On Sunday, following the attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump , people gathered in churches, where hope for the country is found.
As the political climate of the United States has normalized extreme polarization, we are at a breaking point. Since the 2016 election and the shock of Trump’s presidency, a new kind of political division, that of anti-Trump or pro-Trump politics, has become the norm — and worse, normal to churches as well.
Many churches in the U.S. have become divided between speaking out politically or avoiding politics altogether. As the political situation in the U.S. signals to the entire globe that it is dire, with political violence intensifying, more churches must find their voice.
At the Saturday rally, moments before taking a dark turn, a local Ukrainian Catholic priest, Jason Charron, said the opening prayer. His prayer was for protection and unity in the country, and it was a timely message.
“My prayer was one of protection,” Charron told the Catholic News Agency. "My prayer there was for the restoration of right relationships in our society — relationships at the individual level, at the familial level, at the societal level, such that our nation would be made great again in God’s sight.
“All of this presupposes that people, first of all, begin to live their daily lives in accordance with God’s will,” Charron said — a necessary message to the divided country.
For many years, there has been a growing number of church leaders advocating from the pulpit how Christian values ought to inform congregants politically. Particularly since COVID-19 and the forced church closures that came with it, the political outspokenness of the church has grown even more important.
Historically, church leaders have been pivotal in promoting morality in government. The abolition of slavery, for instance, earned some of its first effective advocacy in the early 18th century by U.S. Quakers. More recently, the overturning of the pro-abortion Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade was largely promoted by Christian pro-life groups.
Churches have been foundational in developing culture and promoting moral good through virtue-driven laws ever since Puritans set up the first lasting European-based colony in North America. With that in mind, some churches are compelled to use moral judgment to promote or protest the laws that govern people. While it may seem dangerous to blur the lines of politics and religious institutions, historically, Christians have been mostly a blessing when they have influenced American politics. This is not to say that church denominations should control government, but instead that churches should not hesitate to make their voices heard.
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As the conservative journalist Andrew Breitbart once said, “Politics is downstream from culture, and to change politics, one must first change culture.” In turn, some institutions promoting morals ought to be upstream from culture, and churches should fill that role.
As more church leaders speak out about politics and denounce the division in both culture and the church, more hope can be found for the country.
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