A pivotal moment in American politics happened on Tuesday, when a sitting United States congressman from Ohio, Max Miller, declared that the very foundation of the Christian faith is “bigoted” and “goes too far,” and tried to kick it from the public square. Note that Miller is not a leftist Democrat, from whom these attacks on the First Amendment and Christianity are commonplace. Miller is a Trump-endorsed Republican who calls himself a “conservative voice” for Ohioans.
This shocking denunciation of Christianity was in response to a post I made on X, formerly known as Twitter, stating, “There’s no hope for any of us outside of having faith in Jesus Christ alone.” Most would say my message was an average non-offensive Christian post, similar to what the majority of Miller’s voters hear every Sunday morning from the pew or teach their kids at the dinner table.
So why would a so-called conservative Republican leader oppose and try to silence such a common sentiment among his very own voters? Have we reached a time in American politics where even conservative leaders feel comfortable attacking Christianity?
Apparently. You see, Miller did not just “disagree” with Christianity, which he is free to do. He openly condemned it as “the most bigoted” thing he has “ever seen.” He then went so far as to intimidate a private citizen into deleting a gospel proclamation from the public square, claiming it was a threat to religious liberty itself.
Miller seems to have a serious misunderstanding of religious liberty. Freedom of religion does not mean freedom from religion or freedom from religious beliefs being voiced publicly. Religious freedom exists to protect private citizens’ rights to practice and express their religious beliefs without threat or intimation from the government.
Even more shocking is that the only U.S. representative to condemn Miller’s anti-Christian attacks was apparently “squad member” Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.
It appears no Republican member of Congress spoke out to defend Christianity, religious freedom, or freedom of speech Tuesday night. Each one remained silent, including many I know personally and worked hard to get elected here in Ohio. One must ask if this would be the case if it were a Democrat politician who attacked Christianity and not a “conservative.”
Miller did apologize for his tweet, and I publicly accepted his apology. I hold no personal animosity toward him. His actions, however, point to a severe problem in the conservative movement and Republican Party that can’t be ignored any longer.
We have reached the point in politics where it is seen as not only acceptable but politically expedient to attack the very foundation on which this great nation was founded: Christianity. Just this past Sunday, Christian evangelist Mike Gulley was arrested in South Bend, Indiana, at Rebel Art Fest after sharing about the evils of abortion. A young man was arrested in Wisconsin weeks before that for reading Scripture at a “pride” drag event.
This is reality. May we become frustrated enough by the utter cowardice of our leaders that we choose to pick up the mantle ourselves. No longer can we accept cliché slogans and platitudes without seeing any action. Today as Christianity is threatened in the public square, those we elect to protect our rights and represent our interests offer no defense.
Christians, we cannot continue allowing our leaders to betray us every chance they get. We cannot afford to go on making excuses for their lack of action when our freedoms are on the line. It is time for us to seriously reconsider our priorities when we walk into the voting booth.
Moving forward, the baseline we should accept from any leader is a willingness to say unpopular truths unabashedly, not just cliché slogans, and the ability to fight against tyranny effectively. Courage and competency must be the minimum standards from this moment on.
If a candidate cannot say abortion is a moral abomination on a debate stage without dying the death of a thousand caveats, how can we ever expect him to stand up against evil? If the entire Republican conference of Congress cannot condemn one of their freshmen for attacking a private citizen for sharing her Christian faith, how can we trust them to overcome the kind of tyranny pouring out of the Department of Justice?
Spoiler alert: We cannot. We cannot trust them to defend us or defeat tyranny.
Young men are being arrested for reading the Bible in public, children could soon be taken from their homes if their parents don’t refer to them with transgender pronouns, and nearly a million babies are being slaughtered every year, all while our so-called leaders watch from the sidelines and do nothing to stop it.
It is time for a new Republican Party. It is time we hold conservative leaders to new expectations. The 2024 election cycle will decide our national direction for decades to come, and it is up to us to determine that fate with our voice and vote. All Republicans that have proven themselves cowards in the face of tyranny — or worse, tyrannical themselves like Max Miller has — should be voted out of office.
If conservatives don’t fearlessly stand up for freedom and liberty, America has no chance of survival.
Lizzie Marbach is a conservative operative in Ohio that has worked on numerous local and national campaigns, including President Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign.
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