A nine-hour prayer service on the National Mall & LGBTQ+ hate in the midterms

By now, we know that the blasphemy brothers Donald Trump and Mike Johnson have completely done away with a cornerstone our founders established in the Constitution: the separation of church and state.What little was left of that provision eroded completely on the National Mall last Sunday during a nine-hour, state-sponsored prayer service purportedly about patriotism that was really about prejudice.They officially called the white-Christian-only “Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving.” But it was really a nationalist rally designed to send one unmistakable message: if you aren’t a conservative, straight, devout Christian, you don’t belong in today’s America.Watching clips of a mile-long communion table stretch across public land beneath towering stained-glass windows and white columns, the whole thing looked like it was happening inside a federal building.Related: An LGBTQ+ faith event opened its doors as Turning Point USA shut people out, deep in the heart of TexasThere was also a massive white cross. You don’t have to be racist to understand the subtext of that image. And it goes without saying that many in the crowd wore Trump hats, which only underscored their true devotion to him, and not Him.It was a brazen visual declaration of a Christian-only nation, orchestrated by an administration and congressional leadership so desperate to survive the approaching midterms that they will rely on a divisive god because they have nothing else to say, for God help themselves.As we race toward the critical midterm elections, Republicans are panicked. Facing tough races across the country, the party will do what it always does when it has no real policy solutions: preach God and condemn its idea of sinners.This nine-hour “prayer” marathon wasn’t a holy gathering. It was a cynical get-out-the-vote operation underwritten by taxpayer dollars and private church money. It was a calculated attempt to energize the evangelical base.Bec