John’s November Friends Letter

My closest friends know that I have been closely following politics for most of my life. As a teen, if someone asked me what I wanted to do with my life, I sometimes answered, “Become the governor of Tennessee.” (I got involved in local and state politics when I was fifteen years old.) This youthful interest has never fully died out over the years. Of course I became a pastor and then the leader of a mission devoted to Christian unity for twenty-eight years. Still I kept a keen interest in politics. But there is one thing that I have never let happen – I will not reject my friends, who represent many different political perspectives. I am committed to never letting partisan politics destroy my friendships.

My college major was history and political science. As a result I have read and enjoyed U.S. history over my lifetime. This background helped me to see how we have departed from our democratic norms and traditions in recent years. This departure has recently alarmed me so profoundly that I have come to believe democracy is on the ballot. The liberal tradition that sustained our political democracy has come under serious attack since 2016. This attack has been fueled by conservative Christians, both Catholic and Protestant.

In a post-war speech to the British parliament in 1947 Winston Churchill memorably said:

Author Bradley B. Onishi, in his eye-opening 2026 book American Caesar, shows how statements like Wilke’s drive a movement openly intent on replacing democracy with Christian autocracy. This desire, simply put, is to find a dictator who will tear down our system, as we know it, and replace it with a government not by the people but by the strong leader rooted in theocracy. (Indeed, this term is not used by many but the fact remains that this is the goal.)

Bradley Onishi asks, “What is the appeal of the post-liberal story?” He gives three aspects of this worldview that beguile everyday people. (This movement will not die with our midterm elections.)  The three aspects Onishi gives are: (1) Post-liberalism offers a cosmic story in which you can play a meaningful part. (2) Post-Liberalism charms everyday people. Whether it is theologians, pastors or priests, technocrats or successful oligarchs, this practical, simple advice on how to change our way of governance for the better is central. You are being invited into a story where you can play a significant part. (3), Finally, the post-liberalism that millions of our fellow citizens now believe in is this: democracy is an empty signifier. Post-liberalism is ultimately persuasive because it offers meaning at scale: it is an epic, a war between good and evil, where you can have a real role to play in making history.

This current election will not change the script for most of those who have promoted this movement. (Those who embrace this thinking will not be shaken by our votes.)

So why does it matter that we know what’s going on? Only by understanding what is at stake will we engage in stopping this radical turn. I submit that Onishi’s book is a carefully written eye-opener showing how Christian nationalism undermines not only our democracy but challenges our deeply Christian understanding of our fellow human beings, i.e. our neighbors. If we are to take the initiative to be the first to  love then we cannot write off our neighbors, regardless of their race or religion.

One of the very best treatments of how Christians can and should think about these issues can be seen in Pope Leo’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence (2026). I will say more about this encyclical letter in the months ahead.

I’m praying for us to rise to these challenges in our time and become those who love first, last and always.