On July 12, 2025, the Speaker of the House, MAGA Mike Johnson (R, La.), posted an op-ed on X. (Yes, the same MAGA Mike that just sent the House home for summer vacation to prevent a vote on the release of the Epstein files.) The post was a written response applauding a recent ruling by the Internal Revenue Service, a consent judgment that will restore the First Amendment rights of churches and religious non-profit organizations to speak freely without losing their tax-exempt status. Of course, the ruling is generally understood as a major win for right wing evangelicals, even, unapologetically, white Christian nationals. In this era of censorship, revenge and retaliation, or as Tom Nichols describes Trump and his administration, an era of pettiness. In a recent article in The Atlantic, he writes:
From his first day as a candidate, Trump has appeared animated by anger, fear, and, most of all, pettiness, a small-minded vengefulness that takes the place of actual policy making. It taints the air in the executive branch like a forgotten bag of trash in a warm house on a summer day—even when you can’t see it, you know it’s there. (“Presidential Pettiness” The Atlantic, 7/22/2025)
I think that the ruling, however, has a wider application than just for the far right. With the kind of stench emanating from the White House, someone needs to say something and why not Christians who have voices to call out and indict the dishonesty, corruption and cruelty of this administration?
Johnson’s op ed was insightful and relevant but revealed a total lack of self-awareness, wonderful words but betrayed by wicked actions, a perfect example of hypocrisy at its worst. He wrote:
A free society and a healthy republic depend upon religious and moral virtue- not only because they help prevent political corruption and the abuse of power - but also because those convictions in the minds and hearts of the people make it possible to preserve their essential freedoms by emphasizing and inspiring individual responsibility, self-sacrifice, the dignity of hard work, the rule of law, civility, patriotism, the value of family and community, and the sanctity of every human life. Without those virtues, “indispensably supported” by religion and morality, every nation will ultimately fall.
Inscribed on the third panel of the Jefferson Memorial here in Washington, D.C., is his sobering reminder to every American: “God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.”
The experience of history teaches that these principles are universal and timeless, and they certainly apply to our nation today. Alexis de Tocqueville is credited with the keen observation that “America is great because she is good, and if she ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.” That has been the key to our exceptionalism. Our republic depends upon it now more than ever, and it is our job to instill and preserve it.
As we approach the 250th birthday of our great nation, it has never been more important to defend truth on every front, repair our foundations, and hold fast to who we are and what we stand for. Anyone who has been misled to believe that religious principles and viewpoints must be separated from public affairs should be reminded to review their history…
I have quoted Alexis de Tocqueville often and the actual present moral state of the country is anything but good. Disturbingly, it is quite the opposite and there continues to be an urgent need for the church to make its voice not only heard but in compelling ways.
Esau McCauley, a columnist for the New York Times, recently offered some hope in an article titled; “Is The Christan Resistance to Trump Growing?” (New York Times, July 11, 2025) He writes about the opposition of Christians to the “big, beautiful, ugly bill” that just passed the congress:
In a rare moment of Christian ecumenism, white evangelicals, mainline Protestants, Roman Catholics and Black church leaders agree that there’s no glory to be found in this legislation. They have leveled distinctively religious criticism at Mr. Trump’s signature piece of legislation. Their issues with the legislation vary, but they seemingly all note that the ravenous greed at the core of this law threatens to devour the poor.
Indeed, a ravenous greed that threatens to devour the poor!
McCauley observes that the growing Christian resistance to Trump, as articulated by the leaders of a wider coalition of Christian faith communities, is beginning to take hold. He concludes his observations with the following:
But more than that, these statements highlight the irreconcilable difference between Trumpian politics and Christianity. Mr. Trump uses money and power to keep people in line. If politicians, countries, businesses or even institutions of higher education go against his wishes, they will pay a financial penalty. Mr. Trump believes in making deals rooted in self-interest.
Christians have the resources to resist this tactic because we are taught to model our behavior on Christ, who looked to the interests of others, not himself. It is precisely that interest in others, namely, the millions of working-class Americans negatively affected by this legislation, that led so many Christian leaders to say no to it. For some, this is a part of a long history of resistance; for others, they are finally finding their voice. Whether new or old, I am happy to see it.
It is up to the rest of the faithful to follow suit.
The United Church of Christ, our denomination, has rarely neglected its prophetic calling and has commendably used its voice to identify and ‘call out’ the failings of our nation and the church. At its recent Thirty-fifth General Synod in June, delegates produced a bold resolution in opposition to what they named, the ‘domestic terrorism’ of Trump and his allies. After an extensive list of “Where As’s” the synod passed the following:
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Thirty-Fifth General Synod of the United Church 131 of Christ calls upon all settings of the Church to oppose the 2025 Trump Administration’s immigration policy rollbacks and condemn and reject any efforts that deny sanctuary, access to services, or human dignity to migrants, immigrants, and refugees, and BIPOC individuals. These actions include, but are not limited to, tribal, state, and local law enforcement cooperation with ICE and the use of public lands for immigrant detention facilities.
The resolution passed 627-8.
Jesus would have surely joined in the applause that took place after the votes were counted. He saw hypocrisy, and when he saw it, He confronted it. In the Gospels, “Woe to you” is a phrase Jesus used to express judgement and condemnation toward certain groups, particularly the pharisees and scribes for their hypocrisy, misguided priorities and immoral behavior, and he never minced his words. Matthew 23 contains what biblical commentators call “The Seven Woes.” (Matthew 23: 13-31) The web site ‘Got Questions’ says the following about them:
The seven woes are addressed to the teachers of the law and Pharisees; in one of the woes, He calls them “blind guides” (Matthew 23:16). At the end of His denunciations, He calls them “snakes” and a “brood of vipers” (verse 33). Prior to Jesus’ condemnation of the religious hypocrites, they had been following Him to test Him and try to trick Him with questions about divorce (Matthew 19:3), about His authority (Matthew 21:23), about paying taxes to Caesar (Matthew 22:17), about the resurrection (verse 23), and about the greatest commandment of the law (verse 36). Jesus prefaced His seven woes by explaining to the disciples that they should obey the teachings of the Jewish leaders—as they taught the law of God—but not to emulate their behavior because they did not practice what they preached (Matthew 23:3).
We can commend speaker Johnson for his eloquence, but we must condemn his hypocrisy and the chaos, corruption and cruelty of Trump and his administration and the rule of this congress.
Together they are full of modern day “blind guides and fools, snakes and multiple broods of vipers,” groups of sycophants that exhibit a ravenous greed for power, privilege and wealth. Their policies and behavior are egregious in their lawlessness and cruelty, from immigration and deportation to tax breaks for the wealthy at the expense of the poor, to our complicity with a barbaric inhumanity toward the starving Gazans and their children to tariff policies which will push inflation higher, punishing the poor and middle class. In an article written by Peter Wehner in May 2020, the author referred to the “Malignant Cruelty of Donald Trump.” His concerns have proven prescient, and we are now called to confront the malignancy. Although there are signs of hope with respect to the nation’s growing disapproval and disgust over Trump’s pervasive abuse of power, our Christian voices must become louder, our critiques sharper and our opposition more squarely faith based.
Journalist Steven Beschloss wrote recently:
We know that Trump is narcissistically incapable of grasping how despised he is in America, especially since he is surrounded by sycophants who refuse to tell him the truth like HSS Kristi Noem and (White House adviser) Stephen Miller, who are determined to prove that the harsher the cruelty and criminality, the greater the success. But mass protest can succeed at proving the fallaciousness of this proposition-that Americans will not bow down, be silenced or broken by the malignant regime that despises democracy.
We must be bold on behalf of Jesus in voicing with a sense of urgency our list of “Woe to you’s” for this hypocritical, cruel and even criminal crowd.