<\/p>\n
Federal immigration officers deploy tear gas after the fatal shooting of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement observer on Jan. 24, 2026, in Minneapolis.<\/em> (AP Photo\/Abbie Parr)<\/p>\n WASHINGTON (RNS) \u2014 A group of nearly 400 prominent Christian leaders called President Donald Trump\u2019s administration \u201ccruel and oppressive\u201d and accused the government of being corrupted by an aberrant form of Christianity, in an Ash Wednesday (Feb. 18) statement.<\/p>\n The\u00a0statement, provided exclusively to Religion News Service in advance, has a list of signers that includes a mix of denominational leaders, seminary presidents, scholars and leaders of prominent congregations. In it, they urged fellow faithful to commit to \u201cgreater acts of courage to resist.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are facing a cruel and oppressive government; citizens and immigrants being demonized, disappeared, and even killed; the erosion of hard-won rights and freedoms; and a calculated effort to reverse America\u2019s growing racial and ethnic diversity \u2014 all of which are pushing us toward authoritarian and imperial rule,\u201d reads the letter, which organizers said was spearheaded by a group of Christian leaders who have been meeting regularly to discuss how to respond to the administration.<\/p>\n The document raises concerns about \u201can endangered democracy and the rise of tyranny\u201d and warns of a crisis born out of a \u201cChristian faith corrupted by the heretical ideology of white Christian nationalism, and a church that has often failed to equip its members to model Jesus\u2019s teachings and fulfill its prophetic calling as a humanitarian, compassionate, and moral compass for society.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe call on all Christians to join us in greater acts of courage to resist the injustices and anti-democratic danger sweeping across the nation,\u201d the letter reads. \u201cIn moments like this, silence is not neutrality \u2014 it is an active choice to permit harm.\u201d<\/p>\n The letter also appears to make a thinly veiled critique of House Speaker Speaker Mike Johnson, a Southern Baptist who published a\u00a0theological defense\u00a0of Trump\u2019s mass deportation efforts earlier this month. Whereas Johnson argues that the biblical call to welcome the stranger is directed to individual Christians instead of governments, the signers of the letter say otherwise.<\/p>\n Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., gestures as he meets with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026.<\/em> (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cJesus gives His final test of discipleship in Matthew 25:31-46, making clear that the measure of our faith is revealed in how we treat those who are hungry, thirsty, sick, strangers, or imprisoned,\u201d the letter reads. \u201cTo say, as some do, that this passage is only about taking care of fellow Christians is an incorrect theological interpretation. It is for the nations, ethnoi, for all peoples.\u201d<\/p>\n Signers include Bishop Vashti McKenzie, president of the National Council of Churches; Bishop Hope Morgan Ward of the United Methodist Church\u2019s Council of Bishops; the Rev. Jihyun Oh, stated clerk of General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA); Bishop Darin Moore, presiding prelate for the Mid-Atlantic Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church; David Emmanuel Goatley, president of Fuller Seminary; Jennifer Herdt, senior associate dean for academic affairs at Yale University Divinity School; the Rev. Corey D. B. Walker, dean of Wake Forest University School of Divinity; UMC Bishop Minerva Carca\u00f1o; the Rev. Otis Moss III of Trinity United Church of Christ; David Cortright, professor emeritus at the University of Notre Dame\u2019s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies; and the Rev. Randall Balmer, who holds the John Phillips Chair in Religion at Dartmouth College.<\/p>\n The signers also include several longtime faith-based activists, such as Bishop Dwayne Royster of Faith in Action, Pastor Shane Claiborne of Red Letter Christians, the Rev. Adam Russell Taylor of Sojourners and the Rev. Jim Wallis of Georgetown University\u2019s Center on Faith and Justice.<\/p>\n The statement adds to growing faith-led resistance to the president\u2019s agenda that has erupted over the past year, particularly in opposition to his immigration policies. In addition to\u00a0statements and sermons\u00a0issued by\u00a0religious leaders\u00a0\u2014 including Pope Leo XIV \u2014 condemning various policies, more than 100 clergy and faith leaders have been\u00a0arrested\u00a0while\u00a0protesting\u00a0Department of Homeland Security actions over the past year, and others have been pepper sprayed or\u00a0shot with pepper balls\u00a0and\u00a0pepper rounds.<\/p>\n In addition, dozens of denominations, religious groups and individual houses of worship \u2014 as well as several individual faith leaders \u2014 have\u00a0sued\u00a0the administration over the last year claiming violations to their religious freedom.<\/p>\n The letter outlines a series of theological principles, such as standing with vulnerable people, saying Christians must \u201cdefend immigrants, refugees, people of color, and all who are in harm\u2019s way.\u201d Citing various Scripture passages, signers also called on believers to love their neighbors, \u201cspeak truth to power,\u201d seek peace, \u201cdo justice,\u201d strengthen democracy, \u201cpractice hope\u201d and be \u201crooted and grounded in prayer and love.\u201d<\/p>\n The statement closes with a call to action and a spiritual warning.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we as Christians fail to speak and act now \u2014 clearly, courageously, and prophetically \u2014 we will be remembered not only for the injustices committed in our time, but for the righteous possibilities we allowed to die in our hands,\u201d the letter reads. \u201cHistory and future generations will record our choices, but the God of Heaven and Earth will judge our faithfulness.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of the letter\u2019s signers \u2014 leaders from Sojourners, Faith in Action and Georgetown University \u2014 also plan to hold an Ash Wednesday vigil outside the White House on Wednesday, where organizers say they will \u201cissue a moral call to repentance, love, and courageous action in a time of deep crisis for both faith and democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n RLC welcomes and encourages individuals who engage in critical thinking at the intersection of faith and justice to contribute to our blog. The views and opinions expressed by our blog authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of RLC, its staff, members, or officers.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WASHINGTON (RNS) \u2014 The statement\u2019s signers include a mix of denominational leaders, seminary presidents, scholars and leaders of prominent congregations. Federal immigration officers deploy tear gas after the fatal shooting of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement observer on Jan. 24, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo\/Abbie Parr) WASHINGTON (RNS) \u2014 A group of nearly 400<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[2964,5686,72,250,3838,174,1834,965],"class_list":["post-19663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-christian-living","tag-administration","tag-ash","tag-christian","tag-leaders","tag-resistance","tag-trump","tag-urge","tag-wednesday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}