Published in the Crescent-News on Thursday, April 23, 2026.
Dear Editor,
I keep hoping to read in the Crescent-News a plethora of letters from Evangelicals condemning Donald Trump’s use of Christianity to advance his unholy, violent agenda. Alas, there are no letters to be found. Even publishing a meme showing Trump as Jesus was not enough to dislodge them from the president’s hip. Both Paula White and Pete Hegseth favorably compared Trump’s self-inflicted troubles to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.
Why the silence from Evangelicals? They are directly responsible for putting Trump in the White House. Three times in the past ten years, almost 80 percent of voting White Evangelicals voted for Donald Trump. By the the 2024 election, every American knew who and what Donald Trump really was. Everyone knew Trump was a violent narcissist who couldn’t tell the truth if his life depended on it, yet devout people of faith voted for him anyway.
Spare me the explanations about not voting for a “pastor in chief.” I was an Evangelical for 50 years. I listened to preachers excoriate President Bill Clinton over a stained blue dress. Despicable? You bet. And at the time, I eviscerated Clinton from the pulpit, as I would have Trump today if I were still a pastor. If Evangelical pastors can’t see Trump in the same light they viewed Clinton, they have lost their moral authority. They have sold their souls for a bowl of soup.
Worse, an increasing number of Evangelicals have adopted theocratic beliefs, asserting that the separation of church and state is a myth. Both Russ Vought and Hegseth are card carrying theocrats who believe the Evangelical God has called them to re-establish the United States as a Christian nation. Their nefarious dogma will lead to violence and death on our streets, as is currently happening in Iran and the greater Middle East.
The Pope recently condemned Trump’s offensive war against Iran. More than a few Evangelical talking heads told the Pope to “shut up and mind your own business.” J.D. Vance — allegedly a Catholic — lectured the Pope on “just war theory.” What is going on in Iran is anything but “just.” The United States is waging an immoral war against [the newspaper’s editor removed “the people of” from my letter] the people of Iran. And Cuba is next, if Trump gets his way.
Several letter writers have suggested than I am morally lacking. Maybe, but I’m moral enough to know it’s evil to wage offensive wars and murder innocent people.
Bruce Gerencser
Ney, Ohio
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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