This Used to Be a Blog

Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" is Everything the Gospel is Not

Welcome to the first episode of This Used to Be a Blog—a podcast where I quite literally read a past blog post into a microphone and wonder if anybody hears it. In this debut episode, I read a piece originally written in response to the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” passed in the U.S. House of Representatives—legislation wrapped in Christian language but soaked in cruelty. It’s about the dissonance between Jesus and empire, the weaponization of scripture, and the dangerous ways faith is used to justify injustice. It’s also about what Christianity might look like if it actually followed Jesus. You don’t need to be religious to listen. Just willing to ask: who gets helped, who gets hurt, and who gets written out of the story? 💬 MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE * Matthew 5, Luke 6, John 6, Luke 17, Matthew 25 * Prosperity gospel * White evangelical nationalism * Empire theology vs. Jesus’ actual teachings 🔗 RELEVANT LINKS * US House passes Trump's 'big, beautiful' tax and spending bill [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yg0kgg2njo] * House GOP lawmakers are proposing nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and food stamps. Here’s who could be impacted [https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/politics/medicaid-food-stamps-gop-proposed-cuts] * GOP Spending Bill Heads to Senate With $150 Billion for Defense Programs [https://www.airandspaceforces.com/gop-spending-bill-heads-to-senate-with-150-billion-for-defense-programs/] 📚 READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE ON MEDIUM 👉 here [https://medium.com/backyard-theology/trumps-big-beautiful-bill-is-everything-the-gospel-is-not-3ee77d33013e?source=friends_link&sk=b4abf8d4c9174f667de0df6e7f2d8607] ☕ SUPPORT THIS WORK https://ko-fi.com/rev_swanny [https://ko-fi.com/rev_swanny] 💻 FIND ME ONLINE website [https://www.eastendunited.ca] medium [https://medium.com/@rev_swanny] instagram [https://www.instagram.com/rev_swanny/] spotify [https://open.spotify.com/artist/7GEbKJ92Xxx8bWTVbGzQyW] bandcamp [https://bri-anneswan.bandcamp.com/] bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/revswanny.bsky.social] ministry [https://www.eastendunited.ca] ★ Support this podcast ★ [https://ko-fi.com/rev_swanny]