{"id":30646,"date":"2026-01-23T12:11:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T17:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=30646"},"modified":"2026-01-23T12:11:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T17:11:47","slug":"don-lemon-compares-christian-church-storming-to-jesus-flipping-tables-in-the-temple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/01\/don-lemon-compares-christian-church-storming-to-jesus-flipping-tables-in-the-temple","title":{"rendered":"Don Lemon Compares Christian Church Storming to Jesus Flipping Tables in the Temple"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_30649\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30649\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2026\/01\/Don-Lemon_credit-Ive-Had-It-YouTube.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30649\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2026\/01\/Don-Lemon_credit-Ive-Had-It-YouTube.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30649\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">I&#8217;ve Had It \/ YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Don Lemon has doubled down on his involvement with an anti-ICE protest that disrupted a church service at Cities Church in St. Paul. Protestors targeted the church because of David Easterwood, a man listed as one of the church\u2019s pastors who also appears to be the acting director of the ICE St. Paul field office. Addressing criticism, Lemon offered a Biblical comparison. \u201cJesus turned the tables over in the temple, right? He flipped the tables because He was tired of them not doing what they&#8217;re supposed to do in His Father&#8217;s house, and not living up to the tenets of Christianity,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Ampv-OHwcXQ\">he told \u201cI\u2019ve Had It\u201d podcast host, Jennifer Welch<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Lemon has been accused of being complicit in violating the church\u2019s First Amendment rights after he appeared on scene where he pushed back against congregants\u2019 and the pastor\u2019s complaints against the disruption. Conservatives have pushed for Lemon to be charged with violating either the FACE Act or KKK Act. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/investigate\/civil-rights\/federal-civil-rights-statutes\">FACE Act<\/a> prohibits \u201cthe use of force or threat of force or physical obstruction to intentionally injure, intimidate, or interfere with or attempt to injure, intimidate, or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship\u201d and was utilized the Biden administration to arrest 23 pro-lifers that were accused of physically blocking access to abortion clinics. The KKK Act makes denying anyone of \u201cany of the rights, privileges, or immunities, or protection, named in the Constitution\u201d a federal crime. Attorney General Pam Bondi has already announced the arrests of several key players involved with the protest.<\/p>\n<p>Lemon, however, has presented himself as a journalist at the scene of an important news event. He stated the discomfort the predominantly white Baptist church congregants experienced was a good thing. \u201cI think people who are in religious groups like that \u2014 it\u2019s not the type of Christianity that I practice \u2014 but I think they\u2019re entitled, and that entitlement comes from white supremacy. They think this country was built for them, that it\u2019s a Christian country.\u201d Lemon also isn\u2019t alone in comparing the event to Jesus flipping tables as a way to cleanse the Temple, an event recorded in all four Gospels. Progressive Christian activist and author Shane Claiborne, responding to comments by AG Pam Bondi that Jesus \u201cwould never have stormed a church in protest in the people who were running it,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ShaneClaiborne\/status\/2013959646239686839\">wrote on X<\/a>, \u201cJesus literally staged a protest IN THE TEMPLE. Flipped some tables\u2026 and drove out the folks pretending to be holy. It seems pretty clear that one of the most offensive things to God is when people use religion to cover up their greed and bigotry. Rebuke it. In the name of Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other Christians, however, pushed back on the comparison. \u201cI don\u2019t remember Jesus screaming in the faces of little children about their white privilege until they cried. Can you point me to that passage in the Bible?\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/megbasham\/status\/2014023548826759580\">wrote <em>The Daily Wire\u2019s <\/em>Megan Basham<\/a>. \u201cFirst of all, not a \u2018protest\u2019 and not \u2018staged,\u2019\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GilbertCTweets\/status\/2014010856984502289\">wrote another account<\/a>. \u201cBut\u2014here&#8217;s an important point\u2014Jesus&#8217; actions took place in \u2018the temple courts.\u2019 These were outer areas\u2014there was a \u2018court of Women\u2019, there was a \u2018court of gentiles\u2019, there were half a dozen \u2018courts\u2019. Not in the sanctuary!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Don Lemon has doubled down on his involvement with an anti-ICE protest that disrupted a church service at Cities Church in St. Paul. Protestors targeted the church because of David Easterwood, a man listed as one of the church\u2019s pastors who also appears to be the acting director of the ICE St. Paul field office.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":30649,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Don Lemon Compares Christian Church Storming to Jesus Flipping Tables in the Temple<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Don Lemon defends anti-ICE church protest with Jesus comparison as critics cite First Amendment violations and call for federal charges.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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