Christianity Was Never the Republican Party's to Own
When President Trump posted an AI generated image of himself in the likeness of Jesus Christ on Truth Social last month, the backlash came not just from the political left but from his own evangelical and Catholic base. Pope Leo XIV publicly called for dialogue over diatribe. Conservative commentators called it blasphemy. And yet within days, the news cycle moved on, the image was deleted, and the Republican coalition returned to business as usual.
That moment should have been a turning point. It revealed something many of us already knew: the version of Christianity dominating American political discourse is not Christianity. It is something else entirely, dressed up in religious clothing and weaponized for political gain.
I sat down with Pastor LaTrina Slater on the latest episode of Purple Political Breakdown to talk about what real Christianity actually teaches, and why the Democratic Party has made a strategic error in conceding this entire faith tradition to the right.
The Foundation Republicans Refuse to Acknowledge
LaTrina is a pastor of an affirming church, a mental health professional with over two decades of experience, and the founder of Grace Revolution ministry. She is also a gay woman who spent years reconciling her sexuality with her faith, and her conclusion is theologically airtight.
The entire foundation of Christianity, she argues, is unconditional grace. No human being earns their way to righteousness. Salvation is gifted, not earned. So the moment a Christian uses scripture to disqualify another human from God's love, they have abandoned the very premise of their own religion. As she put it on the podcast, you don't get to use a religion based on God loving us unconditionally and then put conditions on it.
This is not a fringe theological position. It is the orthodox reading of grace as taught throughout the New Testament. John 3:16 says "whosoever believes." There is no asterisk. There is no clause excluding gay people, trans people, immigrants, or political opponents.
Sin Through the Lens of Harm
One of the most clarifying frameworks LaTrina offered is evaluating moral questions through the lens of harm. Two consenting adults raising a loving family behind their own closed door cause no harm to their neighbor. Meanwhile, the United States is not legislating against adultery, gluttony, pride, or judging others, all of which scripture explicitly names. The selective enforcement reveals the political agenda underneath the religious language.
If we were truly governing according to Biblical morality, we would have laws against far more than gay marriage and abortion. The fact that we do not is the proof. The Christian nationalist movement is not interested in Biblical fidelity. It is interested in power, and it has found in Christianity a useful disguise.
Christian Values Are Liberal Values
Here is where Democrats have failed strategically for decades. The core teachings of Jesus align almost perfectly with progressive policy.
Jesus was a healer. Universal healthcare aligns. Jesus fed thousands without asking qualifying questions. Feeding programs and food assistance align. Jesus was himself a refugee whose family fled to Egypt. Immigrant protection aligns. Jesus told his followers to love their neighbors as themselves, which means every neighbor: the gay neighbor, the trans neighbor, the Muslim neighbor, the immigrant neighbor.
Even pro choice politics, which the right treats as the ultimate disqualifier, is grounded in Biblical theology. God Himself gave humanity free will. There is a passage where God explicitly says, I am presenting to you today life and death, you get to choose. Choice is not anti Christian. Choice is the foundation of the entire moral framework.
Reclaiming the Faith
The MAGA Christian movement has succeeded because Democrats stopped showing up in this conversation. They ceded the language of faith, values, and morality to the opposition without a fight. The result is that millions of Americans now believe that being Christian and being Republican are synonymous, and that the only way to vote your conscience is to vote for the party that has weaponized your beliefs against your neighbors.
It is time to reclaim real Christianity. Not because Democrats need to become a religious party, but because the values Jesus actually taught are already at the heart of the progressive coalition. Generosity. Charity. Healing the sick. Feeding the hungry. Welcoming the stranger. Sacrificing for the good of others. Honoring the dignity and choice of every human being.
Pastor LaTrina lives conservatively and votes liberally, because her God does not take choices away from people. That is not a contradiction. That is the gospel.
The full conversation is available now: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reclaiming-christianity-from-maga-pastor-latrina-slater/id1626987640?i=1000766227450
Sources:
- Snopes / Yahoo News, Fact Check: Trump posted, deleted AI image depicting himself in likeness of Jesus, April 2026
- NBC News, Trump angered some ardent supporters with AI image appearing to depict him as Jesus, April 2026
- Al Jazeera, Trump deletes image of himself as Jesus-like saviour after backlash, April 2026
- Washington Post, Trump post appearing to depict him as Jesus removed amid backlash, April 2026
- Grace Revolution Ministry, grace-revolution.net
Podcast Host
Navigating the vast amount of bouncing around the political spectrum my entire life I have finally figured something important out. It doesn't matter. I've been religious, been in the military, went to a liberal school and all in all none of the political biases matter. We shouldn't let toxic discourse cloud our judgement and find a solution through logic and conversation. In pursuit of this mission I created this podcast to focus on these important conversations.
