If you are reading this, you are likely a friend of mine, or a friend of a friend. This isn’t a big news outlet, this is me, Daniel Morrison, the guy who plays trombone and likes puns. So I ask you to imagine this as a conversation with me at a coffee shop, not as a news article to be viewed with immediate skepticism. I will make some of my views clear here, and you may disagree. Reach out to me and let’s have a conversation – I still have much to learn. But please, weigh these things in your heart as well.
Introduction – What do we want?
My main target audience for this post is fellow Christians, and in particular, those who are represented in our government by Republicans or who voted Republican, as the Republican party is currently in a strong position of power. However, I hope that this can be a helpful conversation-starter for anyone who reads.
No matter who you are, I don’t really take much issue with however you voted. I may disagree, but you have a right to vote for the candidate you think is best. However, you also have a responsibility to hold your elected representatives accountable. The United States is a democracy; there is not meant to be a ruling class and then the rest of us. If we the people do not agree with what the government is doing, we have many avenues of making change. We can contact our representatives to let them know our views, and that includes letting them know that, even if we voted for them this time around, we will vote them out next time if they are not listening to what we want. And if we are Christians, we need to bring our political ideas and actions under the lordship of Jesus, our true King.
So the question then becomes, what do we want? Think, fellow American – what do you want for our country? Think, fellow Christian – what do you want for our country?
I believe that the current version of the Republican party is winning elections because it is meeting some deeply felt needs. If you voted Republican this past election cycle, I’d be curious to hear what some of the main concerns were that led you to vote that way. Perhaps it is a concern over some of the more extreme ideas coming out of the left. Perhaps you have concerns over our poorly-functioning immigration system. Or perhaps it is something completely different. Reach out and let’s have a conversation 🙂
I’m going to address a few issues that I think warrant special attention for Christians in this moment. And if you, Christian, are a stout Republican, your engagement is needed more than ever in this moment. Let me share a few of the things that are weighing on my mind that have happened so far during Trump’s second term, and why I think Christians should care and take action. (Things are moving fast, and so I know that not all of this will be 100% up-to-date.)
Immigration, Refugees, and Foreign Aid
Immigration was one of the main issues discussed this election cycle. I have been learning a lot about how immigration works in the past year or so, and it is much more complex than I realized. There are many different ways people immigrate into the United States: as refugees, as asylum seekers, as students, through temporary visas, and some come into the country illegally. I’m probably missing a few other options as well. Much fuss is made about illegal immigration, but a key thing to note is that, except for those who bypass any legal procedure to enter the country, all of these people are in the country legally.*
Refugees are some of the biggest losers in this election, having been lumped in with the general category of “immigrants,” which has become highly polarized. On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order pausing the United States Refugee Admissions Program. Refugees are thoroughly vetted and selected out of a large pool of applicants to come to the United States, where they, by and large, become economic and social contributors to our communities. In many cases, refugees are Christians fleeing persecution, and it is Christian organizations who are doing the work of helping them get established in the United States, Federal funding for these organizations was frozen shortly after Trump’s term began, meaning that funding was stopped for refugees already in our country and promised 3 months of support.
For a government that is seeking to eradicate anti-Christian bias, it seems odd that it would take such drastic actions that negatively impact Christian organizations which are working for distinctly Christian causes here in the United States and around the world, such as World Relief. The executive order on eradicating anti-Christian bias mentions Catholic churches being targeted with “hostility, violence, and vandalism.” At the same time, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is one of the organizations most impacted by the federal funding freeze. In 2023, CRS received $521.3 million from the Unites States government, close to half of its $1.2 billion budget. I spoke this past week with a friend who works for CRS, and he said that if things continue on this same trajectory, the organization will need to be reduced to 1/4 of its size.
Organizations like CRS, World Relief, Global Refuge, and USAID, which do crucial work all over the world to alleviate human suffering, have taken a huge hit from the changes in federal funding. People will die because of these swift, reckless changes. I know I have held various opinions about the United States being so involved in other countries at different points in my life. But regardless of whether you agree with the amount the USA has been involved with international politics and aid, a sudden change is incredibly destabilizing. If you are concerned about problems here in America that you think we should be focused on instead, consider this question: what percentage of US spending goes towards foreign aid? 5%, 10%, 20%?
The answer: Foreign Aid was 1.2% of US spending in 2023 (see here and here). Much fuss has been made about making the government more efficient. If this is truly the goal, why aggressively go after something which makes up a very small part of the budget and which has such a huge benefit for nations worldwide? If the goal is to make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous, why suddenly back out on our historical partnerships and commitments to the rest of the world? To me, it seems like all that will do is sully our reputation in the eyes of other nations, setting us up for foreign resentment and hostility that will ultimately be a detriment to our country. It seems very short-sighted and cold-hearted.
This fact sheet details how millions of children (not even mentioning adults) will suffer worldwide, and tens of thousands could die, with more and more over the years if this current trajectory continues. If we have to go without 1% of our budget somewhere, should we not rather find a combination of cuts elsewhere in our government that distribute this burden more evenly? Imagine if, instead of making sudden cuts which will lead to worldwide suffering, we went with some combination of one less new road out of 100, 1% more expensive gas, 1% less-subsidized high fructose corn syrup, one less bomb out of 100. Could you, fellow American, fellow Christian, give up 1% of your comfort to save thousands of lives overseas?
Freedom of Speech
Americans in general tend to love free speech (that is, until someone says something they don’t like). However, there has a been an alarming and sudden shift towards punitive speech code enforcement, currently centered around institutions that have used language about DEI. As a reminder, DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. (I believe it is Esau McCulley who likes to ask people who are opposed to DEI which part of that they are opposed to – diversity, equity, or inclusion? Breaking down the acronym reminds us that it stands for some pretty good things).
On February 14, 2025, this Dear Colleague memo was sent by Craig Trainor, Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights of the United States Education Department. It called for educational institutions, within two weeks, to scrub their language of DEI from their policies and actions, among lots other language about complying with laws about non-discrimination based on race. This response from the American Council on Education responds far better than I could about how this is a confusing, overly broad letter that conflates issues of discrimination with DEI. Here is a pertinent quote: “However one defines DEI—and DEI is a concept that
means different things to different parties—it is worth noting that the range of activities that are commonly associated with DEI are not, in and of themselves, illegal.”
Instead of a thoughtful, measured, collaborative approach in which true issues of discrimination are handled on a case-by-case basis by the courts, the government is widely slashing at anything that mentions DEI. In so doing it is defunding $600 million of teacher training grants, as well as threatening funding for many, many federally-funded institutions of learning. And this is going to have lots of problematic side effects.
For example, at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, 185 students pursuing careers in special education have lost their federally-backed scholarships because of language in the original grant, required by the previous administration, that showed how the funding could promote diversity in the teaching profession. So these broad-strokes measures against DEI are having effects like making it difficult for people to become certified to teach special education.
Regardless of whether you are for or against DEI initiatives, if you believe in freedom of speech, the way the government is targeting organizations for using DEI-related language is concerning. It is essentially a speech code that does not examine actual effects of programs and their legality, but which censors language broadly. DEI is clearly not hate speech, so I don’t know how forcing institutions not to use that language aligns with the First Amendment.
Destabilizing, Rapid Changes
Mark Zuckerberg’s quote “Move fast and break things” seems to be the motto of the new administration. It is normal for there to be turnover and change in the government when a new president takes office – but not like this. A wide array of government employees have been laid off, with more to come.
If there is concern over the size of the government and its efficiency, then action should indeed be taken. But this should be done with a measured approach that does not leave chaos in its wake. For all the government services that are being rapidly shrunk down, what is the plan for the people who rely on them – many of whom are the most vulnerable in society? There was a huge uproar over America’s rapid and poorly-coordinated withdrawal from Afghanistan a few years ago. This feels like we are doing the same thing again, but primarily to our own country, yanking the rug out from underneath not only thousands of people now out of work (including friends of mine), but also from under the people who rely on their services. A comprehensive audit that determines actual inefficiencies and makes necessary changes in a way that causes the least possible disruption would be a much better way to downsize the government.
In the Christian circles I’ve run in for much of my life, I’ve heard the general idea that many of the services the government offers should be privately run, and in the case of charitable actions, should be run by the Church. Fellow Christian, if you wanted a small government, that is what you are starting to get. My question now is, are you putting your money where your mouth is? If it is really the job of the Church, and not the government, to take care of the poor and the foreigner, is your church ramping up its giving to organizations doing that work, or expanding its own programs to do that? Are you sacrificially giving your money that will presumably be taxed less to those in need, since your tax dollars are no longer going there? Are you going to start volunteering to help resettle refugees, since the organizations doing that are facing huge financial shortfalls due to federal spending cuts?
Regardless of how you think the government should optimally be involved in these and many other matters, the fact is that the government has been providing these services. To suddenly drastically reduce government services without a strong plan for handing things off to the private sector is going to cause damage that will be felt most deeply by the most vulnerable, for whom Jesus has deep concern.
Conclusion
What do we want for our country? Is it what we are seeing right now? If not, let us take action.
I do not write to try to convince Republicans to become Democrats. I do not write to shame my fellow citizens. I write to appeal to you, especially if you are a Christian who votes Republican, to sit in prayer, listening to the Holy Spirit, asking God to direct your heart and your actions to reflect Jesus. I ask you to take the bold step of engaging in conversation with people whose views are different from your own (this is scary for me, but I want to lean into it more), especially your brothers and sisters in Christ who are acting out of their faith while they disagree with you. I know most of us average citizens are just living our lives and doing our best while the people in power make decisions. But in a democracy, we can raise our voice for what we care about.
So if you sit with Jesus and feel grieved by our nation’s inhospitality towards foreigners despite God’s clear concern for them in Scripture, you can do something about it. If you see special ed teachers’ scholarships disappearing and feel a pang of righteous anger, you can do something about it. If you see the government policing speech instead of addressing actual instances of discrimination and feel concerned about freedom of speech, you can do something about it. You can pray, you can call your representatives, you can peacefully protest, you can engage in thoughtful dialogue with trusted friends. And when next election comes, if our representatives do not listen to us, we can vote them out of office.
On a practical level, there are large financial needs right now for agencies involved in refugee resettlement and humanitarian aid. You can learn more about helping World Relief here, and you can learn more about other organizations through their websites.
Photo by Element5 Digital: https://www.pexels.com/photo/usa-flag-waving-on-white-metal-pole-1550342/
*This includes asylum seekers, which totaled about 1.6 million people as of 2022. The system is so backed up that it takes a long time for them to go through the process of either being granted or denied asylum. During that time, they are not legally allowed to work, which puts them in a difficult situation of either working and getting paid “under the table” or being entirely dependent on the help of others. But this situation is not their fault – it is an overloaded system that simply can’t process all the claims of asylum quickly enough. For a much deeper and well-informed conversation on this, check out the interview on this podcast (starting at 51:30).