It’s a scripture familiar to every student of the Old Testament: Exodus 20: 4-6: “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 

“You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

Thus, evangelical pastors should take serious issue with the erection of a golden statue of President Donald Trump near the ninth tee at Trump National Doral golf course in Miami, Florida.

“The Don Colossus”

Yet Evangelical pastor John Mark Burns, a member of Pastors for Trump since 2023, had no qualms about presiding over the unveiling of that statue on May 6.

Nor was he alone; dozens of other religious leaders joined him.

The statue, dubbed the “Don Colossus,” depicts Trump raising his right fist as he did moments after he survived an assassination attempt at a 2024 campaign rally. 

The bronze statue, covered in gold leaf, weighs three tons. By itself it stands 15 feet tall, but is 22 feet when placed on its pedestal.

According to the New York Times, “A group of cryptocurrency investors paid $300,000 to have a sculptor create it as a tribute to Mr. Trump, an outspoken crypto proponent. Then they used it to promote a memecoin called $PATRIOT.”

On X, Burns said the statue was “not a golden calf,” but “a powerful symbol of resilience, freedom, patriotism, courage, and the will to keep fighting for America.”

John Mark Burns

Burns further asserted that the statue is a symbol of the “hand of God over President Trump’s life,” and a “thank-you” to God for preserving the president’s life in multiple assassination attempts. 

Evangelicals have solidly supported Trump—despite:

• His being twice divorced;
• His multiple affairs (including one with porn star Stormy Daniels);
• His documented ties to Russian oligarchs and Mafia chieftains;
• His viciousness, greed, lying and egomania.

Donald Trump and Jerry Falwell, Jr., at Liberty University

Yet evangelicals blasted President Bill Clinton for his extramarital dalliance with Monica Lewinsky. And they greedily accepted the fiction that President Barack Obama was a Muslim born in Kenya, even though his birth certificate says Hawaii and he has always attended a Christian church. 

So why do evangelicals fervently support Trump?

First, they see their influence eroding.

“Prior to 2008, white evangelical Protestants seemed to be exempt from the waves of demographic change and disaffiliation that were eroding the membership bases of white mainline Protestants and white Catholics,” said Robert P. Jones, CEO of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and author of The End of White Christian America.

“We now see that these waves simply crested later for white evangelical Protestants.”

According to a study by PRRI:

• White Christians comprised 81% of the population in 1976. Today they now comprise a minority of the population, with only 43% of Americans identifying as white Christians, and 30% as white Protestants. 
• White Christians are aging. About 1 in 10 white Catholics, evangelicals and mainline Protestants are under 30, compared with one-third of all Hindus and Buddhists.
• Muslims and Mormons are the youngest faith groups in America. Forty-two percent of all Muslims are under 30.  So are nearly one-fourth of all Mormons.

“The young are much less likely to believe this is a ‘Christian nation’ or to give preference to Christian identity,” said Jones. “Young people and seniors are basically inhabiting different religious worlds.”  

Second, evangelicals lust to control the lives of those they have long hated and despised.  

Among these:

• Atheists
• Jews
• Women
• Homosexuals
• Lesbians
• Non-Christians
• Liberals

They expect Trump to sponsor legislation that will—by force of law—make their brand of Christianity supreme above all other religions. And this will give them the status of the Official Religion of the United States.

On May 1, 2025, Trump established a Religious Liberty Commission. a 14-member body tasked with reviewing federal regulations to protect and expand “religious freedom” across various sectors.

Its chair, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, demands a federal hotline with the automated recording: “There is no separation of church and state.”

Another member calls for a Presidential Medal of Freedom for a baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.

Its wish lists includes:

• Allowing the expansion of religious expression in public schools;
• Increasing opportunities for religious organizations to receive public money;
• Allowing religious-based exemptions in such areas as labor law, classroom lessons and healthcare mandates.

Both the leaders of the Republican party and those of evangelical congregations agree:

• Women should have fewer rights than men.
• Abortion should be illegal.
• There should be no separation between church and state.
• Religion should be taught in school.
• Religious doctrine trumps science.
• Government should be based on religious doctrine.
• Homosexuality should be outlawed.

If their demands are upheld by the courts, the United States will become the Christian Right’s version of Iran, where clerics rule unchallenged. Those who oppose their religious views or are atheists or agnostics will face harsh penalties. 

Science will be overruled by superstition, and rationality by ignorance.