All these things were embedded in the evangelical creeds that formed my life and my evangelical church community for decades.
That conviction helped make me "pro-life" (though these days I prefer the term "whole-life".) I believe human life should be protected and honored from the moment it begins until the moment it ends. But honoring life means more than keeping someone physically alive. It means treating people with dignity, justice, mercy, kindness, and love.
The unborn child bears the image of God. So does the immigrant at the border. So does the prisoner. So does the person with a disability, the elderly person, the poor person, the Muslim, the atheist, the political opponent, the transgender person, the Republican or Democrat politician...the list goes on.
Human dignity cannot depend upon whether someone looks like me, votes like me, worships like me, shares my citizenship, or seeks my approval. If the image of God means anything, it means that human beings possess a dignity we did not give them, and we cannot take away.
That is why the last decade has been so disorienting for me.
Something has changed in significant parts of American evangelicalism. Language and behavior that Christians once would have recognized as cruel, vulgar, degrading, or dehumanizing are increasingly excused—and sometimes celebrated—when they come from the right political leaders.
We seem to have lost something more fundamental than civility. We have lost some of our capacity to walk in another person's shoes—to do and say unto others as we would have them do and say unto us. We have lost not only sympathy, but empathy.
Perhaps it shouldn't surprise us. Charlie Kirk famously said that he couldn't stand the word empathy. Books with titles such as The Sin of Empathy and Toxic Empathy have found receptive audiences in conservative Christian circles.
Of course, empathy can be misguided. Feeling another person's pain does not require agreeing with everything that person believes or does, and it doesn't mean we have to avoid truth and confrontation.
Yet the Christian tradition that has often spoken about orthodoxy (right belief) and orthopraxy (right action) has an underused third "ortho" - orthopathy (rightly ordered affections). It asks. "What kind of heart am I cultivating? Or, more simply: am I learning to feel about people the way Jesus does?
I am concerned that conservative evangelicals will win political battles while losing something far more important: empathy. We can become the kind of people who no longer recognize dishonor and cruelty when we see it - or, even worse, when we do it.
So, let’s look at how the administration that evangelicals have put into office twice is doing in the areas of orthopraxy and orthopathy when it comes to viewing, treating, and speaking about everyone as image bearers of God.
* * * * *
Let’s start with the specifically pro-life protection of the unborn. Trump put conservatives on the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade in his first term, and they did. I support the Supreme Court’s reversal. [1] Many Trump voters will tell you this was specifically why they voted for Trump. [2]
But since genuine concern for dignity of life should be broad enough to include all the image bearers listed in the introduction, let’s see what is happening in other areas. Jesus said that, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,” so let's see the verbal fruit that gives us a glimpse into what abounds in hearts.
Trump labelled undocumented immigrants as subhuman: "vile animals","savages","not human","not people","stone-cold killers","monsters",and "predators" from “shithole countries.” Pastor Robert Jeffress defended Trump’s “shithole countries” remark: “Apart from the vocabulary attributed to him, President Trump is right on target in his sentiment.”
At rallies, the former President stated that undocumented immigrants will "walk in your kitchen, they'll cut your throat,"and "grab young girls and slice them up right in front of their parents." [3]
The family separation policy at the border is breaking families apart. Evangelicals are pro-family, right? Evangelicals want children to be with their parents and not the government, right? [4] Esau McCauley wrote,
“It is not the responsibility of most American Christians to invent a logical and comprehensive immigration policy. But we can call upon our government leaders to do something we will recognize as humane and just. I don’t have to be a policy expert to know we shouldn’t separate families.”
The president – surrounded by evangelical pastors in his White House Faith Office - constantly calls people cruel names, insults them, and mocks their disabilities.
Trump posted a meme of Italy’s Prime Minister Meloni – with whom he was feuding - simply looking at him, with the caption, “Restraining Order Needed.”
He has made fun of women on their periods. During a GOP debate moderated by Megyn Kelly, he was angered by some questions she asked him. The next day he said she “had blood coming out of her eyes” and “blood coming out of her…wherever.”
When Trump said that Mika Brzezinski “was bleeding badly from a face lift” after an interview he didn’t like (she wasn’t), Jerry Falwell Jr. went on Fox News and said that ‘when Trump hits back [on Twitter], I actually appreciate that.”
Trump likes to refer to journalist Maggie Haberman as “Maggot Hagerman,” whom he has also referred to as “one of the most unattractive people in the News ‘Business.’”
He made fun of John McCain because he was captured in war.
Trump told a reporter, “Quiet, piggy” when he didn’t like her question.
He took a poll in Truth Social asking if he should call Democrats “Dumbocrats” or “Dumocrats.” He has settled for the latter, and has posted on social media multiple times using this same slur. [5]
Conservative members of Trump’s own party who aren’t, in his view, sufficiently deferential to him are “Never Trumpers” who “are in certain ways worse and more dangerous for our Country than the Do Nothing Democrats. Watch out for them, they are human scum!”
"Scum" shows up a lot.
- Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsome is “Governor New Scum.”
- Trump expressed his opinion of the 1st Amendment rights of the filmmakers behind The Apprentice by writing, “So sad that HUMAN SCUM, like the people involved in this hopefully unsuccessful enterprise, are allowed to say and do whatever they want in order to hurt a Political Movement, which is far bigger than any of us. MAGA2024!”
- The “people that surround” Nancy Pelosi are“scum, they’re scum, and they want to take down our country. They are absolute garbage.” [6]
In December 2025, following the killing of Rob and Michele Reiner, Trump mocked Rob Reiner in a Truth Social post, writing that "a very sad thing happened" while claiming that Reiner and his wife died "reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as Trump derangement syndrome."
When Rober Mueller died, Trump posted: “Robert Mueller just died. Good. I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people.” [7]
At the Correspondents Dinner in July of 2026, he put his meanness on display as he joked about people he didn’t like. I'm putting it in the footnotes. [8]
Here is an example from a White House website that supposedly keeps track of media bias. Note how this post refers to a magazine and to immigrants (emphasis mine).
When the White House hosted a UFC event as part of the 250 year celebration of the United States, the winner of one event had some controversial things to say. I’ll let Fran Leeman3d @franleeman explain the problem.
The Upshot offers an extensive list of Trump’s personal insults. When you see them compiled in one spot, it is wild – and terrible. [9]
At the Correspondents Dinner in July of 2026, he put his meanness on display as he joked about people he didn’t like. I'm putting it in the footnotes. [8]
Here is an example from a White House website that supposedly keeps track of media bias. Note how this post refers to a magazine and to immigrants (emphasis mine).
THE OFFENSE: Third-rate gossip rag TMZ published an inflammatory X post about ICE removing a “man” from a hospital in New York City.
THE TRUTH TMZ’s caption omitted the fact the “man” – Nigerian national Chidozie Wilson Okeke – was a violent criminal illegal alien with previous arrests for assault and criminal drug possession who had weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to hit ICE officers. The caption from the bottom-feeders at TMZ also failed to note that Okeke had been brought to the hospital by ICE officers after requesting a medical evaluation, and was removed by law enforcement only after being cleared by medical staff.
KEY POINTS The click-obsessed cuckolds at TMZ published a misleading caption that demonized our heroic ICE agents while omitting crucial context about an illegal alien scumbag.
Once again, that was posted on the White House's website.
When the White House hosted a UFC event as part of the 250 year celebration of the United States, the winner of one event had some controversial things to say. I’ll let Fran Leeman3d @franleeman explain the problem.
"We now have an identifiable form of Christianity in America where a UFC fighter can praise Jesus Christ from the ring, then two sentences later tell a racist lie about a highly respected first lady, and laughter and cheers are heard in the crowd. There was a day when the country would have talked about this for weeks. It will be a one day news cycle, and while some of us are horrified, no one is actually surprised that there is a cruel, vulgar brand of faith among us. Lord, have mercy."
The Upshot offers an extensive list of Trump’s personal insults. When you see them compiled in one spot, it is wild – and terrible. [9]
Meanwhile, this immoral ecosystem of disdain and verbal cruelty is being fed and sustained from within the conservative church and within conservative culture. I will give one example of each.
Doug Wilson, an increasingly influential pastor on the conservative right, is the head of Pete Hesgeth’s denomination. Hesgeth has invited him to speak multiple times, and occasionally reposts Wilson on social media. Wilson recently got a lot of (un)wanted attention when he did an interview with NPR.What kind of spiritual guidance and/or example might Mr. Wilson offer as it relates to human dignity?
Doug Wilson, an increasingly influential pastor on the conservative right, is the head of Pete Hesgeth’s denomination. Hesgeth has invited him to speak multiple times, and occasionally reposts Wilson on social media. Wilson recently got a lot of (un)wanted attention when he did an interview with NPR.What kind of spiritual guidance and/or example might Mr. Wilson offer as it relates to human dignity?
Wilson uses derogatory terms for women, including “cunts,” “harpies,” “crones,” “lumberjack dykes,” “twinkies in tight tops,” “waifs with manga eyes,” and “small breasted biddies.” His 2020 novel Ride, Sally, Ride, about a sex robot, includes graphic content with terms like “pussy” and references to “over-topped bustiers” and “blonde bombosity.” He obsesses over women’s breasts, claims women were made to “make the sandwiches,” and equates promiscuous women to “useless locks” while describing promiscuous men as “master keys.” He claimed it was reasonable for a husband to call a disciplinary meeting over his wife’s lack of “joy” while doing dishes (Federal Husband, 1999)… He frequently platforms with men who aggressively oppose women’s right to vote. He himself has stated that he thinks women’s suffrage hurt the family unit, and that ideally there would be a household vote, as determined by the husband. (“Doug Wilson—Just The Facts, Ma'am.”)
As for the cultural guidance, I have already cited the push-back against empathy, but there is a more disturbing example.
This is a move from insulting people to literally developing a vocabulary for denying their humanity.
In case you are wondering if people take this seriously, a pastor friend told me of a conversation with a parishioner after he preached about honoring the humanity of everyone. A man came up to him afterwards and said he didn’t need to, because Democrats were demons in human disguise, not actual humans. He was serious.
“As Gil Duran of The Nerd Reich recalled today, two years ago, far-right influencer Jack Posobiec and co-author Joshua Lisec wrote a bestselling book called Unhumans: The Secret History of Communist Revolutions (and How to Crush Them). Trump ally Stephen Bannon wrote the introduction. Donald Trump Jr. blurbed the book, saying that it provided a playbook to deploy “immediately to save the West.”
Then–Ohio senator J.D. Vance also blurbed the book, saying: “In the past, communists marched in the streets waving red flags. Today, they march through HR, college campuses, and courtrooms to wage lawfare against good, honest people. In Unhumans, Jack Posobiec and Joshua Lisec reveal their plans and show us what to do to fight back…”
In Unhumans, Posobiec and Lisec argue that the United States is under siege by “the left,” which in their view means anyone from communists to “progressives.”
“For the purposes of this book, we will call them the unhumans,” the authors write, because they “oppose everything that makes up humanity. As they are opposed to humanity itself, they place themselves outside of the category completely, in an entirely new misery-driven subdivision, the unhuman.” (Heather Cox Richardson, newsletter, July 17, 2026)
This is a move from insulting people to literally developing a vocabulary for denying their humanity.
In case you are wondering if people take this seriously, a pastor friend told me of a conversation with a parishioner after he preached about honoring the humanity of everyone. A man came up to him afterwards and said he didn’t need to, because Democrats were demons in human disguise, not actual humans. He was serious.
* * * * *
Evangelical leaders should be denouncing this, not defending it. They should be willing to confront the people they helped put into power when those people demean, mock, humiliate, or dehumanize others. That shouldn't be controversial.Christians can disagree about immigration policy. We can disagree about the most wise pro-life legislation, taxes, criminal justice, foreign policy, health care, and the proper size and role of government. We can vote Republican, Democrat, third party, or none of the above. But followers of Jesus should not disagree about whether human beings bear the image of God.
We should never celebrate cruelty. We should never excuse contempt. We should never laugh at humiliation. We should never call human beings garbage, scum, vermin, animals, demons, or "unhumans" and then imagine that attaching the name of Jesus to our political movement somehow sanctifies what we have become.
Perhaps most importantly, we should never become so committed to defeating our enemies that we forget Jesus told us to love them.
That is where orthodoxy, orthopraxy, and orthopathy finally meet. What do I believe about this person? They bear the image of God. How should I treat this person? As I would want to be treated. And what kind of heart should I have toward this person? "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
The evangelicalism that formed me taught me to honor every human life because every human life reflects its Creator. It taught me that cruelty was a vice, kindness was a virtue, compassion looked like Jesus, and the measure of Christian maturity was becoming more like him.
I still believe those things.
That's why I cannot follow any movement—evangelical, political, or otherwise—that requires me to move in the opposite direction.
UP NEXT: The Shift Away From Defending Truth
[5] He posted a meme with Pelosi, Biden and Obama in a trash-filled Reflecting Pool with the caption, “Dumocrats Love Sewage.”
In June of 2026, Trump made a reference to masturbation by posting, “So happy for highly respected Congressman Mike Collins. He will win his Senate race against a pathetic failed Dumocrat Senator, Os(jerk!)off, who is a joke in D.C.”
[6] Pelosi is a favored target. "“It is the enemy from within. And they’re very dangerous—they’re Marxists and Communists and fascists … They’re dangerous for our country. We have China, we have Russia, we have all these countries. If you have a smart president, they can all be handled. The more difficult are, you know, the Pelosis, these people, they’re so sick; they’re so evil.” This was Trump on October 15, 2024, during a Fox News town hall.
[7] When Lindsay Graham died, you may have seen social media posts saying, "Good. I'm glad he's dead." The posters were making a point by quoting Trump.
[8] He suggested Kaitlyn Collins – a reporter he doesn’t like – looks like a man. (“I thought Caitlin had really made it big with a major new sponsorship, but then I informed her it was not her on the Bud Light can. It was Dylan Mulvaney.”) The next day he doubled down by posting a meme of her as Dylan Mulvaney.
He mocked Chris Christie for being overweight (““For the heavyweight division we’ll have Sloppy Chris Christie, one of the sloppiest human beings you’ll ever meet…”), then the next day posted a meme showing him and Jerry Nadler fighting over a cheesecake.
He said of Adam Schiff, ““They thought about going with a professional clown for entertainment. But Adam Shifty Schiff was not available. He’s a terrible person. He’s a liar. I call him Watermelon Head because he has the smallest head with the smallest neck. How does that big fat ugly head stand on a little pencil neck?”
On Ilhan Omar:” “It is becoming such a horrible and dangerous location that Ilhan Omar and her brother are thinking about moving. They are very much in love…She is a low-IQ person. She is also very dishonest. She needs to get the hell out of our country. She should not be in our country. She calls her brother husband number one.”
On J.B. Pritzker: “You cannot have somebody like J.B. Pritzker.Some people say never use the fat word. And I don’t. I do not call anybody fat. I have my own problems. Sir, in the back, don’t call him a fat pig, okay? I’m sticking up for him. You cannot do that. You cannot call J.B. Pritzker a fat pig.”
He insulted Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert (“These guys are terrible. They’re people without talent. You know who has talent? Their agents, getting them the money they get. They’re not comedians.They’re angry. They’re sick people.”), then posted a meme of the three of them sitting on the street as panhandlers, holding signs that read, “Talentless, not funny ex-comedians need money.”
[9] There is a trickle down effect, of course. What the leader models, the followers are free to choose. Matt Walsh, a commentator at the Daily Wire popular in the MAGA world, posted that Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett was a "DEI hire" and a "terrible pick." He followed it with more: "The worst Supreme Court Justices of all time have all been women. That's just a fact. Republican presidents should take the hint." He attached a photo of the Court's four women.
_______________________________________________
[1] I happen to think a crucial corollary to lowering abortions is creating private, communal and governmental networks of support so that the many women who don’t see how they can manage the weight of bringing a child into the world experience a wholistic cultural support: finances, health care, mentoring, babysitting, schooling, etc.
[2] However, Trump’s 2024 Republican platform, which affirmed that abortion should be decided by individual states, was also the first Republican platform in 40 years that omitted calls for a national abortion ban (such as a 20-week federal limit). His platform also eliminated language supporting a "Human Life Amendment" and protections that would establish fetal personhood under the 14th Amendment. The one time his platform mentioned abortion was to say, "we will oppose Late Term Abortion," which I definitely support. But overall, Trump backed away from the kind of robust support that evangelicals would expect.
[1] I happen to think a crucial corollary to lowering abortions is creating private, communal and governmental networks of support so that the many women who don’t see how they can manage the weight of bringing a child into the world experience a wholistic cultural support: finances, health care, mentoring, babysitting, schooling, etc.
[2] However, Trump’s 2024 Republican platform, which affirmed that abortion should be decided by individual states, was also the first Republican platform in 40 years that omitted calls for a national abortion ban (such as a 20-week federal limit). His platform also eliminated language supporting a "Human Life Amendment" and protections that would establish fetal personhood under the 14th Amendment. The one time his platform mentioned abortion was to say, "we will oppose Late Term Abortion," which I definitely support. But overall, Trump backed away from the kind of robust support that evangelicals would expect.
In June of 2026, Tucker Carlson said that Trump maintains hostility toward Christianity, especially toward Christians who oppose abortion. "Trump is mad about Christians for opposing abortion and mentions it a lot — a lot — in private. A lot. He's very annoyed by it, and opposition to abortion annoys him a lot. He's mentioned it to me, like, 30 times.” (“Tucker Carlson claims Trump 'hostile to traditional Christianity,' believes in supernatural.”)
Meanwhile, total abortions in the United States have grown since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. In 2025, there were an estimated 1,126,000 clinician-provided abortions nationwide, representing a 21% increase from 2020 and a slight increase over 2024.
[3] The odds of being killed by a U.S. citizen are significantly higher than being killed by an undocumented immigrant because U.S.-born citizens have substantially higher violent crime and homicide conviction rates. You can find much more detail in my post on immigrants and refugees.
[4] Biden and Obama worked hard to not separate families of immigrant. 5,000 families were separated in Trump's first term. The second time around, Trump's border policies are increasing the numbers.
[3] The odds of being killed by a U.S. citizen are significantly higher than being killed by an undocumented immigrant because U.S.-born citizens have substantially higher violent crime and homicide conviction rates. You can find much more detail in my post on immigrants and refugees.
[4] Biden and Obama worked hard to not separate families of immigrant. 5,000 families were separated in Trump's first term. The second time around, Trump's border policies are increasing the numbers.
[5] He posted a meme with Pelosi, Biden and Obama in a trash-filled Reflecting Pool with the caption, “Dumocrats Love Sewage.”
In June of 2026, Trump made a reference to masturbation by posting, “So happy for highly respected Congressman Mike Collins. He will win his Senate race against a pathetic failed Dumocrat Senator, Os(jerk!)off, who is a joke in D.C.”
[6] Pelosi is a favored target. "“It is the enemy from within. And they’re very dangerous—they’re Marxists and Communists and fascists … They’re dangerous for our country. We have China, we have Russia, we have all these countries. If you have a smart president, they can all be handled. The more difficult are, you know, the Pelosis, these people, they’re so sick; they’re so evil.” This was Trump on October 15, 2024, during a Fox News town hall.
[7] When Lindsay Graham died, you may have seen social media posts saying, "Good. I'm glad he's dead." The posters were making a point by quoting Trump.
[8] He suggested Kaitlyn Collins – a reporter he doesn’t like – looks like a man. (“I thought Caitlin had really made it big with a major new sponsorship, but then I informed her it was not her on the Bud Light can. It was Dylan Mulvaney.”) The next day he doubled down by posting a meme of her as Dylan Mulvaney.
He mocked Chris Christie for being overweight (““For the heavyweight division we’ll have Sloppy Chris Christie, one of the sloppiest human beings you’ll ever meet…”), then the next day posted a meme showing him and Jerry Nadler fighting over a cheesecake.
He said of Adam Schiff, ““They thought about going with a professional clown for entertainment. But Adam Shifty Schiff was not available. He’s a terrible person. He’s a liar. I call him Watermelon Head because he has the smallest head with the smallest neck. How does that big fat ugly head stand on a little pencil neck?”
On Ilhan Omar:” “It is becoming such a horrible and dangerous location that Ilhan Omar and her brother are thinking about moving. They are very much in love…She is a low-IQ person. She is also very dishonest. She needs to get the hell out of our country. She should not be in our country. She calls her brother husband number one.”
On J.B. Pritzker: “You cannot have somebody like J.B. Pritzker.Some people say never use the fat word. And I don’t. I do not call anybody fat. I have my own problems. Sir, in the back, don’t call him a fat pig, okay? I’m sticking up for him. You cannot do that. You cannot call J.B. Pritzker a fat pig.”
He insulted Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert (“These guys are terrible. They’re people without talent. You know who has talent? Their agents, getting them the money they get. They’re not comedians.They’re angry. They’re sick people.”), then posted a meme of the three of them sitting on the street as panhandlers, holding signs that read, “Talentless, not funny ex-comedians need money.”
[9] There is a trickle down effect, of course. What the leader models, the followers are free to choose. Matt Walsh, a commentator at the Daily Wire popular in the MAGA world, posted that Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett was a "DEI hire" and a "terrible pick." He followed it with more: "The worst Supreme Court Justices of all time have all been women. That's just a fact. Republican presidents should take the hint." He attached a photo of the Court's four women.
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