MAGA Christians Have a Right to Practice Their Faith — But So Do I

One of the more alarming aspects of the Trump administration is the way it seeks to instrumentalize Christianity — both as a weapon against its political opponents and to reward its political supporters.

Perhaps President Donald Trump’s most prominent example of this in his second term is through his February executive order on “Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias,” which created a task force that held its inaugural meeting last month. The task force’s initial meeting catalogued incidents from the Biden administration that supposedly constituted federal anti-Christian bias. After the meeting, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins sent a department-wide email asking employees to “submit any instance of anti-Christian discrimination” within the VA, citing “any retaliatory actions taken in response to religious holiday observances” and “any observations of mistreatment for not participating in events or activities inconsistent with Christian views” as examples.

Specific Biden-era examples cited in the executive order and the task force’s meeting range from the specific to the symbolic. For example, Trump’s executive order accuses the Biden administration of “targeting peaceful Christians” by charging some anti-abortion protestors for violating the 1994 federal law that prohibits “violent, threatening, damaging, and obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain, or provide reproductive health services.”

The executive order also faults Biden for observing the Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31, 2024 — a date that happened to coincide with Easter Sunday. Of course, Transgender Day of Visibility has been observed on March 31 every year since 2009, up to and including all four years of Biden’s presidency. But that does not seem to figure into the Trump administration’s critique.

Liberty University’s provost, Scott Hicks, spoke at the task force’s kickoff meeting, citing his school’s $14 million fine for sexual assault-related campus safety violations as evidence of disparate treatment. Hicks didn’t contest the actual safety violations. He simply argued that the high fines were evidence of anti-Christian bias.

I agree that our Constitution requires that our government not show privilege to any religious organization or group. Past administrations, both Republican and Democratic, have created multifaith advisory councils to strengthen the partnership between the federal government and faith-based organizations that can better serve communities and advance the common good. This is a worthwhile goal that is altogether different than the misguided focus of Trump’s task force.

Trump’s supposed zeal for protecting Christians’ freedom of religion seems limited to supporting the political preferences of his voters. When Rev. William Barber II and others prayed in the Capitol Rotunda a few weeks ago to protest planned cuts in the federal budget that would disproportionately harm people experiencing poverty and hunger, Capitol Police arrested them for “crowding, obstructing, and incommoding,” as demonstrations in congressional buildings are prohibited by law. The fact that their protest was motivated by sincere Christian faith conviction did not protect them.

I find it unlikely that Trump will be in any hurry to pardon Rev. Barber the way he pardoned those prosecuted for blockading abortion clinics. Likewise, Trump is unlikely to extend these privileges to Christian organizations such as Church World Service and World Relief, who have worked with the government for decades to resettle refugees, motivated by the belief that the Bible commands us to “welcome the stranger.” Those organizations and others have had their refugee resettlement grants abruptly terminated, requiring them to lay off staff and stop much of their work.

Now, in criticizing the hypocrisy and cruelty of the current administration, it’s important to avoid falling into some of the same patterns we’re pointing out. I’m not saying Trump’s actions constitute anti-Christian bias, per se. Perhaps some of them were, on paper, defensible. But if the Trump administration were consistently applying its stated criteria for what constitutes anti-Christian bias, examples like these might reasonably apply. The discrepancy gives the game away, revealing an administration whose true commitment is to reward its supporters and punish its opponents. 

In this case, the administration is rewarding and prioritizing Christians whose main characteristic is not a clear set of theological beliefs, but partisan beliefs favored by the administration. This is enabled and compounded by a posture of victimization that has become a core feature of the right-wing Christian movement, a view that is almost impossible to reconcile with the reality that white Christians are firmly in the majority and often enjoy a privileged American position.

Even worse, recent research from social scientists suggests that white Christian claims about anti-Christian bias in the United States are likely to be associated with the idea of anti-white bias. The study’s authors conclude that their research suggests that

“expressing concern for anti-Christian bias can be interpreted as signaling allegiance to white people … rallying around anti-Christian bias can serve as a ‘dog whistle’ signaling support for people concerned about changes in America’s racial makeup, as well.” 

It is also essential to point out the hypocrisy of setting up a task force around anti-Christian bias while being silent about religious communities who have faced growing and alarming degrees of real bias and violence, namely Jewish and Muslim Americans.

I joined a diverse cross section of Christian leaders in denouncing this hypocrisy in a sign on letter that reads:

We reject the proposition that there is widespread persecution of Christians in the United States. … Marshalling the resources of the federal government for a nonexistent threat is a gross misuse of taxpayer resources, especially when there has been a rise in not just bias but hate-based violence against Jewish, Muslim, and other religious communities. We fear that the ‘anti-Christian Bias Task Force’ will be weaponized to privilege one tradition within Christianity over others, ironically creating anti-Christian bias even as it claims to combat it. We are also aware of how claims of “anti-Christian bias” are shown to provide cover for white supremacy.

While the administration continues to harass universities who they say failed to protect their Jewish students in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, it has said or done little to address the root causes of rising antisemitic hatred and violence, including by failing to prosecute or increase accountability for groups and individuals who promulgate hatred that can often lead to violence.

The First Amendment’s free exercise clause protects citizens’ right to practice their religion as they please. But this right has limitations. Courts have established that religious practice cannot violate “public morals” or a “compelling” government interest. For example, in 1944, the Supreme Court “held that a state could force the inoculation of children whose parents would not allow such action for religious reasons … the state had an overriding interest in protecting public health and safety.”

To go back to some of the examples above, the courts have upheld laws that say that people should be allowed to procure reproductive health services without being physically blocked by protestors, even if the protestors are motivated by their faith. And religious protestors who are compelled to bring their witness to the Capitol Rotunda equally know that the government can arrest them for doing so. The fundamental ethical premise is that my freedoms end where they actively infringe on someone else’s rights. 

The Bible does not teach that we need not fear running afoul of earthly laws as we seek to follow Jesus — quite the opposite! In 2 Timothy, Paul tells us that “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (3:12). Jesus himself tells us, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:10). This is not an argument justifying the persecution of Christians. Instead, it is to clarify that Christians who look to the government to shield their religious practice or privilege them above other faiths are pursuing an ideological agenda, not a biblically grounded one.

The anti-Christian bias task force opens a danger reminiscent of Christians under the rule of Emperor Constantine, who made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire after he converted, effectively coopting and hijacking the Christian movement. Whenever faith becomes synonymous with empire it loses its prophetic zeal and faithfulness. The state should never oversee the separation of the sheep from the goats, otherwise it engages in idolatry. Why would we trust the government to ascertain who constitutes a true or real Christian, particularly given the vast differences in belief, tradition, and interpretation across the Christian faith? The current administration seemingly equates Christians with the faith of Rev. Paula White and Rev. Robert Jeffress. But where does that then leave the authentic faith of Bishop Mariann Budde and Bishop William Barber?

The good news is recent public polling shows an overwhelming majority of Christians, including two out of every three white evangelicals, –do not support “the establishment of a federal task force that focuses exclusively on discrimination against Christians rather than discrimination against all religions.” While this data is encouraging, it also speaks to the need for those of us in the often quiet majority to become much louder about our concerns and commitment to both religious pluralism and freedom. Together, we must champion a government that protects the rights of all people to practice their faith freely, and that includes the right not to subscribe to any faith at all. I may strongly disagree with the beliefs of many conservative Christians who support Trump, but I will defend their right to exercise their faith just like everyone else, as long as they don’t unduly infringe on the rights of others. We should especially object to the ways that the Trump administration is using the pretense of defending religious freedom to consolidate its power and reward its supporters while punishing its enemies. Christianity must stop being abused as an ideological instrument for power. Instead, we must serve as salt and light, protecting religious liberty for all and building a more just and inclusive democracy that works for everyone, whatever their faith may be.