One of the most offensive aspects and infuriating practices of the Trump administration’s racist and murderous campaign against immigrants and other vulnerable neighbors is its use of scripture for the justification of its policies and actions. In my last Blog Post #49, I cited an article from a recent issue of The Atlantic, which serves as an example. The author was Peter Wehner, and the title was: MAGA JESUS IS NOT THE REAL JESUS. His opening paragraphs read:
Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security, has become an evangelist of a certain sort. During her tenure, her department has on multiple occasions released slick social-media recruitment videos in which scripture verses feature prominently.
One video quotes from Isaiah 6:8 (“Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send and who will go for us?’ I said, ‘Here I am. Send me.’”); another quotes from Proverbs 28:1 (“The wicked flee when no man pursueth; but the righteous are as bold as a lion.”). The most recent DHS video quotes from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
Given what we have seen taking place on the streets of Minneapolis, what gall!
Kim E. Petersen is a graduate of the University of Oxford and a former university professor. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army’s Special Forces, was a member of the White House Transition Team for President George H. W. Bush, and served as senior security advisor to former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Alexander Haig. He also held senior staff roles at the U.S. Senate and the Pentagon, and supported U.S. national security interests abroad through clandestine operations with CIA. On May 11, 2025, he published an essay titled: The Gospel of Hypocrisy: How MAGA Christians Betray Jesus and has since reposted the article with the following explanation:
I’m reposting this essay because its message feels more urgent than ever. Pope Leo recently said, “The measure of our faith will not be taken by the loudness of our prayers, but by the quiet dignity with which we lift others from the dust.” His words, elegant and uncompromising, echo Christ’s own command: feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, care for the most vulnerable — not out of pity, but out of shared humanity. (Matthew 25)
In a Substack post for this past Sabbath, Heather Cox Richardson made the following observation:
In an order requiring the release of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, asylum seeker Adrian Conejo Arias, from detention, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery noted that in their crusade against undocumented immigrants, U.S. officials are ignoring the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. “[F]or some among us,” the judge wrote, “the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency. And the rule of law be damned.”
Judge Biery signed the order after saying he was putting “a judicial finger in the constitutional dike.” Under his signature, he posted the now-famous image of the little boy detained in his blue bunny hat and Spiderman backpack, along with the notations for two biblical passages: “Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these,’”(Matthew 19:14) and “Jesus wept.”(John 11:35. These two words represent the shortest verse in the Bible. They reveal Christ’s deep compassion and shared humanity as he grieved the death of his friend, Lazarus.)
That little five-year-old in the blue bunny knit hat and spiderman backpack has since been released from his unlawful and cruel detention and returned home! Praise God and give thanks for the bravery and scripture-informed faith of Judge Biery!
Almost one year ago, February 11, 2025, Jeannette Cooperman, the much-acclaimed author, educator and former staff writer for St. Louis Magazine, interviewed Tim Alberta about his research into MAGA Christianity. She published her thoughts under the title: Finally, an Explanation for the Paradox of MAGA Christianity. The most significant Alberta comment related to the Christian Nationalist core of the MAGA movement was:
The same paradoxes crop up in every other policy issue—because the Christian Nationalist agenda “has nothing to do with Christ at all.” And “once you are willing to rewrite history and manipulate and distort it, pretty quickly you are going to start doing the same to scripture,” he added. You will “process your faith through the prism of your politics.”
Should we not be doing the opposite; that is, processing our politics through the prism of our faith, informed and inspired by the testimony of scripture?
I am sure we all remember well the ‘What Would Jesus Do’ (WWJD) craze during the mid-to-late 1990s, which grew into a mainstream fashion statement for youth with bracelets, t-shirts, book bags, coffee cups and water bottles. This morning I read a piece titled: What Would Jesus Say: A theological rebuke to the Cult of MAGA’s idolatry and the misuse of His name by Mitchell A. Sobieski. (Mar 16, 2025) Sobieski’s piece is in the form of an ‘open letter’ from Jesus. He writes:
In the earliest years of Christianity, theological teachings were often shared through letters. They were personal appeals that spoke directly to the challenges and hopes of new believers and to resolve church disputes. Those epistles were written by apostles and later recognized as inspired writings, which were included in the New Testament canon.
This “open letter” is crafted in that same spirit but using the voice of Jesus Christ – the Messiah. It is not as a parody or impersonation, but as a way to reintroduce His message to those who have strayed from it.
The letter’s length does not allow me to include all of it, as worthy an effort as that may be, but I am able to include a section which, I believe, allows the voice of Jesus to be heard with a compelling clarity and persuasiveness.
WEAPONIZING MY NAME
I grieve most deeply when I see my teachings twisted into a cudgel used to strike those who do not conform. Have you not heard me say, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34)?
Some who claim to follow me instead wage war against fellow humans in my name. They push the narrative that I have sanctioned prejudices against people of certain races, orientations and religious backgrounds.
My rebuke of the Pharisees, who prided themselves on strict religious observance but lacked compassion, reverberates through history: “You give a tenth of your spices … but you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23).
Similarly, to those who chant “Lord, Lord” while denying justice and kindness, I say this, You are far from my heart.
BEATING HEARTS NOT BATTERING RAMS
The Christian Nationalist mantra that claims sole possession of truth and portrays others as enemies shows a tragic misunderstanding of my gospel. The earliest believers, whom I left with the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), transformed the world not through coercion but through love, service, humility, and prayer.
Consider how I, your Lord, entered Jerusalem on a donkey, not astride a warhorse. I did not condemn those who questioned me but graciously invited them to examine their hearts (John 20:27).
When I washed my disciples’ feet (John 13:1-17), I gave an example of servanthood that defies the logic of raw power.
Yet some of you have picked up the sword of political force, or even actual weapons, believing that might makes right. You take the words of Scripture about spiritual warfare and apply them to battles against flesh and blood, something I never endorsed (Ephesians 6:12).
You label others “enemies” when my directive was to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). The impetus has turned from transforming hearts to enforcing an ideology, and thus you have turned my message into a battering ram rather than a beacon of hope…
This is a solemn hour in the history of my people, as loyalty to me has become corrupted by blind allegiance to a political narrative. Yet in every crisis, there is an opportunity for renewal. The church, if it repents of its flirtation with power and turns back to my teachings, can become a city on a hill once again (Matthew 5:14) a beacon of love, mercy, and truth.
The challenge of this solemn moment in our history, that of the church and the nation, is to embrace it as an opportunity for renewal by rejecting MAGA’s corrupt and power-hungry political narratives that betray our Christian teachings and ethics. The holy voices of scripture, from Abraham to Jesus and all those who have followed them in faith, are speaking to us. Let us listen and follow, and again, be that city on a hill, whose light cannot and will not be hidden, a beacon of hope, love, mercy and truth.