My religious tradition has asked me to defend divinely inspired constitutional principles and to denounce deception, but also to love my neighbor and build peace. With those imperatives in mind, what can and should I do if I perceive that American constitutional democracy is being dismantled by the current president and his administration?
First is to remember that I worship neither the president nor the country. While the American experiment in self-government is important and deserves my dedicated patriotism, it is not the kingdom of heaven. Isaiah’s advice has been helpful to me in this regard: “Behold the nations are as a drop of a bucket. … All nations before him are nothing, and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.” So, my first and best efforts belong to God and his work, independent from the cares of the world. This chases anger, hate and arrogance away, and fills me with love when I defend constitutional principles and denounce deception, both of which build peace.
Second, I must refuse to normalize serial dishonesty and anti-constitutionalism employed to wrest sovereignty from “We the People.” For example, when elections are canvassed, certified and adjudicated, I accept the results. Should I suspect irregularities, I can work with others to contest outcomes through legal channels of dispute resolution. And once those processes have been exhausted and courts have ruled, I am bound to honor their judgments.
Consequently, if the president seeks to cling to power by ignoring fairly adjudicated election results and encouraging supporters to interfere with certification, I feel I must, in all good conscience, be persistent in calling out the deception and incitement. I do this by writing letters to elected officials, attending town hall meetings, organizing and attending rallies, and putting together efforts that will persist over time. Although he won the 2024 election, I cannot ignore how President Donald Trump attempted to stay in power after losing a free and fair election in 2020 by encouraging his followers to subvert the constitutional certification of the election, thus breaking his sacred oath to “protect, defend, and preserve” the Constitution. To me, there is no more egregious political sin. No matter how much time has elapsed since this happened, to stop remembering is to normalize it.
I have written and will continue to write the president, have attended and will attend town hall meetings to bring this up, have organized and attended and will organize and attend protests and rallies calling this out, until he apologizes for this mistake and asks Americans — the keepers of the Constitution — for forgiveness.
Relatedly, when the president attempts to rewrite the history of Jan. 6, 2021, from an assault on American constitutional democracy by pardoning the convicted rioters, firing Department of Justice attorneys who prosecuted them, settling with Ashli Babbitt’s family for $5 million, or in any other way, I must similarly be persistent in calling out this dishonesty until he apologizes and makes amends.
Third, recognizing that these serious presidential abuses have compromised the education and future of our children, I have begun to focus my efforts on restoring both. For example, because the president’s dishonesty has cracked the foundation of facts-based education, some parents in Loudoun County, Virginia, have begun asking the school board to issue a statement protecting teachers and staff who speak the truth about the 2020 election; the president’s previous criminal convictions; his constitutional oath-breaking then and now (e.g., deportations without due process as required by the 14th Amendment); his use of public shaming and ridicule (school teachers teach that bullying is absolutely unacceptable); and any other facts and norms taught in our public schools that are contravened by this president’s statements or actions.
While “(t)he Almighty has His own purposes” not fully understood by me, I will nonetheless do my best to defend divinely inspired constitutional principles, denounce deception, love my neighbor and build peace, hoping that this government “shall not perish from the earth.” I invite religious people everywhere to join me.