts or food by deporting them illegally, taking away health care selfishly, separating children from mothers repugnantly, and calling LGBTQ+ people evil because they express love differently. All in the name of making America great again, the church seems willing to bastardize the teaching of Christ because we would rather serve our American master than our true Master.

As hard as this is to believe for American Christians, Jesus never led off his sermons by proclaiming, “This is how we make the Roman empire (or for that matter, Israel as a nation) great again!” He asked us, His ekklesia, to be great by serving and loving, being generous and sharing. “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matt. 25:40 NIV). And since every mirror used reflects the face of God—image bearers given the gift of creation to experience the majesty of God—we must define the “least of these” as the shirtless, the homeless, the sick and poor, the single mother, the helpless child, the LGBTQ+ youth contemplating suicide for simply being while the church they grew up in demonizes them, and the immigrant who dared take the Statute of Liberty’s promise at face value—regardless of race, creed, color or nation of origin.

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America has shown greatness in the past. And it can again. We just need to listen to John and do what he said because Jesus said that was “great.” And it’s been our promise to the oppressed for well over a century: “Give me your tired, your poor,/ Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” We are great when—and only when—we give, not take; and love, not hate. That is John. That is Jesus. It can be America. It should be us.

They’re calling it Alligator Alcatraz. A state-run detention facility for migrants. Constructed in just eight days. In the middle of a hurricane-prone swamp. Surrounded by literal alligators. And yes, now being sold on T-shirts and Koozies.

Florida’s Republican Party is profiting off the branding. Political influencers are calling it “brilliant.” Even self-described Christians are applauding it as justice in action.

But here's the truth: This isn't a policy debate.

It’s a theological crisis.

This facility, approved by Governor DeSantis and designed by Attorney General James Uthmeier, detains undocumented migrants in military-style tents, held together by chain-link fencing in the Everglades. Some tents flood during heavy rain. Others sit in one hundred–degree heat surrounded by swarms of mosquitoes. Structures are only rated for 110 mile-per-hour winds, far below the strength of storms common in that region.

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The detainees? Mostly non-violent migrants—many with no criminal record at all.

The length of their stay? Indefinite. Due process? Minimal.

Access to lawyers? Unclear. Protection from hurricanes? The state says it has a plan.

But no one has seen it. Meanwhile, politicians sell mugs. And some Christians celebrate the “toughness” of it all.

Words like Alligator and Alcatraz aren’t neutral. They were chosen for effect. To stir up fear. To invoke criminality. To say, “These people are dangerous.” But Scripture says something else.

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That every human bears the image of God. That we were once strangers in a foreign land. That the Gospel isn't about who to keep out—but who we are called to welcome in. When our leaders turn barbed wire into a brand, and fear into fashion, we are no longer protecting borders—we’re performing cruelty.

And when Christians go along with it, we aren’t defending the Gospel—we’re distorting it.

Some of the loudest voices praising Alligator Alcatraz are self-identified Christians. Benny Johnson, a political influencer who often invokes Christian language, filmed himself laughing while wearing official prison merch and called the facility “insanity [sic] impressive.” Governor DeSantis called it a model for future immigration control. And national figures like Stephen Miller have publicly supported its expansion.

But this isn't Christianity.

It’s Christian nationalism—a fusion of political power and religious language used to sanctify oppression. It preaches safety while ignoring suffering. It builds prisons in Jesus’s name while forgetting the Jesus who was imprisoned, executed, and resurrected outside of empire’s control.

The good news? Not all Christians are silent. Indigenous Christian leaders like Betty Osceola, a Miccosukee water protector, have organized prayer walks at the site, declaring the land sacred and the project immoral.

Pastors, activists, and everyday believers are beginning to push back. They’re reclaiming faith from nationalism and returning it to the teachings of Jesus. The Jesus who said, “I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.” The Jesus who touched the unclean.

The Jesus who never sold justice as merch.

So Where Do We Go From Here? If you're a Christian and this grieves you—good. Let it. Grieve what’s been done in God’s name. Grieve the silence of the Church. Grieve how easily spectacle replaces compassion. Then rise. And use your voice.

Call this what it is: a distortion of the Gospel.

Remind the world that Christianity is not about cruelty with a cross on top. And live like the Kingdom of God is actually real—because it is.