Authoritarianism doesn’t arrive wearing a villain’s mask, it arrives wrapped in certainty, obedience, and moral shortcuts. Since far too many Christians have twisted the message from the one they claim as Savior, perhaps we can reclaim the Beatitudes as a secular resistance manifesto. Perhaps we can name and demonstrate the ethical courage required when truth is punished, cruelty is normalized, and democracy is tested. This isn’t theology though. It’s a survival ethic for a terrifying time!
If you’re paying attention to the world at all right now, you can feel it: the ground shifting under our feet. Democratic norms eroding. Truth treated as optional. Cruelty rebranded as strength. Loyalty demanded over conscience. And more and more people (good people) are quietly asking themselves, What am I supposed to do with all of this?
Religious language is being weaponized again. The Bible is being cherry-picked to justify domination, exclusion, and state violence. And at the same time, a lot of people, especially people who don’t buy the supernatural claims anymore, are left wondering whether there’s still anything worth salvaging from these ancient texts.
So what I want to offer here is not theology. It’s not belief. And it’s definitely not obedience.
It’s an ethical framework.
A resistance manifesto, if you will.
It’s a way of naming the kind of people we need to be if democracy, dignity, and human flourishing are going to survive this moment.
This resistance manifesto was inspired by our Gospel reading tonight… because it’s a new version of the Beatitudes for the current moment. You can call it the Secular Beatitudes.
