The power of faith meets the corruption of power

I am an American who believes President Donald Trump and his political collaborators and enablers have done catastrophic damage to our country. And I am a Christian who believes that Trump’s religious right collaborators and enablers have done great damage to Christian witness. 

I am hopeful that the upcoming midterm elections will be a turning point away from both MAGA destruction and the religious right’s corruption.  

And not a moment too soon.  

What could make people more cynical about politics than Republicans who loudly declare their devotion to the Constitution but abandon the rule of law, embrace or excuse Trump’s self-dealing and devote themselves to making it harder for people to vote? And what could make people more skeptical about Christianity than religious leaders who pose as champions of truth while embracing or excusing Trump’s lying, cruelty and relentless attacks on the dignity of his political opponents?  

How about leaders who preach that political engagement is a Christian duty, but then viciously smear Christians who don’t share their belief that Trump was anointed by God? 

The attacks on Christians like U.S. Senate candidates James Talarico and Adam Hamilton — a Presbyterian seminarian and the pastor of the nation’s largest Methodist Church — have been revolting and revealing. 

MAGA pastors and pundits have savaged the faith of Talarico, who has respectfully challenged Republican colleagues in the state legislature who fly a banner of Christianity while enacting harmful policies. For that he has been insulted as a “fake” Christian and much worse — a “tool for the devil” and........

© The Hill