Trump's attack on Adam Hamilton damages the Kansas pulpit
By Caroline Ashford · Reporting from Richmond, Virginia ·
By branding a Methodist pastor an extremist, Donald Trump treats religious identity as a political weapon, sacrificing institutional trust for a short-term electoral gain in Kansas.
The cost of a political hit
President Donald Trump visited Park City, Kansas, on Monday to support Senator Roger Marshall. He did not bring a message of stewardship. Instead, he spent the rally attacking the Democratic candidate, Rev. Adam Hamilton. According to The Washington Post, Trump claimed that Hamilton "openly mocks Jesus." He described Democrats as "anti-Christian extremists."
This is a dangerous way to conduct a campaign. A leader who uses heresy to win a seat spends a tradition he cannot replenish. He is not defending the faith. He is using the faith as a fence to keep voters in a pen.
By calling a sitting pastor an extremist, Trump treats the church as a wing of the party. He suggests the only true believer is the one who votes for his candidate. This is not conservatism. It is the erosion of the local institutions that hold a community together.
The weight of the parish
The tragedy is that Rev. Adam Hamilton is not a creature of a national party. As noted in the dossier, he began the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in 1990. He started with ten people in a funeral home. He grew it into the nation's largest United Methodist congregation. He spent years building a load-bearing institution in Leawood.
That kind of work is slow and patient. It is the opposite of a campaign rally. Yet, Senator Roger Marshall dismissed this record. This is a clumsy attempt to frame the race. He wants to choose between "real" Kansans and a "too woke" pastor.
This tactic shares a mechanism with The Great Awakening. In those revivals, ministers led a sharp increase in religious interest that reshaped the convictions of the faithful. Trump is attempting a modern version of this fervor. He is telling Kansans that their neighbor's pastor is an enemy of the cross.
The strongest case for the attack
The Marshall campaign would argue that Hamilton's faith is irrelevant because of his politics. Trump went further, claiming Hamilton "wants you to repent for being born White." To his supporters, these are not attacks on a pastor. They see a necessary exposure of a "radical" in a collar.
But this argument fails because it mistakes political disagreement for spiritual betrayal. A man can disagree with the president and still love his Lord. He can believe in civil rights and still lead a congregation.
The real threat to the social order is not a Democratic pastor. It is the claim that the nation will "burn" if the wrong party wins. CNN reports that Trump compared Democrats to "jihadists." When we call our fellow citizens "jihadists," we stop being a community. We become a collection of warring factions.
Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the US Senate since 1932. The GOP has a long record of dominance here. They do not need to burn down the pulpit to keep the seat.
Donald Trump is treating the American church like a disposable asset. He believes he can use the sanctuary to win a fight in the dirt. He is wrong to think that institutional trust can be spent so cheaply. He is burning the house to kill a spider.