Right-wing tactic should be flipped and used to halt MAGA agenda: Christian leader

It's time to start using one of the Christian Right's most infamous tactics against them, Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush told Salon's Chauncey DeVega in an interview published on Monday.

The far-right Christian nationalist movement found an ally in President-elect Donald Trump once before, and now they are again — with big plans for how to reshape the government in their image. Some experts are even concerned that if Pete Hegseth is confirmed as Trump's Pentagon chief, he could reshape military schools into MAGA Christian propaganda mills.

Raushenbush, an openly gay Baptist minister who heads up the Interfaith Alliance, told DeVega that he sees it as a dark time to be a Christian — and a time when he finds it hard to trust fellow believers.

"There is a great level of vindictiveness against the LGBTQ community right now. We are being targeted," he said. "Trump and the rise of illiberalism, intolerance and all that goes with it, have created a permission structure for cruelty on a massive scale. Of course, this involves overturning civil rights laws that protect marginalized groups. But there is also the day-to-day fear of being targeted for just trying to live and doing basic human things like holding your partner's hand in public."

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"I live in a part of country where there is supposed to be all this tolerance and safety for gay people — yet all it takes is one second for something bad to suddenly happen," he continued.

The way forward for Christians who stand for dignity and civil rights for all, he went on, is to take the same strategy the Christian Right used to amass its power: just as they demanded "religious freedom" not to finance abortion and birth control, or to have business associations with LGBTQ people — often based on fictional legal complaints — liberal Christians should demand "religious freedom" from the darkest parts of Trump's agenda.

"Religious freedom can also be used as a way of pushing back against the powerful forces Trump commands," said Raushenbush. "We can make clear that it’s our congregation’s right to house undocumented people. To support and aid LGBTQ people. To support abortion access."