In light of Attorney General Barr's egregious testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday May 1, 2019, we must use a moral lens to see clearly what is happening with our government.

For Christians in particular, the acceptance of the Trump Administration's attacks on the truth are morally indefensible, especially when they are excused by Faustian bargains for political agendas and power.

Faith is now at stake.

Democracy is now at stake.

Personal integrity is now at stake.

The evidence of evil is revealed by the Mueller Report. The evidence of conscience must now be revealed by us.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Holy Week for Christians represents a dramatic movement from pain to hope. We deeply feel and lament the pain Jesus Christ endured for us, but we also feel our personal pain and the world’s pain. Then we rejoice as that pain gives way to the eternal hope that is always available to us through the resurrection — a hope that is not just for ourselves but for the world. We say, “Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!” with a joy that surpasses understanding.

We see both the pain and the hope that Holy Week exemplifies all around us. The pain is everywhere. Just this week, we seem to be seeing an attorney general picked to protect the president do just that in ways that could be deeply corrosive to the long-term health of our democracy. That same attorney general also demonstrating his loyalty to the president by helping enforce his shameful, sinful, and cruel immigration policies, making it easier now for asylum seekers to be detained indefinitely while their cases are adjudicated.

We see the continuing open wounds of structural racism, patriarchy, and other forms of oppression exacerbated by the current administration and far too many of our fellow citizens. We see Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and other forms of hatred practiced more virulently and openly than at any time in recent memory. Every day it seems we get new scientific information or data from observing the weather that reinforces the inescapable fact that we are running out of time to avoid the most catastrophic levels of climate change, and that those already most vulnerable in societies around the world will be first and most affected by it. We also see crowd-funding campaigns for people trying to pay for medical procedures or insulin and hear stories of people who died because they couldn’t afford the treatment they needed.

And yet, Easter is a desperately needed reminder every year that pain, loss, and death don’t get the final word. The resurrection of Jesus Christ teaches us that there always is and always will be hope — we do not carry that hope in vain. And that resurrection hope is one we can see mirrored in our lives and current events, if we know where to look.

The Parkland students continue to give me hope, speaking and acting after the horrible loss of their classmates to gun violence in 2018. Like many of you, I was watching and listening very carefully to the students who were speaking out and mobilizing after 17 of their friends, classmates, teachers, and coaches were killed in another mass shooting with an assault weapon. Their voices have continued to spread across the country. Their shared values are serving to preserve and protect lives, to shine a light on what needs to change with our gun laws and regulations, and to make me hope that we will eventually win this moral and political battle.

Women who marched into the streets after the inauguration and many who then headed toward becoming new elected officials in the midterm elections of 2018 have been one of the most powerful and hopeful signs in these dangerous times. So have the women who have had the courage to stand up to sexual harassment and assault, creating the #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements, shining a light on our patriarchal culture.

One of the most powerful signs of hope are all of the young people of color standing up for what is right and for a better future for their children, despite the odds against them, in movements like Black Lives Matter, which gives many of us a hopeful vision of long-term racial progress, right in the face of the repressive racism of the current regime. I also find hope in the black pastors who are willing to speak truth to power to protect these young people both in their churches and beyond the pulpit, offering both salt in the streets and light to the society.

So even when things seem at their most hopeless, when we feel as Jesus’ disciples and loved ones felt on Good Friday, we remember that hope isn’t just a feeling that comes and goes. Hope is so much more than optimism. It is a decision we make based on what we call faith, and it’s a decision we can and need make each day. Or, as my dear friend, evangelist Tony Campolo, loves to preach, “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s comin!” So Happy Easter to all of you. Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There are new voices on religion and politics — and they’re coming from the Democratic, and not the Republican side. For example, the first millennial candidate for president, the mayor of a midsize town in the conservative Midwestern state of Indiana, a gay, married man named Pete Buttigieg has been making the rounds talking about what his faith means to him.

Most of us being lifted up as representatives of the “religious left” by reporters discussing the fresh words of Mayor Pete, are not really comfortable with the term “left,” as that is not how we define ourselves. We don’t believe in folding our religion around political ideology — as we see the religious right shamelessly doing every day in their uncritical support of Donald Trump — but rather want to take our commitments as followers of Jesus and as believers in the scriptures into our public life in ways that are willing to challenge all sides. Don’t go right, don’t go left; go deeper into Jesus.

But a whole new and fresh conversation about religion and politics has begun in this election season as we head toward 2020, most prominently right now by a 36-year-old millennial mayor from the conservative Midwest Rust Belt, a Democrat and married gay man, speaking the kind of language that can change old narratives and national conversations. We worship a God who is full of surprises.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The combined forces of white nationalism, white supremacy, and white power pose the greatest terrorist threat now to America’s safety, and the greatest political threat to genuine democracy around the world.

Donald Trump has proved his identification with white nationalism from his demonizing of immigrants, to making his anti-immigrant lies the central message of his midterm election strategy, to deciding to make his symbolic wall the heart of his vision and legacy, to his anti-Muslim ban, to his expressed hostility and falsehoods toward the Muslim religion, to beginning his political career with championing the racialized birther movement seeking to undermine the citizenship and credibility of Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States — the list goes on.

Donald Trump is an evangelist of white nationalism and white supremacy and, therefore, his message must be rejected on grounds of faith by responsible Christians around the world and here in the U.S. And the bargain for power made by the white evangelical leaders who unquestioningly support Donald Trump must become a debate within the American church — the integrity of our commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ is clearly now at stake.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The declaration of a state of emergency by the President is an alarming abuse of executive power, an executive overreach that disrespects and circumvents the authority of Congress over public spending decisions. This presidential circumvention of the legislative branch is a breach of over 200 years of the norms, practices, and precedents upheld in the Constitution.

 The Reclaiming Jesus elders have called for “national prayer and fasting” to begin on March 6th, Ash Wednesday, and to continue throughout the season of Lent. The elders pray that these practices would foster “solidarity with the most vulnerable,” “spiritual vigilance,” and “availability” to respond to crises they see coming in 2019, where executive overreach that threatens our constitutional checks and balances and the rule of law could compound the crises that are ongoing for immigrants, families of color and our most vulnerable people.

 In summarizing their goals for the season of repentance, the elders hoped that Christians would “remain steadfast in their faith and engage with the deepening challenges our nation faces.”

 http://reclaimingjesus.org/sites/default/files/downloads/rj_call_to_pryaer_fasting_and_action.pdf

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

2019 marks the 400th anniversary of the first African slaves sold into human bondage in Jamestown, Va., in August 1619. Although President trump acknowledged other anniversaries during his State of the Union speech--the 75th Anniversary of of the Invasion of Normandy and the 50th Anniversary of the first moon landing--not one word was spoken about the pernicious practice of enslaving our brothers and sisters and its origin in the state of Virginia.

There is great irony therefore, that the shameful charade of Blackface has brought about calls from both Democratic and Republican leaders for Virginia Governor Northam (D) to resign after admitting he had once darkened his face for the amusement of others. Resignation is not enough. Repentance is required. In this episode of The Soul of the Nation, Rev. Jim Wallis outlines the steps the Governor needs to take in order for true healing to begin.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Thanks be to God! For all the government workers and their families who will, hopefully, soon get their deeply deserved paychecks, we give thanks. For those of us who are constantly on the look out for what’s next on the breaking news horizon, this is a good place to start today: giving thanks to God. Let us first be thankful, then ask what is next.

Many of us called for prayer to reopen the government and legions of people lifted their prayers for lawmakers. Prayer is mysterious and moves in miraculous ways that we can never fully know or understand. But I believe that it was partly the work of prayer that helped some lawmakers stand firm and others step up against party loyalty. Prayer changes national narratives and directions. I believe that.

But Donald Trump has made his campaign, his presidency, his central message, and his vision for America about one thing: his wall.

What Trump’s wall is entirely about is his racially divisive message that appeals to his angry and fearful white base. The wall says we must be afraid of non-white people coming to America and this will keep them out of “our” country. The wall is just a symbol, a monument, a testimony to the worst of American white racism, fear, and hatred.

It is time for spiritual preparation for the crisis that is already here — especially for immigrants and people of color. It is a time for prayer and fasting and spiritual vigilance. We must undergird ourselves and our congregations for active and courageous responses — not from the left or the right, but from those who first and foremost are followers of Jesus. Stay tuned.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Apostle Paul tells us that we are engaged in spiritual warfare against principalities and powers and rulers of darkness in high places. Spiritual warfare is easily provoked between our “better angels,” as Lincoln contrasted against our worst demons in a time such as this.

The longest government shutdown in U.S. history reveals the brokenness of our systems, the danger of a strong man exploiting that brokenness instead of trying to fix it, and the suffering of countless people, always beginning with the most vulnerable. It also painfully shows Washington’s current habit of blaming instead of solving problems, which has left our politics both polarized and paralyzed.

in the midst of this government shutdown and the political and humanitarian crisis it has created, Sojourners is calling people of faith to prayer — as an action in itself and as a preparation for future action. We are asking every one of you, our readers and partners and allies to pray — in your daily lives and in your churches. Click here to offer your prayers for the Senate and specifically Leader Mitch McConnell, who has the authority to call for a vote that would end the shutdown and reopen the government. Sojourners is ready and willing to collect and deliver your prayers to your senators and to McConnell in person here in Washington, D.C.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Donald Trump’s wall is obviously a terrible idea: It’s both impractical and ineffective — and more importantly, it’s immoral. Building Trump’s wall would be building a 2,200-mile-long monument to racism.

Racism is always based on lies; it always has been and always will be. We saw that again in Donald Trump’s address to the nation on last week. It was more of the same lies he has used since he announced his presidential candidacy in 2015.

Trump is holding the most vulnerable people hostage as he shuts down the government for a vanity project that experts agree has no possibility of keeping us safer. Soon, the most basic needs of food and shelter will be withheld from the very people Jesus tells us should our top priority: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the prisoner.

It’s time for Christians to show the strength of our convictions and put an early end to this poisonous racial project once and for all: Trump’s wall would indeed be a monument to our worst instincts in this nation. Therefore Christians must say that Trump’s wall will not be built on our watch, not this week, not this year, not ever.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this season of Advent and Christmas, Donald Trump poses a clear and unambiguous choice for Christians and all people of conscience.

Jesus says, “welcome the stranger." Donald Trump, in great contrast, enacts policies that inflict trauma, pain, danger, and even death on the ones Jesus tells us to welcome. And the evangelical Christian leaders who support Donald Trump have absolutely nothing to say. Ask them this question, “What about Jesus?”

To the objections those white evangelical supporters of the president might raise, there’s a fairly clear response we can give as people of faith: We recognize the importance of upholding just laws and protecting our border, but migrants have a legal right to seek asylum and pose no real danger to America. Beyond the letter of the law, as Christians we are called to uphold the higher law of imago dei, that we are all made in the image and likeness of God, and the command of Matthew 25, that we treat the most vulnerable as we would treat Christ himself.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.