“Pray as if everything depends on God.” St. Augustine I wrote it. “Work as if everything depends on you.”
Easter Monday is a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection and a call for action. In today’s social media clickbait language, let’s say American Christians “have to practice what we preach.”
This is a terrible time for our country. Last week, Thomas Friedman, a columnist for The New York Times, He wrote that he never feared For his country as much as he fears it today.
And in times of fear, faith demands more than prayer. It requires action and strength. People of faith are called to do what the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) is a symbol of civil rights. I was urgedguided by his Christian beliefs: we need to enter into “good troubles.”
Lewis graduated from the American Baptist University in Tennessee. He spoke to PBS in 2004. “My estimation is that the civil rights movement was a religious phenomenon, because when we went out or went out in March, I had the strength before us, the strength behind us, and I had no idea what to do…
As an Anglican church regularly attends churches, I learned from the old wills and the New Testament that Jesus ordered the care of the poor, sick, oppressed people and refugees. So how can Christians, especially evangelicals, who are Trump’s important foundations, protect this president?
Old phrase “WWJD” – What does Jesus do? – Applies.
Will Jesus take people from the streets and throw them into prisons far away? Will Jesus separate the family without evidence and without legitimate procedures?
Will Jesus smile as Christy Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security? Flashes expensive Rolex clockare you willing to pose in front of a cage filled with hopeless prisoners? Will Jesus praise them for boasting about their inhumanity? How is that terrible behavior accepted by those who worship Jesus?
I was taught to protest that Jesus promises tax cuts for businesses and the wealthiest Americans while taking Sledgehammers to financial lifelines for the elderly, widows, disabled and poor, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the late televangelists Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson said, “Morality“As a dominant force in Republican politics. They turned abortion into a wedge issue and got caught up in church members to vote for the Republican Party as an act of faith in Jesus to protect human life.
To this day, Christian conservatives continue to invoke the Bible to protect their unborn baby and oppose homosexual marriage. But somehow they ignore the same Biblical call to heal illness, nourish hunger, and raise the oppressed. Call me to be surprised by such hypocrisy.
Don’t forget: Yes I brought a whip to the temple To drive out money changers. The Bible strongly warns the rich who exploit the poor. But Trump embraces the contributions of a major campaign from the wealthiest people, allowing these unelected oligarchs to set policies that benefit the rich and harm the poor.
There is a link between that hypocrisy Pastor Paula Whitekane’s viewTrump’s Senior White House Faith Advisors and Civil Serviceasks Christian to send $1,000 because “ministry costs money.” In return, she sounds like a temple glyfter, and promises “seven supernatural blessings.”
This look-like behavior is a small news item hidden by the Trump administrationThe lawyer did not explain to the judge.Their rebellion against the court orders and indifference to American justice promises for all.
Trump likewise couldn’t find an answer when Bishop Marian Badde spoke at his first prayer service. I asked him “Have mercy” for those who are “scared now,” especially those who are immigrants and transgender.
His only reaction was: Attack the bishop He calls her “nasty” as “the hateful man of radical left hardline Trump.”
Now, it’s up to the true Christian to act in this terrifying time. Former Congressman Lewis was inspired by faith-led leadership: Pastor Martin Luther King
“The king was not concerned about the city of heaven and the pearly gates. Lewis said in the 1987 PBS documentary Eyes on the Prize.“(I wrote a companion book).” He was more concerned about the streets of Montgomery and the way blacks and poor people are treated in Montgomery.”
This Easter Monday question is how Trump’s Christian supporters will answer when they face Jesus’ concerns about others to give his life to save a sinner. How would they respond to these actions when they are called to their accounts one day? God tells me that God is not impressed by the assertion that Democrats and Liberals hate is greater than concern over Trump’s misconduct.
Christianity and most other religions teach that there is a calculation of the political harm that is taking place in Washington today. So I pray that my heart will change, but I pray that true Christians will act urgently and will be in “good trouble.”
Juan Williams is a senior political analyst at Fox News Channel and award-winning civil rights historian. He is the author of a new book.These Eyes New Awards: The Rise of the Second Civil Rights Movement in America. ”
