Religious Liberty for All
Over the weekend, Elon Musk and former Lt. General Michael Flynn accused the ELCA of illegally taking taxpayer money. In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Flynn complained about the “Lutheran faith,” accusing Lutheran social service programs of being money laundering operations receiving illegal payments from the federal government. Musk agreed with Flynn, adding that the Department of Government Efficiency is shutting down these payments. The post included a screenshot of grants received by Lutheran organizations from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
It should not need to be said that this is a baseless and nonsensical accusation. The ELCA has a long and respected history of serving our communities through our social service programs and organizations. Public-private partnerships like these are crucial means of support for many Americans. The funds in question are federal grants or designated contracts to ensure critical services are delivered — the money is appropriated by Congress and its payment is required by law. These organizations and the funds they receive are held to the highest standards of scrutiny and public accountability through regular audits and reviews that can be assessed.
These accusations made against the ELCA and our social service programs demonstrate a fundamental truth about the type of Christianity that is promoted by those who support these figures and their policies. Those who support Christian Nationalism do not support religious liberty for all — they do not even support the religious freedom of other Christians.
Loving our neighbors, supporting our communities, and caring for the vulnerable are crucial tenants of our faith. We remain steadfast in those commitments and our faith.
Resources
This week, we have several responses to the false accusations against the ELCA made on X, as well as resources related to Christian Nationalism and a way to support Bishop Mariann Budde.
To begin with, below is Bishop Elizabeth Eaton’s official response to the situation. As she says, “Despite misinformation and baseless doubt cast today on funding that supports Lutheran organizations across our country, the ELCA remains steadfast in our commitment and work with our many Lutheran partners and expressions of our church.”
Linked below are two other responses to the X posts from faith based newsletters:
To learn more about Christian Nationalism, check out our partners at Christians Against Christian Nationalism and Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty:
Christians Against Christian Nationalism