Some lies are more damaging than others; they do more harm, cause more destruction, generate deeper wounds.
These ideas don’t just distort the truth—they leave people in peril.
There are few falsehoods more injurious in America right now, than the one claiming that God belongs to Republicans.
The Christian Right has perpetuated this fake news story for a few decades with great fervor, but until 2016, they’ve never been given this high a platform to disseminate such disinformation; with megachurch pastors, partisan news networks, multitudes of bot accounts, and White House spokespeople—all conspiring to steal faith from the hands of scores of millions of faithful non-Republicans.
Somehow this calculated lie took root in the Presidential campaign: making Hillary Clinton, a devoted, lifelong practicing Christian’s faith a complete non-story—while miraculously painting a three-time married, serial philanderer who never had a religious thought in his life, as a Christian.
He (a man with complete disregard of the life and ministry of Jesus) got to wear him like a rented tuxedo and claim full ownership—while she, (a committed Christian) was treated as faithless.
The same has been true in American politics, with the Republican Party brazenly claiming a monopoly on spirituality, morality, and religious conviction—while Democrats, Independents, and politically unaffiliated folks of deep, enduring faith, have allowed themselves to be marginalized by remaining silent or refusing to publicly contest them.
This is why many of the 81 percent of White Evangelicals hitched their wagon to a completely Godless man: he lied repeatedly and loudly about his religion, and they heard no dissenting voice across the aisle resounding enough to be heard above it.
We need to name this lie and push back hard against it:
God does not belong to Republicans.
Jesus is not the property of white Bible Belt Evangelicals.
The GOP platform doesn’t have the market cornered on morality.
There are millions of Liberals and Moderates whose spiritual lives are as vibrant as their counterparts on the Right. They pray and worship and study, they believe in a power beyond themselves, and they daily endeavor to bring their personal convictions to bear on the world around them.
A disparate swath of humanity in this country; people of every color, gender identity, sexual orientation, worldview, religious tradition, nation of origin—and yes political affiliation—are guided by a deep and abiding faith that is the lens through which they view everything.
The Progressive Church in all corners of this country is doing incredible, life-affirming work; reflecting the compassionate and generous heart of Jesus for the poor, the hungry, the hurting, and the marginalized.
The idea that Jesus lives only in the heart of Republicans is flat-out heresy and it needs to be loudly refuted by the non-GOP faithful who aren’t content to be spoken for by anyone else, and who aren’t willing to be defined by a calculated lie.
White Republicans are welcome to claim faith, but they don’t get to claim it exclusively.
They don’t get to write the narrative of who loves God and who doesn’t.
They don’t get to solely own personal spirituality, religious fervor, or moral conviction.
We who are faithful and who are not Republican—need to stop making it so easy for them to do so.
