Amid weekslong global conflict marked by political mockery of religion, faith leaders across the nation are turning up their stand against what many describe as President Donald J. Trump’s “war on divinity.”
During this week’s Moral Mondays rally — held at the former Black Lives Matter Plaza in Northwest D.C. — clergy, activists, and impacted families joined lead organizer and president of Repairers of the Breach, the Rev. Dr. William Barber, in a united call to reorder national priorities. At the top of the demand in question: for Congress to end the Trump-enforced war on Iran, which hit the two-month mark on April 28.
“What we are seeing, in many ways, is a war on divinity being waged by a narcissist who has some kind of God complex,” the bishop said on April 27. “We need true moral authority to stand against the policy violence that threatens lives here, at home, and around the world.”
As chants of resistance rang, Barber pulled no punches, delivering a candid yearn for “the tradition of nonviolent struggle” that he says is lacking in this nation’s leadership.
“Not just war is violence; denying health care is violence, denying child care is violence,” he continued, “and…an apathetic attitude that refuses to name all of these violent forms is also violence.”
Though the Moral Mondays Movement launched in 2013, weekly marches to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue began during Holy Week on March 30, convening organizers nationwide to challenge the war that, notably, never sought Congressional approval.
Public outrage and Democrats’ efforts to end the global conflict have seemingly fallen on sore ears within the GOP, evident by the fact that resolution bills designed to limit Trump’s war abilities have failed in the U.S. Senate a whopping four times.
What’s more, as major shifts in the global market show up in skyrocketing gas and energy prices, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth went as far as to invoke religion in a press briefing earlier this month, crediting “all glory” to God for America’s military actions in Iran.
“Any war of choice is by definition unjust, according to the Just War Doctrine of the Catholic Church; but the threat of total war is a direct violation of the specific teaching of the Second Vatican Council,” Barber rebuttaled, “when all, not some, of the church’s bishops gathered in Rome to consider what just war doctrine means in the modern world.”
As faith leaders remind, challenging Trump’s controversial acts exceeds the Feb. 28 war announcement.
Just this month, the Republican leader earned swift criticism across the board — including from the Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC) — for a since-deleted AI-generated photo of himself in the likeness of Jesus Christ, which he has since claimed was meant to depict him as a doctor.
“We name this for what it is: a troubling example drawn from the ‘Christian’ nationalist playbook, where faith is used to sanctify power rather than challenge it,” read the D.C.-based organization’s statement to The Informer. “It is not lost on the Progressive National Baptist Convention that Mr. Trump betrays the imitation of Christ in his rabid untruthfulness, unprecedented militarism, flagrant xenophobia, and disregard for those Jesus called ‘the least of these.’”
Thus, the call to action echoed from PNBC to the national Moral Mondays Movement, which spans 16 states and the District of Columbia.
“This moment calls for moral clarity. We call on pastors, faith leaders, and Christians across this nation, especially those who have remained silent, to speak with courage and conviction,” PNBC’s statement continued. “Silence in the face of such distortion is not neutrality, it is complicity. To conflate His sacred identity with any political figure crosses a line that faithful Christians, regardless of party, should not ignore.”
‘The Integrity of Our Faith is at Stake‘
In a list of circling demands on April 27, Barber emphasized his three-point focus: recruiting young people in the movement; engaging in national directives; and uplifting the moral commitment to teach nonviolence.
As for his “why,” he pointed to a troubled American history of recycled narratives where violence trumped compassion — from segregation and political assassinations to the murder of Megan Evars after former President John F. Kennedy announced plans for the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
“Strong men and women are intimidated by real strength, which is what this nation and our world desperately needs right now — real, nonviolent moral strength rooted in love and justice and truth-telling,” Barber told the crowd of protesters on Monday. “We cannot be distracted by diversions, nor can we capitulate to the nihilism that accepts the chaos we are experiencing as inevitable. We need the power and the moral authority of love to fight people who get up every morning and use their power to hurt [those] they see as enemies.”
The Poor People’s Campaign co-chair also nodded to the spiritual resistance emulated by Catholic Church leader, Pope Leo XIV, who issued an interfaith call for all churches to lobby Congress on enforcing global peace amid the war.
On that note, May 11 will mark a national day of action for the Moral Mondays campaign, as Barber announces plans for peace and nonviolent demonstrations across 16 hosting states as well as in D.C., where the goal is to mobilize right outside the White House.
“[This war] is illegal,” Barber stated candidly. “Trump is trying to use the U.S. military war powers to protect strength at a moment when he is politically weak. A spirit of division and violence cannot be easily turned off once it has been unleashed to serve some political goal.”
With the president showing no plans to comply with the law, Barber said there’s no suitable time like now to recommit to the values of nonviolence — and it starts with direct declarations to Congress.
Beginning with the April 27 rally, faith-led action looks like challenging a thousand clergy, and others, to be a “moral witness” in a mutual demand for justice, be it sending peace declarations to members of Congress or showing up at the offices of the 266 legislators who voted against restricting Trump’s war powers.
Further, he encourages all impacted people to center the cause in a year of political shakeups and midterm elections, which includes the seats of every member of the House, as well as a third of U.S. Senators, being up for reelection.
“What this administration doesn’t seem to understand is that our national defense is weakened when we won’t pay for Head Start anymore. Our national defense is threatened when we can’t afford health care for our most vulnerable citizens…when we can’t support public education, provide [livable wages],” said Sandy Sorensen, director of the United Church of Christ Washington, D.C. office, during an April 20 Moral Mondays rally. “Despite all the efforts of this administration, we will not allow our prophetic voice to be kidnapped. We will not be silent.”
The local advocate then fueled protesters with an unequivocal truth: the work isn’t over, even if/when the war is.
“When we attend to the integrity of creation, justice, and peace, [then] we will have true [human] security,” she said. “We will be here until the war ends, we’ll be here until we realize true security lies in caring for the most vulnerable among us. Until then, our prophetic voice will stand. Stop the war — save lives.”
Meanwhile, PNBC summoned the words of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to emphasize the role of all believers to surpass the moral crisis at hand.
“‘In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends,’” read the statement, quoting the fallen civil rights leader. “We do not gather around a political personality. We gather around a crucified and risen Savior. We urge the Body of Christ to reject this misuse of holy imagery and to reaffirm a Gospel rooted in humility, justice, and love. The integrity of our faith is at stake.”
