It frustrates me to hear people say, “I don’t like talking about politics or spirituality,” when these are two crucial topics that shape our lives. Politics determines our rights, the wars we fight, and the justice we uphold or betray. Spirituality informs the values we claim to live by, the morality we hold ourselves to, and the ways we define good and evil. To pretend that these two realms do not intersect is a privileged delusion—one that allows injustice to flourish unchecked.

The United States celebrates Martin Luther King Jr., but it does not live by the values he so boldly taught. Instead, it chooses Trump—this time as a convicted felon and rapist responsible for an insurrection at the White House. In what feels like a dystopian movie, Trump plays the lead role of the Messiah, chosen and hailed by White Christian Nationalists in the U.S.—a man who represents everything Jesus is not. Yes, an anti-Jesus.

On January 20, 2025, as Donald J. Trump retook the presidential oath, he declared: “Today, the Golden Age of America begins.” The phrase was met with thunderous applause from his supporters. Yet this is not the dawn of a golden age but the solidification of a golden idol. An era where power, nationalism, and authoritarianism are worshipped as divine.

As a note, I will use the U.S. instead of America for the remainder of this article for the following reasons: 1) The term “America” became more common in the 20th century, as the United States became an empire, and 2) “America” includes the entire continent of North and South America, including the countries, territories, languages, and Indigenous people that live there.

The golden calf, a biblical symbol of idolatry, resonates deeply in the U.S. today. In Exodus 32, the Israelites, impatient for guidance, melted their gold possessions to make an idol and worshiped it. God became angry and commanded Moses to burn the idol, grind it to dust, and mix it with water—forcing them to consume their own corruption. While Moses rebuked them for their sin and pleaded for their forgiveness, God punished them anyway, striking them with a plague.

For years, White Christian Nationalists in the United States have positioned Trump as a messianic figure—flawed, yes, but divinely chosen. His second rise to power, despite his convictions as a felon, a rapist, and an insurrectionist, is not seen as a moral failure by his base but as proof of his resilience, a sign that God chose and anointed him. Just as the Israelites projected their hopes and fears onto the golden calf, Trump’s followers project theirs onto him, worshiping strength instead of justice, dominance instead of humility, and retribution instead of reconciliation.

Like the golden calf, Trump is a manufactured Messiah—a leader molded in the image of the U.S.’s deepest anxieties and desires. He is not revered for embodying Christlike values—compassion, truth, love, justice—but for his defiance and promises to purge the U.S. of “enemies.” In this idolatrous framework, morality does not matter; only power does.

The hypocrisy is striking. The same nation that honors Martin Luther King Jr. has chosen to empower a man whose values oppose everything King courageously fought for. King spoke of justice rolling like a mighty river; Trump thrives on vengeance. King preached nonviolence and unity; Trump incites division and glorifies violence. King dreamed of a nation defined by justice and equality; Trump’s U.S. is built on exclusion and white supremacy.

Trump’s second inauguration, falling so close to MLK Day, is a stark reminder that the U.S. does not live by the values it professes. It erects statues of its prophets but crucifies their ideals. It decorates its history with the language of justice while reinforcing the structures of oppression. It celebrates King’s dream but votes for a nightmare.

His “Golden Age” is a carefully crafted lie. His entire political existence is built on illusion—on spectacle, manipulation, and an almost religious devotion to alternative facts. He lost in 2020, but his followers rewrote history. He led an insurrection, but his party reframed it as patriotism. He is a convicted felon, but his base calls him a martyr. On his first day back, he pardoned all 1,500 insurrectionists.

The danger in this moment is not just that a corrupt man has returned to power, but that a nation has accepted falsehood as truth, cruelty as strength, and dictatorship as democracy.

North Americans must confront an inconvenient truth: they cannot have it both ways. They cannot espouse the values of MLK Jr. while following Trump. They cannot claim to believe in justice while defending oppression, in truth while upholding lies, in democracy while cheering for authoritarianism. The choice is clear: God or mammon. Justice or wealth. MLK Jr. or Trump.

Jesus made this distinction: “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to one and despise the other.” (Matthew 6:24) Trump’s U.S. has made its choice.

History and scripture warn us of the consequences of idolatry. The Israelites’ worship of the golden calf did not bring them freedom but enslavement. The same fate awaits any society that replaces justice with authoritarianism, ethics with tribal loyalty, and democracy with blind allegiance to a single leader.

Trump’s United States is not a place of freedom; it is a land of captivity, where powerful billionaires dictate truth and where morality is rewritten to serve those in control. The real question is how long this golden idol can stand before collapsing under the weight of its own corruption.

For those who refuse to kneel before this false Messiah, the task ahead is clear: resist, speak the truth, and refuse to accept the spectacle as reality. The world is watching, but more importantly, history is recording. Those who cheered today will one day be forced to reckon with what they have built.

Because golden calves do not last. 

And neither will this.

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Biography:

Jorge Fusaro Martínez is a writer, visual artist, activist, and cultural entrepreneur. He and his wife are the co-founders and co-editors of Ediciones del Flamboyán, an an independent publishing house based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. A theologian, former pastor, and graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary, Jorge is also a dedicated father of two, bringing a loving and family-centered perspective to his work.