A coalition of hundreds of Christians — including a number of progressive Evangelical pastors, academics and denominational figures — has released a public letter urging fellow believers to raise their voices against what they characterize as authoritarian governance under President Donald Trump.
The statement, titled “A Call to Christians in a Crisis of Faith and Democracy,” debuted on Ash Wednesday and opens with a stark declaration: “We are facing a cruel and oppressive government,” began the letter, which is titled “A Call to Christians in a Crisis of Faith and Democracy” and was first published on Ash Wednesday.
In outlining their concerns, the signatories asserted that “citizens and immigrants being demonized, disappeared, and even killed” as “hard-won rights and freedoms” are eroding amid “a calculated effort to reverse America's growing racial and ethnic diversity,” the letter warned the U.S. is being pushed “toward authoritarian and imperial rule.”
The document further criticizes what it calls “white Christian nationalism,” describing it as a theological distortion that harms both the church and public life.
“What confronts us is not only an endangered democracy and the rise of tyranny,” it read. “It is also a Christian faith corrupted by the heretical ideology of white Christian nationalism, and a church that has often failed to equip its members to model Jesus's [sic] teachings and fulfill its prophetic calling as a humanitarian, compassionate, and moral compass for society.”
“Therefore, as Christians in the United States, representing the breadth of Christian traditions and one part of our nation's religiously plural society, we are compelled to speak out more boldly at this time.”
The letter grounds its arguments in theological themes, affirming God’s authority over nations and rulers, pointing to Jesus Christ as the ultimate revelation of God, emphasizing the Holy Spirit’s call to justice and truth, and citing biblical passages such as Micah 6:8 and Joshua 24:15.
Referring to Matthew 25:31-46, the statement describes the passage as Jesus' “final test of discipleship,” and argues that it teaches “that the measure of our faith is revealed in how we treat those who are hungry, thirsty, sick, strangers, or imprisoned.”
Support for the letter spans multiple denominations, including leaders and members from the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Moravians, Mennonite Church USA and the United Church of Christ (UCC), among others.
One of the prominent signatories is progressive Evangelical activist and author Shane Claiborne, who appeared in a promotional video for the statement. Claiborne also commented publicly on a recent anti-ICE demonstration at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, drawing a parallel to the New Testament account of Jesus driving merchants from the temple.
In a Jan. 21 post on X — one day before federal authorities arrested three individuals connected to that protest — Claiborne wrote: “Jesus literally staged a protest IN THE TEMPLE. Flipped some tables… and drove out the folks pretending to be holy,” Claiborne wrote in an X post on Jan. 21, a day before federal agents arrested three of the activists involved with the protest. “It seems pretty clear that one of the most offensive things to God is when people use religion to cover up their greed and bigotry. Rebuke it. In the name of Jesus.”
