During the two-minute video, Hamilton reads Scripture while displaying headlines from the current administration.
- “I was hungry and you fed me,” Hamilton read as a headline of cuts to food programs flashed across the screen.
- “I was in prison and you visited me,” she said as news reports of migrants who entered the U.S. illegally and were deported to El Salvadorian prisons popped up on the screen.
- “I was sick and you cared for me,” Hamilton read as a story headline of Medicaid cuts flashed on the screen.
“When you refused to help the least of these, you were refusing to help me,” read Hamilton. With a nod, she called this “pretty liberal.”
@_jen_hamilton_ Replying to @Shelly ♬ original sound – Jen Hamilton
The video ends with a quote from Rev. Benjamin Cremer: “Beware of any Christian movement that demands the government be an instrument of God’s wrath but never a source of God’s mercy, generosity, or compassion.”
“I’m a Christ-follower but the video I made wasn’t a religious or political statement―it was a moral one,” Hamilton told HuffPost, noting that there’s a difference between voting Republican and identifying as MAGA.
People React to a Distinction between Christianity and ‘MAGA Christianity’
Followers—including many who claim to be pastors—have supported Hamilton’s approach to comparing political headlines to the words of Jesus. More than 300,000 people have reacted to the videos, with nearly 8,000 people commenting.
“As a Christian, I don’t think you can be both MAGA and Christian,” a top comment on the Instagram video reads.
While Hamilton received encouragement and gratitude for her bold post, others claimed she was misrepresenting Scripture. Hamilton isn’t sure how this could be since she was reading directly from the Bible.
Others have attacked her personally. “Some even reported me to the Board of Nursing to have my license taken away,” Hamilton mentioned to HuffPost. “As a nurse, I don’t know how you don’t fight for the rights of the vulnerable communities you care for.”
Hamilton does have a glimmer of hope, however.
“I heard from people who are finding their faith by divorcing it from Christian nationalism and that brings me hope,” Hamilton said. “I’m not trying to turn everyone liberal, I’m just trying to create a moment of pause for people who feel deeply entrenched in MAGA―to maybe help them reconnect with their own values outside of the noise.”
