{"id":27779,"date":"2025-06-12T15:09:22","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T19:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=27779"},"modified":"2025-06-12T15:09:22","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T19:09:22","slug":"faith-leaders-getting-into-the-act-of-protesting-the-big-not-so-beautiful-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/06\/faith-leaders-getting-into-the-act-of-protesting-the-big-not-so-beautiful-bill","title":{"rendered":"Faith Leaders Getting Into the Act of Protesting the “Big, Not-So-Beautiful” Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FOX News<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

President Trump has been a strong voice of contempt against the anti-Christian rhetoric in the mainstream media. Some would say he\u2019s been the strongest Christian advocate with his creation of the <\/span>Religious Liberty Commission<\/span><\/a> and the <\/span>Faith-Based Office,<\/span><\/a> seated within the Domestic Policy Council.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, not all people of faith are in the president\u2019s corner, specifically with his ardent fervor over the \u201cBig, Beautiful Bill.\u201d Recently, the beloved bill was the epicenter of <\/span>grand political hullabaloo<\/span><\/a> between Trump and the departed Elon Musk. Now, many faith leaders across varied denominations <\/span>gathered in Washington D.C. to protest the bill <\/span><\/a>earlier this week on the steps of the U.S. Senate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Led by Rev. Jim Wallis, who helped spearhead the <\/span>Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships initiative<\/span><\/a> in the Obama administration, the organized protest centered its ire on the \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill Act.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Some say that we should keep faith out of politics \u2013 we’re saying while the Bible doesn’t give us detailed legislation, it tells us who to care for,” Wallis said. “We don’t want to let Jesus Christ be left outside the Senate chamber for this vote.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The main talking point from the protest is that the \u201cbig bad bill,\u201d as it was being called, will purportedly \u201ctake 60 million people off healthcare,\u201d which goes against the teachings of Jesus Christ to care for the poor (Prov. 19:17), the weak (Psalm 82:3), the elderly (Leviticus 19:32), the meek (Matthew 5:5), and the hurting (Romans 12:14).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As part of an activist-labeled movement called \u201cMoral Mondays,\u201d faith leaders gathered to discuss the unnamed people this bill would allegedly make worse off financially.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One leader,\u00a0 Charlottesville, Virginia-based Reverend Tony Andres, says he was there to voice his concerns about the planned $700 billion cut to Medicaid.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a moral responsibility. It\u2019s not simply money. It\u2019s not simply politics,\u201d Andres said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got people on Medicaid, Medicare, handicapped people who will be direly hit, and some of them may well die because of this.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another advocate noted that \u201cno child should starve for a tax cut,\u201d touching upon the Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in the budget bill passed by the House last month.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bishop Dwyane Royster of the Faith United Church of Christ in Washinton, D.C., who is also executive director of \u201c<\/span>Faith in Action<\/span><\/a>,\u201d had some moving words to say about the government as a whole.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to call out our government\u2019s insufficiency because there are people who will go hungry all across the land because SNAP benefits are about to get cut,\u201d Bishop Royster continued. \u201cThe problem is that Jesus fed the 5,000; why can\u2019t the United States of America?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, U.S. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and the Rev. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) got involved in the protest. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Grateful to co-host a vigil at the US Capitol with Rev. @jimwallis<\/a> for hundreds of faith leaders to bear witness against the GOP\u2019s immoral tax bill. As Rev. Wallis reminded us, we are taught: \u201cDo not forget the least of these.\u201d That\u2019s exactly what this immoral legislation does. pic.twitter.com\/qrrqWLMsGM<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Senator Chris Coons (@ChrisCoons) June 10, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n