When Faith and Politics Conflict
United Methodist Insight July 3, 2025
Shutterstock Photo
This week we lead United Methodist Insight with a collection of thoughtful essays from Christians who have viewed U.S. governance through a lens of faith and found the current political situation far removed from the gospel of Jesus Christ that it pretends to follow. Consider these writers’ perspectives:
· A Faith-Based Call to Prepare for What Comes Next. Civic activist Stuart C. Lord contends that churches should prepare now to serve as advocates for the most vulnerable in American society and as de-escalators in times of civic tensions.
· Wednesday Morning: Politics of Love? “Everyone serving in office right now who voted for the passing of this horrific federal budget is trying to return us to a time where people had fewer rights than they presently enjoy,” writes the Rev. Tripp Hudgins.
· How to Challenge MAGA’s Biblical Authoritarianism. “Put simply, any time the Bible is used to lord power over others, it functions not as an authoritative text, but as an authoritarian text,” contends Dr. Drew J. Strait.
· When Jesus Met Jefferson. “The next time you’re at a church service that plays “God Bless America” between scripture readings, remember this: the most dangerous thing America's founders ever did wasn’t picking up muskets. It was picking up pens and declaring liberty,” writes the Rev. Richard Bryant.
· Subvert Fear with Grace. In this time of new fearmongering in the United States, Northern Illinois Bishop Dan Schwerin recalls how Japanese Americans survived their World War II internment by creating art out of tragic circumstances.
News about the clash of faith with government:
· Pastor Films as Masked Federal Agents Arrest Iranian Christian Asylum-Seekers in LA by Fiona André
· Prayer in School Divides Americans as Texas Law Takes Effect by Bob Smietana
· ‘Great White Christian Freakout’ Shifted America, Jones Says by Jeff Brumley
Shutterstock Photo from a Boston demonstration March, 2025
A Rebellious Fourth of July
One of the first things I learned in Girl Scouts – after how to make a bed with hospital corners (remember those before fitted sheets?) – was proper etiquette for the American flag. Never let the flag touch the ground. Raise it in the morning and take it down at dusk (unless lighted). Place your right hand over your heart when the flag passes or take off your hat if you’re a man not in uniform. Dispose of soiled, torn or tattered flags by burial or burning. Never use the flag as a background for advertising.
Most of all, I learned never to fly Old Glory upside down, because that was the maritime/military distress signal.
This July 4, however, I’m going to turn my garden-sized US flag upside down to mark Independence Day. I bought a new one just for the purpose, because our nation is in deep distress.
With every new outrage coming out of Washington, I think of my dearly beloved father, Army Technical Sgt. George E. Buie Jr., a decorated veteran of World War II. He died much too young at age 45 from an apparent pulmonary embolism brought on by heart disease. I was 18, in my freshman year at college, and his death devastated our family. Decades later, based on memories of my father’s quick temper and sometimes erratic behavior, I’ve concluded that he was also affected by undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder from his wartime experiences. After all, he saw his best friend blown to bits beside him and later he was left with a permanent disability after being shot by a Japanese sniper while on patrol in Burma (now Myanmar).
Daddy never talked much about his wartime experiences. Instead, he drilled my younger brother and me in citizenship. He loved the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. He and Mother voted in every election, no matter how seemingly small. Next to his Christian faith and his family, Daddy loved the United States of America. In his eyes, the America he fought for, the America he loved, was the world’s beacon of liberty and justice for all.
Now my father’s America is being torn apart by cruel, greedy, power-made forces. Actions that resemble those against which my father fought are happening every day under this current federal administration. Actions that pervert the gospel he knew, taught and loved, actions that have besmirched the flag he defended, are running rampant.
So there’s little for me to celebrate this Fourth of July. Instead, I’ll continue to sound the alarm that authoritarianism imperils our democracy, and to defend the principles on which this nation was founded.
It’s what my father taught me to do.
– Cynthia B. Astle, Editor & Founder, United Methodist Insight