People are scared. Political violence is spiraling out of control. What we need at this moment is a leader who recognizes the importance of bringing all peoples together as Americans and who is able to strongly condemn gun violence across the political spectrum.
We don’t have it.
Take the two shootings of national figures in the last three months. On June 14, Melissa Hortman, a senior Democratic assemblywoman in the Minnesota House, and her husband Mark, were killed by a gunman posing as a police officer. While President Trump condemned the violence, he didn’t order flags to be flown at half-staff. He didn’t attend the funeral, reportedly choosing to play golf instead.
However, on Sept. 10, when right-wing activist and a fierce Trump loyalist, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated, Trump praised Kirk, ordered flags to be flown at half-staff and assured the family he’d be attending the funeral. And the “radical left” was blamed.
Trump is, indeed, the first president in American history who has not understood, or perhaps does but disagrees, that the president’s primary job is to be the leader of all Americans. Instead, the litmus test for his support is to show proper deference, praise and loyalty. If you do, you can’t go wrong. Insight violence, destroy property, harm police officers, as in the January 6 insurrection, no problem. If it’s done in his name, you’ll be pardoned.
However, any protest not deemed to be supportive of the president’s agenda is quickly dismissed as radical and those participating are accused of trying to destroy the country. Clearly, it’s important to name here that we’re no longer a country subject to the rule of law. We’re now subjects of Trump and his law.
Given that Kirk is being mourned by Trump and many Republicans as an almost prophetic figure, let’s explore what this self-professed Christian believed. Kirk, as many Trump loyalists, imagined a country based on Christian Nationalism which is clearly antithetical to democracy. It’s fueled largely by white supremacy, supports the dominance of men over women, shuns LGBTQIA+ persons, and above all, believes a narrow interpretation of Christian scripture should rule Congress, state governments and the court system.
How did Kirk’s beliefs promote this ideology?
He blamed Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, saying it had been an anti-white weapon and called King an “awful” person. In 2021, delivering a speech in Mankato, Minn., he called George Floyd, the Black man whose murder by a Minneapolis police officer sparked a national movement, a “scumbag.”
When hearing about Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s engagement, Kirk stated that he hoped it would make Swift more conservative and told her to, “Submit to your husband,” because, “You’re not in charge.” And in regards to our African American sisters, in the July 13, 2023, episode of The Charlie Kirk Show, he suggested that prominent Black women, like Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, were successful largely due to affirmative action and did not have the “brain processing power to otherwise be taken seriously.”
He was critical of gay and transgender rights and promoted a fierce campaign against teaching gender ideology. While a staunch supporter of Israel, he made many disparaging comments against Jews including, “The philosophical foundation of anti-whiteness has been largely financed by Jewish donors in the country.” And, fundamentally, he was critical of the separation of church and state.
Sadly, he did fiercely support gun rights. “I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”
Those who study history will recognize the parallels of Trump and the rise of Christian Nationalism in this country to the rise of Hitler in Germany before World War II. Primarily, Hitler was masterful at building loyalty and support within the German churches, eventually making his government and religion one. And we all know the result.
Still, even as I watch out my window and see ICE agents gathering up all the undesirables and see Trump targeting only Democratic cities with military control, all in support of this Christian Nationalist agenda, I remember Anne Frank and I refuse to allow my spirit to be broken.
Like her, I will continue to believe in what is possible in the face of overwhelming despair. I will fight hate by speaking out. And I will continue to look for the good in the hearts of all my brothers and sisters.
Rev. Dr. Stephanie Rutt is founding minister of the Tree of Life Interfaith Temple in Amherst. She lives in Nashua.