Don't Get Political

Monday, May 5, 2025

“Preachers don’t get to stay out of politics. We are either chaplains of empire or prophets of God.”

-Rt. Rev. Dr. William Barber, II

Happy Monday, my friends! The quote above from William Barber is one that has made the rounds of the progressive Christian community since he spoke and published it in 2024. The question of pastors, preachers, churches, and politics is neither new nor resolved. Plenty of ink has been spilled and airtime taken debating what it means for the church to act politically and to engage in politics. In fact, this isn’t the first time I’ve written a Monday Moment on the topic. Like many Christians—progressive, conservative, evangelical, etc.—my faith compels me to action, yet I also understand where other faithful Christians draw a line between what they consider the territory of the church and the territory of politics. That said, I believe in the necessity of a strong and high wall between the church and the state. While faith should inform our actions, the institutional church and the governmental state should be completely independent of one another.

As the United States speeds towards authoritarianism, Christian nationalism continues to gain power. In his executive order “Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias,” (February 6, 2025) President Trump directed the creation of a “Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias” led by the US Attorney General. The order stated that “…the previous Administration engaged in an egregious pattern of targeting peaceful Christians, while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses.” The order went on to name as an offense “The Biden Department of Education [seeking] to repeal religious-liberty protections for faith-based organizations on college campuses.” The “religious liberty protections” in question were the right of these organizations and in many cases the institutions themselves to discriminate against LGBTQIA+ people.[1] 

Reading between the lines and considering the source, it’s obvious that what’s being called out is not bias, but a pattern of holding Christians accountable for their actions. The troupe of the Christian facing discrimination has been used with great success by the MAGA movement. MAGA-aligned Christian leaders call out “bias” when they are held accountable even by other Christians for their rhetoric and actions which are antithetical to the life, actions, and words of Jesus. Recently, video of worship and prayer, complete with contemporary Christian music, from inside the White House went viral. Despite what some commentators have said, this is not the first time Christian prayers and Christian worship have taken place in the White House and I imagine many of us would have passed over the story with little more than a shaking head—similar to our reactions to the White House Prayer Breakfast and similar events. However, in the current climate of authoritarianism and Christian nationalism, that video is yet another piece of evidence that evangelical Christianity has infiltrated our government and taken root.

Last Tuesday (April 29) something else happened. William Barber along with others were at the US Capitol to pray about and against the budget bill moving through the US Congress. It’s on clear whether Barber and two others were planning to be arrested if needed, but the horrifying moment came when Capitol Police cleared the capitol rotunda of protestors, credentialed press, and onlookers while other police officers surrounded Barber. Yes, they were given “multiple warnings” to cease and leave and, yes, they ignored those warnings, but they were praying. The situation sent the clear message that when your prayers and presence support empire and the ruling powers you are praised, but if your prayers and presence challenge that empire and those powers you are criminal and warrant arrest by a dozen armed officers. Let’s be clear, if peaceful protest and prayer against empire leads to arrest, but Christian worship is welcomed when it supports the empire, then any attempt to “eradicate Christian bias” will target other Christians. Granted, that’s the point. They want us to backdown and be silent because their power rests on the lie and sin of the white, macho Jesus they have convinced themselves exists rather than the brown-skinned, refugee who lived under foreign occupation and died for preaching against that empire.

What are you thinking as these events play out? Do you aspire to be a chaplain of empire or a prophet of God?

Let us pray: God, make us prophets of your Kin-dom where justice, mercy, and love are experienced and hatred, nationalism, and fascism are burnt away. Where we can, strengthen us to follow Dr. Barber’s example and tear down the walls that divide us. Where we struggle grant us the grace to lean on each other. In your time and in your way bring all of us, even our enemies, to your perfect and lasting peace. We ask this in the name of your son, our liberator, Amen.

Blessings on your weeks, my friends. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you.

Faithfully,

Ben

[1] If you want to learn about efforts to repeal these laws, called “religious exemptions,” check out the work of the Religious Exemption Accountability Project (REAP).