SCARY AND SCARIER
- Karen Levi
- Apr 20
- 3 min read
Trump has committed numerous egregious acts. Our Democracy is losing at the moment. The country endures an autocratic presidency, the likes of which has never occurred in our history. Scary gets scarier. What we thought was scariest becomes mundane which is frightful.
In the guise of protecting and promoting religious freedom, Trump has elevated the White House Faith office. No longer does the "office" function to direct federal funds to faith-based groups and to bring various religious leaders to the White House. Pastors and administration officials now infuse their brand of conservative Christianity into policy and executive orders. It is no accident that the new actual office is in the West Wing. Non-denominational services and specific religious rituals have been observed, over the years, in the White House, to honor our heterogenous population. However, what is occurring now is far more insidious than Passover Seders and Iftars which previous presidents marked.
Trump courted the evangelical segment of the country during his first term. The courtship is over, and the marriage has begun. The president has been elevated to a venerated position by Christian supporters and leaders when he survived the assassination attempt. Simultaneous to the bullet grazing his ear, people against Trump knew religion would be infused into the situation. And so it was--Trump himself said, he had been saved by "the grace of almighty God."
This is the man who never had time for religion until he could use it for political expediency. Therein lies his pernicious genius. His brain must function as an ego machine, immediately processing incidents for personal gain. During his first term, he sold bibles for $60. Now, one of his advisors takes communion daily in the White House, and offers it to anyone who might want to share in the practice. There was not one Easter celebration but an entire "Holy Week," supposedly as a rebuttal to Biden, who actually was a practicing Catholic. It should be noted that our previous president practiced his religion quietly.
Most insidious is the fake attempt at providing religious freedom through the new faith office. If the president's religious advisors truly believed in the right of all Americans to practice their faith--or not--freely, we would not see Muslims arrested and imprisoned under the guise of decreasing antisemitism. The new office is "devoted to combating antisemitic, anti-Christian, and additional forms of anti-religious bias." I think the White House pastor means--anti Chriistian fundamentalism, translated as any policy giving rights to those who do not adhere to a conservative Christian lifestyle.
To persecute people from one religious group in the guise of protecting another only causes more hatred, specifically in the case of persecuting Muslims to help Jewish students on college campuses. Most Jews I know shudder at this reasoning. Historically we know; this will only increase antisemitism by reinforcing false ideas that Jews dominate the world, have special privileges, and are against Muslims exercising their free speech rights.
What is crystal clear to me is the hypocrisy. In the name of all that is just and fair, the cruelty of the Trump administration is not Christian, for example the abolishment of A.I.D., the deportation of Hispanic immigrants to El Salvador without court proceedings, severe cuts to medical research, efforts to rescind environmental protections, and firing public servants.
Finally, if Trump had actually found faith, he would admit to his crimes, stop the lies, and cease executive orders that are based in racism, sexism, and white supremacy.
Amen.
©Karen Levi 2025
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