In America, faith has always been more than Sunday service. For African Ameri- cans, the church has been the backbone of survival, the meeting ground for justice, and the pulpit of freedom. But today, a disturbing trend is rising: religion is no longer just a personal conviction — it’s being weaponized.
Look around and the pat- tern is undeniable. Politicians drape themselves in scripture while pushing policies that undercut the poor, the immigrant, and the Black community. Billion-dollar movements twist the Bible into a tool for control, convincing entire congregations to vote against their own interests. And while our ancestors turned faith into liberation, others are turning it into domination.
The hypocrisy is glaring. How can leaders preach “love thy neighbor” while funding laws that criminalize the very neighbors Jesus lifted up? How can they thump the Bible while closing their eyes to poverty, racism, and police brutality? The truth is, religion in the wrong hands becomes less about God’s kingdom and more about man’s power.
And it’s not just politicians. Media empires, mega-church pastors, and advocacy groups are shaping religion into a weapon of division. Some are teaching that diversity is dangerous, that equity is “anti-Christian,” that standing up for Black lives is somehow against God. That isn’t gospel — it’s propaganda.
The African American com- munity cannot afford to ig- nore this hijacking. We know what faith can do when it’s real. It gave us Harriet Tub- man’s vision, Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream, and everyday believers who marched, bled, and prayed for freedom. But when religion is twisted into a tool of oppression, it becomes the very opposite of the lib- eration our people built it on.
So we must ask: are they weaponizing religion against us? The answer is yes — and unless we reclaim the true gospel of justice, love, and liberation, we risk watching our greatest source of strength turned into a political bludgeon.
