Imagine entering a church and immediately seeing a life-size crucifix on the main altar — Christ hanging upside down and facing backwards. Yet this rendition of Christianity’s most important symbol is an apt description of White Nationalist MAGA Christianity (WNMC): upside down and backwards.

Much has been written about WNMC, and a recent piece in the Milwaukee Independent (MI) newspaper is especially noteworthy. Some of the following is taken (and noted) from that article, “A faith hijacked by hate — Why MAGA Christians are a cult of power disguised as religion.”

The MI notes that WNMC “is not a call to serve the poor, embrace the stranger or turn the other cheek. Instead, it has become a banner under which followers justify their anger toward immigrants, LGBTQ individuals, racial minorities and anyone who challenges the dominance of the White race.”

WNMC has attacked the bedrock of Christianity — compassion and empathy. Elon Musk stated, “the fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.” According to Grace City (Washington state) Christian Nationalist Pastor Josh McPherson, “empathy almost needs to be struck from the Christian vocabulary … Empathy is toxic … Empathy will align you with hell.”

In George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, “newspeak” is the ruling-party-altered language that has replaced centuries-old English, or “oldspeak.” In newspeak, words such as freedom, justice, honor and democracy have been eliminated. One of the most important newspeak words is “doublethink” — the act of simultaneously accepting two mutually contradictory beliefs as correct. For WNMC, that translates to God is good, loving and forgiving as well as God wants me to control and, if necessary, destroy my (and His) enemies.

The leader of WNMC is not Jesus Christ but Donald Trump. A man who lives to be worshiped, glorified and — above all — feared, Trump is the antithesis of everything the compassionate Christ stood for and preached. He is the flag-waving standard-bearer for a blasphemous, despicable movement that considers itself Christian.

The MI states: WNMC does not exist to spread the gospel or bring people closer to Christ. “It exists to consolidate power, embedded in hate … Any policy that does not conform to their vision of a Christian theocracy is seen as an attack on their faith. This paranoia fuels their hatred.” WNMC demands “control over everyone else’s beliefs, behaviors and identities.”

Christian conservative and New York Times columnist David French writes that some Christians have moved from striving for religious freedom to fighting for Christian dominance. A 2024 poll conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute found that a majority of Republicans qualify as either Christian Nationalist “Adherents (20%) or Sympathizers (33%),” compared to a much smaller percentage of Democrats (5% Christian Nationalist Adherents and 11% Sympathizers).

U.S. Catholic bishops recently voted overwhelmingly (216 to 5 with 3 abstentions) to support a “You are not alone” statement that stressed direct aid and solidarity with immigrants. The document states: “We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people. We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or law enforcement.” I wonder how many Catholics who voted for Trump last year (55% of the Catholic vote) know — or care — that ICE would not permit priests of the Archdiocese of Chicago to offer Communion to detained immigrants?

Referencing a chapter in the Bible from the Gospel of Matthew, Pope Leo stated: “Jesus says very clearly at the end of the world we’re going to be asked … how did you receive the foreigner? Did you receive him and welcome him or not?” The Holy Father has called out Trump for his “inhuman … and extremely disrespectful” treatment of immigrants. Some MAGA Catholics now refer to the pontiff as “far-left” and a “woke pope.” Ultra MAGA activist Laura Loomer called him “the Marxist pope … like Pope Francis.” In a social media post a Trump “influencer” said Pope Leo was “a liberal piece of s***.”

Trump cut Medicaid (by nearly $1trillion over the next decade) and interrupted the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that helps low-income Americans. He all but eliminated the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Founded by President Kennedy in 196l, that organization has saved millions of lives (an exact figure cannot be determined) via nutritional and medical assistance in many of the world’s poorest countries.

While these programs have been slashed in the name of fiscal responsibility, of the $4.5 trillion tax cuts over the next decade (Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”), the richest 10% of Americans (as measured by income) will account for $2.3 trillion of those savings.

Keith Pate, a Baptist Pastor in Montgomery, Alabama, writes that the first great commandment of Christianity is to “Love your Lord God with all your heart…and the second … Love your neighbor as yoursel f…” Pate notes that “loving God and loving others are inseparably linked …” WNMC hatred joyfully separates them. In Matthew 15, Jesus says: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

Czech sociologist and Catholic priest Tomas Halik said: “A person’s way of being human is the most authentic expression of their belief or unbelief. A person’s life speaks more about their faith than what they think or say about God.”

Not all conservative Christians are Trump boot-lickers. Pastor Robb Ryerse of Springdale, Arkansas is a former Republican now running for Congress as a Democrat. He stated: “I joke sometimes that the two people who have changed my life … are Jesus and Donald Trump, for very different reasons. Donald Trump is absolutely inconsistent with Christian principles of love and compassion, justice, looking out for the poor, and meeting the needs of the marginalised.”

For a significant period of this nation’s history, Christianity — with few exceptions — has served the rich and powerful by legitimating (or ignoring) slavery, the killing of Native Americans (and taking their land) and the subjugation of women. Over the past 100 years, American Christianity has made significant strides to move beyond racial and gender hatred and discrimination. WNMC is a major step backwards, once again turning Christianity upside down.

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George J. Bryjak lives in Bloomingdale and is retired after 24 years of teaching sociology at the University of San Diego.