I have often sat with my older LGBTQ friends and heard their stories of terror and loss during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and ’90s. This disease spread throughout the LGBTQ community like wildfire, while many leaders in both government and religion stood by idly, believing AIDS was a punishment from God for the unnatural and immoral lives of LGBTQ people.
Many preachers and politicians alike during that era drew upon Paul’s words in Romans 1, where he declared: “Men committed shameful acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.”
Brandan Robertson
AIDS, in the minds of these politicians, was the “due penalty” from God for the “error” of LGBTQ love, and they chose to do nothing to help a community being decimated by this deadly disease. Many people rejoiced at the idea that AIDS might wipe out the LGBTQ community once and for all.
Pat Buchanan, an adviser to Presidents Nixon, Reagan and Ford, penned a column in 1983 where he callously declared, “The poor homosexuals — they have declared war upon nature, and now nature is exacting an awful retribution.”
Thankfully, by 1993, President Bill Clinton stepped in to take immediate action to combat the AIDS crisis by establishing the Office of National AIDS Policy and laying the groundwork for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), work that has continued in some form under every administration since, dramatically decreasing the spread of HIV and AIDS through treatments and preventive measures — not only in the United States but in nations around the world.
That is, until this week, when President Donald Trump issued a “stop-work” order for PEPFAR, cutting off access to lifesaving anti-HIV drugs for nearly 20 million patients around the world, many of whom live in countries where the risk of infection remains astonishingly high.
What could be the justification for such a reckless move by the Trump administration? One only needs to peel back the curtain slightly to see the same organizations and justifications for allowing HIV/AIDS to flourish in the 1980s are the ones being used to defend the Trump administration’s stop-work order.
The Heritage Foundation, a far-right Christian organization, has said the Biden administration used PEPFAR “to promote its domestic radical social agenda overseas.” The “radical social agenda” they refer to is simply the prevention and treatment of a deadly disease through a program that has been hailed by leaders on both sides of the aisle as profoundly effective.
“Radical right-wing Christians seem happy for LGBTQ people to contract a disease they believe is the ‘due penalty of their error.’”
So, what is the basis for the claim that PEPFAR represents a “radical social agenda”? Simply put, it is the Christian right’s reprehensible belief that AIDS is God’s judgment on LGBTQ people — even though most of the cases being treated by PEPFAR around the world are not among LGBTQ people at all.
This is one of the clearest examples of the Christian nationalist agenda at work in the Trump administration yet. Radical right-wing Christians seem happy for LGBTQ people (and anyone else at risk of HIV/AIDS) to contract a disease they believe is the “due penalty of their error” for unnatural and immoral behaviors.
Nationalists, Christian and otherwise, are happy for the United States to stop funding programs that save the lives of anyone who is not a white American citizen. Together, they form what amounts to a deeply wicked combination of selfish, isolationist and deadly policies the Trump administration seems determined to enact — policies that will continue to wreak havoc on millions of vulnerable Americans and people around the world alike.
As a gay Christian, I am deeply afraid of what is to come in the years ahead. I, along with millions of other LGBTQ Americans, take government-subsidized PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) medications daily to virtually eliminate the risk of contracting HIV. Millions of LGBTQ people and straight people alike take government-subsidized medications to manage HIV and AIDS and live healthy lives. Without government assistance, the average PrEP prescription for a 30-day supply currently costs nearly $2,000, making it impossible for most people in the world to access without insurance and government assistance. Monthly treatments for HIV and AIDS are significantly more expensive than that.
But because of the anti-Christ theology of the Christian nationalists at work in the Trump administration, Jesus’ most central command to “love your neighbor as yourself” has been replaced with “love only those who agree with Trump’s agenda.” This is clearly demonstrated by the slew of executive actions from Trump that have penalized and directly harmed millions of people who stand opposed to his agenda.
Instead of extending grace and mercy to those in need, Trump and his supporters believe they are the “chosen ones,” anointed to enact the judgment of God on all those who stand in their way, beginning with the most vulnerable in our midst. It is not a leap to say the Christian nationalists in Trump’s ear take joy in the thought of the decimation of vulnerable populations they view as their enemies — be they immigrants, refugees or LGBTQ people.
“It is not a leap to say the Christian nationalists in Trump’s ear take joy in the thought of the decimation of vulnerable populations they view as their enemies.”
Two weeks ago, on the first day of Trump’s presidency, Bishop Mariann Budde pleaded with Trump to “have mercy on those who are afraid.” At that time, I and millions of other Christians around the world wholeheartedly agreed with Bishop Budde’s plea. But now, we can see Trump will not heed those faith-rooted words, and it is time for people of goodwill to move beyond pleading with Trump and take direct action to resist this ungodly Christian nationalist agenda — an agenda that is already leading to death and destruction in every corner of the world.
We must combat the anti-Christ theology that undergirds Christian nationalism, meeting their self-seeking, demonizing and xenophobic theology with the clear declaration that what God requires of us is to “do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God.” There has perhaps never been another moment in American history where the disastrous policy decisions of a president were so influenced by a blatantly theological paradigm that so clearly bears only the fruit of death for millions of people around the globe.
This is a moment for progressive Christians of all stripes to stand up with boldness to defend our neighbors who are being targeted by Trump’s agenda and to speak with theological and moral conviction and clarity against all our fellow Christians who are walking in lockstep with an agenda that fundamentally distorts the message and mission of Jesus.
Brandan Robertson is an author, activist and public theologian working at the intersections of spirituality, sexuality and social renewal. A prolific writer, he is the author of nine books on spirituality, justice and theology, including the INDIES Book of the Year Award Finalist True Inclusion: Creating Communities of Radical Embrace. Robertson received a bachelor of arts degree in pastoral ministry and theology from Moody Bible Institute, a master of theological studies degree from Iliff School of Theology, and a master of arts in political science and public administration from Eastern Illinois University. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in biblical studies from Drew University. He currently resides in New York City.
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