'Long-term danger': Major backlash from staunch MAGA bloc hits Trump policy

When Speaker Mike Johnson posted a Bible verse after passing President Donald Trump's domestic policy bill, proclaiming "soli Deo Gloria" (glory to God alone), he sparked a powerful backlash among a massive group usually in lockstep with Trump.

Various Christian denominations — including those usually staunchly in Trump's corned — united in condemning the legislation as fundamentally opposed to core Bible teachings, New York Times columnist Esau McCaulley wrote.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops delivered a scathing critique, stating the bill includes "unconscionable cuts to health care and food assistance, tax cuts that increase inequality, immigration provisions that harm families and children, and cuts to programs that protect God's creation."

The National Baptist Convention offered a direct scriptural counterpoint, citing Psalm 82:3: "Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and needy." The group's comment stood in stark contrast to Johnson's selective biblical interpretation.

The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities particularly criticized the bill's approach to federal educational funding. They warned that "the emphasis on earnings as a measure of value risks penalizing students who pursue lower-paying public service roles — many of whom do so out of a deep sense of faith and calling."

Drawing on Frederick Douglass's powerful critique, the criticism exposes the administration's performative Christianity. Douglass described such religious performance: "Simply as a form of worship, an empty ceremony, and not a vital principle, requiring active benevolence, justice, love and goodwill towards man."

The theological critique goes deeper than policy disagreement. As the article argues, "Mr. Trump uses money and power to keep people in line," while Christian teaching calls for looking to "the interests of others, not himself."

The political implications are significant, McCaulley wrote.

Despite Trump receiving 59% of the Catholic vote and 82% of white evangelical votes in the previous election, this unified religious pushback could signal a profound shift, he wrote, suggesting this might represent "long-term danger for two pillars of Mr. Trump's coalition."

Ultimately, the piece calls for active resistance: "Christians have the resources to resist this tactic because we are taught to model our behavior on Christ, who looked to the interests of others, not himself."

The final message is both a challenge and an invitation: "It is up to the rest of the faithful to follow suit."