Over 70 black church leaders denounce the 'broken marriage' between evangelicals and the Republican Party

In an open letter published at the Religion News Service, 74 black church leaders expressed their appreciation to Christianity Today for taking a stand against President Trump by calling for his removal in a widely-read op-ed published in December.

"In a time when an estimated 70% of millennials no longer identify with Christianity and, as indicated in a previous issue, a resounding number of Generation Z’ers are twice as likely to become atheists, we cannot afford to sit back quietly and watch our faith be hijacked by those who are thirsty for political power," the letter read. "If we do, we will quickly develop what is described in the (Old Testament's) Book of Judges, 'a generation that knew not the Lord nor the work he has done.'"

The letter praised CT for "taking a stance in such a dire time as this," adding that CT's stance against Trump was consistent with its stance against Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

"You have in all transparency and consistency held our commanders in chief accountable for their amoral shortcomings, and that is very commendable," the letter declared.

"It has been said that 'the local church is the hope of the world, and it rests in the hands of its leaders,'" the letter continued. "If we truly believe that, then the local church can never be in a position to sacrifice its integrity and abandon all truth for the sake of political expediency. That is exactly what these 170 pastors have done by consistently justifying and excusing the behavior of the now-impeached president."

"This is what we’re seeing today in 21st century evangelicalism: a broken marriage between a radical faction of the local church and the extreme right-wing faction of the Republican Party."

Read the full open letter over at Religion News Service.