#571: Tying Trump's Politics and Religion with Those of the Late Charlie Kirk
By Rudy Barnes, Jr., November 7, 2025
In the New York Times, Ben Rhodes summarized the politics of Trump as an unabashed quest for authoritarian power, while the Religious News Service has reported that in the weeks following the death of Charlie KIrk, that “Trump and his supporters have tried to make KIrk’s distorted Christian faith the bedrock of Trump’s authoritarianism.”
They have Ignored the moral imperative of Jesus in the greatest commandment to love God by loving your neighbors as yourself, even those you dislike. It’s a moral imperative as easy for Trump to ignore as the legal restraints of the Constitution. That put Trump on a level not only with kings and demagogues in autocracies but also with God in Christian democracies.
“If Kirk was a Christian evangelist, his call wasn’t to amplify the traditions and stories taught by Jesus like the greatest commandment.” Instead of accepting sinners and showing compassion on marginalized people, “Kirk antagonized transgender people and stoked Islamophobia, warning conservatives that Marxism and wok-ism were combining with Islamism to go after the American way of life.”
“Kirk’s words show that while he was certainly a missionary for conservative values, he was not a proponent of the universal teachings of Jesus. “That so many Christians aren’t scandalized by Kirk’s ascent to apostolic status speaks volumes about the Christian culture behind their silence or vocal approval.
‘Kirk’s cruel campaigning for conservatism is a formidable political force and has shaped what voters do at the ballot box and how they behave in their communities. Kirk’s Turning Point has promoted his distorted merger of Christianity and radical right politics into a danger that must be resisted. Until this consensus shifts, authoritarian elements will continue to thrive on it.”
Attempts to sanitize Kirk into a dedicated Christian demonstrate a perilous consensus among many Christians to make their faith the bedrock of authoritarianism, and it has corrupted the religious and political beliefs of many young people. But Charlie Cook is just the latest charlatan who has promoted a toxic mix of religion and politics in America.
The good news is that such radical religious and political beliefs are usually short term; but traditional churches are in a long term decline, leaving a religious and moral vacuum in America. The two elections of Trump are evidence that America has lost its moral compass, and that we need to hope for a new enlightenment to restore our altruistic morality.
American virtues need a strong dose of common sense and reason to prevent the crazy manifestations of religion and politics that have plagued our nation over the years. Moral standards in politics can be expected to change over time, but altruistic virtues of concern for others and humble service are eternal and needed to usher in a new enlightenment for America.
Notes:
In the New York Times Ben Rhodes summarized Trump’s politics as an “unabashed quest for authoritarian power.” Rhodes contributes to NBC News and MSNBC regularly as a political commentator. He is also a Crooked Media contributor, and co-host of the foreign policy podcast Pod Save the World. Religious News Service has reported that since Charlie Kirk’s death that Trump and his supporters have tried to make Kirk’s distorted Christian faith “the bedrock of Trump’s authoritarianism.” see also https//www.dailycardinal.com/article/2025/09/the-trump-administration-has-dangerously-distorted-the-line-between-faith-and-politics. Rudy Barnes, Jr., November 7, 2025
