It’s fitting.
Some time back a good friend asked if I’d do a special report on Satanism for Torch Report 666. We laughed about it, and I said maybe. It seems remarkably fitting that the front page headline news on The Hill this morning was this:
I know a great many Americans are excited and thoroughly grateful about this development, giving praise to God for Trump’s leadership, and celebrating the long overdue reconciliation to traditional American values. I agree.
However, as covered in a recent series of reports, I believe this is a slippery slope. Indeed, I believe this is a very slippery slope, but not for the reasons you might think.
To spare the need for reiterating much of what I’ve recently documented and explained, I’d point your attention to the reports below. The common theme among them pushes three important distinctions:
The Founding Fathers made an explicit effort not to include Christianity in either the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the United States.
They did this knowingly and intentionally, even though the majority of them were in fact men of strong Christian faith.
The reason was simple and perfectly logical: they understood the government should have no power to push a religion or infringe upon personal convictions.
As discussed during that series of reports, I understand that this is an uncomfortable reality for many Christians—and yet it is reality just the same. Tackling the debate over whether or not we are meant to be a “Christian Nation” is equally uncomfortable, and I received no shortage of blowback on the assertion that, upon reviewing the documents to ascertain the Founders’ intent, the answer is unequivocally no.
To get up to speed on this conversation, please review the following reports:
As covered by The Hill, while speaking at the time-honored National Prayer Breakfast, Donald Trump said he was going to establish a commission on religious liberty that “will work tirelessly to uphold this most fundamental right.” Good.
His plan is to appoint Pam Bondi, the recently confirmed Attorney General, to a task force assigned to “eradicate anti-Christian bias” and stop “all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government.” Good.
Trump said that he also intends to create a White House Faith Office, led by his personal religious adviser Rev. Paula White, who is a television evangelist who pushes “prosperity theology.” Hmmm.
More on this lady and her way of thinking in a moment.
Trump’s vision, in his own words, seems perfectly sincere:
“While I’m in the White House, we will protect Christians in our schools, in our military, in our government, in our workplaces, hospitals and in our public squares. And we will bring our country back together as one nation under God.”
Do we need to protect Christians from persecution in the public square? Well, unfortunately, yes. Christians have been mercilessly mocked, shunned, and ostracized by liberalized American culture for decades—at least in some places, though certainly not all. I doubt people in the Bible Belt have felt an equal level of persecution.
But let’s just cut to the chase here:
Should people be free to share and talk about their faith, without fear of being fired or flagged for differential treatment by their employers?
Well, let’s think it through.
What if a Buddhist had a Buddha statue at their desk and shared the secrets of mindfulness meditation with a stressed out coworker—would you be okay with that?
What if a Hindu displayed a portrait of Ganesha and shared testimony with a teammate about how praying to Ganesha had removed countless obstacles in their life—would you be okay with that?
Let’s take it one step further:
What if a Muslim member of the team quietly and dutifully dropped to perform Salah prayers, and when a curious coworker asked about it, they explained they were praying for blessings upon the office—would you be okay with that?
THINK ABOUT IT.
I intentionally included images with those examples, to emphasize just how foreign different religions feel to the average American. You might take a moment to ponder each picture and take note of any thoughts or emotions that may come up.
Now consider the fact that there are 1.2 BILLION Hindus in the world, and approximately 1.9 BILLION Muslims.
That’s over 3 BILLION people who believe very, very differently than most Americans. But, to be fair, we must also acknowledge there are millions of devout Hindus and Muslims right here in the good ol’ U. S. of A. This is an undeniable fact.
All combined, these two groups total nearly 8 million Americans. (7,823,884)
Think about it.
Are these 8 million people a threat to our nation?
Before you answer, consider these headlines:
From the Muslim side:
Trump earns endorsement from 'highly respected' Muslim leaders
'Muslims for Trump' Launches Initiatives in Key Battleground States
Are you shocked?
In the 2024 election, Donald Trump won the popular vote by approximately 2.5 million votes. He did this largely by building support among various groups that have previously been a sure bet for Democrats, including Black, Latinos, Hindus, Muslims, Atheists, and many others.
The takeaway should be clear: these people are our political allies.
That’s why I so painstakingly made the effort to explain the dangers of religious division in those prior reports. This fragile coalition is necessary to restoring our Constitutional Republic. We cannot win elections if we allow ourselves, as liberty loving Americans of all different convictions, to be religiously divided.
FACT.
Now then, let’s circle back to Trump’s intent to re-unite our country as “one nation under God.” Please note that, following in the footsteps of the Founding Fathers, this statement is explicitly not Christian in nature.
Saying “one nation under God,” is very different than saying “one nation under Christ”—and this critical distinction is precisely why the Founders phrased the statement as they did. It was no accident, and the reason for it is profound.
People of all different faiths believe in God, admittedly in their own unique ways.
Rather than bickering about whether or not these different faiths are believing in the same God, or in the right God—which is a perfect recipe for division—we’d all be wise to humbly accept the absolute sincerity of these different beliefs.
At the biological level, the neurological impact of faith looks the same, and for the record, the positive impacts of faith are scientifically founded:
What religion does to your brain — “…the neurophysiological effects of religious belief are scientific facts that can be accurately measured.”
Influence of religious aspects and personal beliefs on psychology — “…among religious parameters, the individual cognitive aspects of religion, but not the organizational ones, show the greatest effect.”
Religious and Spiritual Biomarkers in Both Health and Disease — “…the relationship of religion and spirituality with healing is a remarkable and unanticipated current developed within academic medicine.”
Effects of Religion and Faith on Mental Health — “…post-analysis of 24 studies and a systematic review of another 200 showed a consistent and consistently positive relationship between mental health and religion. Moreover, a total of 454 more recent studies describe how Religion/Spirituality have been found helpful for people coping with various stressful situations and symptoms, natural disasters and diseases, and various adverse life situations, bereavement and end-of-life conditions.”
The Proof is in the Pudding.
God is good. Faith is good. Life is good.
People of wildly different religious beliefs can all agree that this is true.
People of wildly different religious beliefs can also agree on the principles of limited government, fiscal restraint, individual rights, and personal freedoms.
Has anything I’ve said been wrong?
It may be controversial to stand up for people of different faiths, but I believe this is in fact the very core of what “religious freedom” actually means.
The alternative, which is a state promoted religion, is antithetical to human freedom.
Let us never lose sight of that fact!
Now then… about Paula White and the White House Office of Faith… there’s just something icky to me about TV evangelists oozing their charisma upon the desperate and needy in order to enrich their own coffers.
“Give us some money, and God will bless you!”
“If you give us your very last dollar, he will bless you even more!!”
PUKE.
Per Paula White’s website, you need to put “first things first” and be obedient, honoring God by sending her your “first fruits”—aka your cold, hard, pre-taxed cash.
Buyers beware, Paula White, boasting one of the largest congregations in the United States, has a track record of squandering contributions on trivial things and not paying the church’s bills. This has led to bankruptcy and foreclosure on several church properties. For example, when White was the senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Center, the Evangelical Christian Credit Union claims the church owed $29 million.
Where did all the money go?
Ironically, in 2007, when Republican Senator Chuck Grassley was charged with investigating the “alleged opulent spending” of six media-based ministries, he found that the church Paula White operated used tax-exempt ministry funds to pay nearly $900,000 for a waterfront mansion, spent over a million dollars on salaries for family members, and also paid for the Whites’ private jet.
All in the name of the Lord, of course.
Kind of leaves a nasty taste in your mouth, doesn’t it?
The point I want to leave you with is this: to believe that Christians are somehow morally superior to other liberty loving Americans is painfully naive. Christians are just as fallible and easily corrupted as every other human on the planet.
Let’s not try to pretend otherwise, and by extension, let’s not confuse our religious and political missions. As I’ve been saying, to do so would be the peril of our Republic.
To be continued…
Share this post