Pastor C.J. Brinson takes on how President Donald Trump and his supporters have used religion in the president’s first days in office.
By C.J. Brinson
If there is any question about the intentions of the Christian Right, all one needs to do is observe their agenda and influence on the actions of President Donald Trump during his first days in office.
I am the Pastor of the new Umoja Church and an organizer of my fellow clergy in Greensboro, N.C. I believe I am called by God to serve, as the Bible says in Matthew, “the least of these.” And I also believe it is my duty to call to account those who claim to do the work of Jesus but are serving themselves and those who have the most privilege and wealth in our society.
President Trump claims to be doing the work of Jesus, yet his first days in office haven’t looked anything like the Messiah to me.
Jesus, a servant to the most vulnerable people in society, shares absolutely nothing in common with President Trump. Jesus heals the sick, feeds the hungry, advocates clothing for the poor, affirms women, and is an immigrant whose family had to hide out in Egypt to escape persecution. Jesus calmed seas; he never created turbulence in the lives of millions of Americans with the stroke of a pen, as the president has done in his first days in office.
Black people who have been confused about President Trump’s racism have more evidence now about where he stands now that Trump has gone after the Equal Employment Opportunity Act with executive orders that undermine the Act. Since 1965, the federal government has sought to protect black Americans, and other groups, from being subjected to discriminatory hiring practices in the United States.
A black pastor told me recently that now that Trump was going after the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, black people can finally be judged by the “content of their character.” But that’s not how racism works. If things were “merit-based” we wouldn’t have needed these policies in the first place. And no one can argue that before these policies were passed, black Americans rarely received federal contracts. It had nothing to do with their “merit.”
There’s so much more — I can’t, for example, imagine Jesus the Healer signing executive orders that undermine our previous president’s initiatives to decrease the cost of prescription drugs.
Then, when confronted by Episcopal Bishop Marrian Edgar Budde with a plea to protect the most vulnerable immigrants who serve all of us from the fields to our restaurants, Trump called her names. I can’t imagine anyone following Jesus denouncing her, calling her “nasty” and then demanding an apology for her compassionate plea for the “least of these.”
At Trump’s inauguration, Rev. Lorenzo Sewell performed and quoted part of the last stanza of Dr. King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Rev. Sewell cunningly omits the radical pieces of King’s speech, stanzas that should shake the soul of America:
“…[T]hose who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the Nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.”
The Good Reverend will have you believe that Dr. King would be a co-conspirator with MAGA, limiting the rights of the most vulnerable human beings in this Nation. Shame on Rev. Sewell! I think of Judas when I think of how Rev. Sewell, who sold his soul for crypto currency, just how Judas sold his soul for a shekel of silver.
I submit to you, those who have been unwilling to engage faith in your personal political, economic, and organizing strategies: Will you join the prophets of justice and learn progressive faith values to provide counter-narratives to protect the disenfranchised in your local communities, your state, and the Nation?
Join me and others like Bishop Budde who echo progressive faith values. These values represent a brand of Christianity, and faith, that prioritizes service to the most marginalized communities within our society. A faith that includes the experiences of Black and Brown communities, Black men, women, and children. A call to uphold a woman’s right to choose and support the rights of LGBTQ+ communities, including fully affirming trans people.
I and other people of faith are committed to these values, and I believe that if we can preach the word of these values throughout this Nation, then evil shall not prevail here in America. I invite you to this Dream!

Rev. C.J. Brinson holds a Master’s in Divinity from Hood Theological Seminary. He is the Pastor of Umoja Church and is a clergy organizer in Greensboro, North Carolina. Contact info@beaconmedianc.org with comments or questions.