Redirect 250

The best of our faith traditions call us to repent and reconstruct America

By any measure the Trump regime is incredibly unpopular with the American people. Most of us reject the occupation of our cities by masked men. We overwhelmingly oppose the unjust and illegal war that Trump is unilaterally waging against Iran. We have seen gas prices rise by 50% as the government cuts nutrition assistance and Medicaid for the most vulnerable among us. We can see that the people in power are gerrymandering districts and doing everything they can to suppress voter turnout in the midterm elections because they know their policies are not popular. Talk to your neighbor on the street, and seven out of ten are likely to say that the country is headed in the wrong direction.

How does an unpopular regime that is actively working to subvert democracy try to shore up its legitimacy?

They bow their heads in prayer.

This coming Sunday, May 17th, Trump and his MAGA faithful are holding an all-day event on the National Mall claiming to “rededicate” America to God. They’re calling it “Rededicate 250,” and they are using our tax dollars to market it to every American as a nonpartisan event that is about faith, family, and our most basic values.

As pastors, we know the power of faith in people’s lives - not just the people who show up at mosque on Friday, synagogue on Shabbat, or church on Sunday. We know the stories of people who stop us getting off an airplane or going into a courthouse or coming out of a hospital to ask for prayer. To petition the Maker of the Universe for assistance when we face life’s most difficult challenges is a powerful thing. Religious nationalists understand this. It’s why they are trying to use a prayer festival to shore up Trump’s unpopular agenda.

But their distortion of faith doesn’t represent the vast majority of Americans, nor does it represent the best of our faith and moral traditions. Every stride toward a more perfect union in American history has been pushed by moral movements. The abolitionists, the women’s suffragists, labor and civil rights leaders, disability rights and LGBTQ rights activists, and environmental activists have been inspired by and sustained by their faith.

Because we know the power of faith, we recognize the real and present danger of religious nationalism. But we also know that the best way to overcome this misuse of faith is to proclaim and practice the faith traditions that are more powerful than the distortion.

This is why we’re glad to be part of a coalition of faith organizations that has come together this weekend to counter-message the religious nationalist festival on the National Mall with Redirect 250 - a unified, faith-rooted effort to redirect the country towards what is loving, just, and good. You can learn more at www.redirect250.org

On this 250th year of America, we must offer a vision that redirects the country toward what is loving, just, and good for all. All day Sunday, Redirect 250 will be streaming sermons, meditations, and prayers from faith leaders all around the country that point the direction we must go as a nation. For everyone who knows we’re going the wrong way, we will proclaim the hope of a real and practical alternative that many people are already practicing with their neighbors in beautiful communities across a diverse landscape.

While Redirect 250 represents the faith and moral traditions that inform the vast majority of Americans, we don’t have the resources of the government to promote it. What we do have is our voices, our faith communities, our families and social networks to spread the word. Roger Williams, an early American who argued for the separation of church and state, said this is all any of us need to promote true faith. Any faith sponsored and imposed by the state becomes propaganda. For faith to be real, it has to be something important enough for each of us to commit ourselves to it and share with others in ways that honor their freedom and dignity as neighbors.

So it’s a joy to get to invite you become a partner in spreading the word about Redirect 250.

Our friends at The Save America Movement have partnered with us to produce the last two-hours of Sunday’s all-day event. It will stream here on Our Moral Moment and across a network of Substacks that are linking up to cross-promote this. Beginning at 4pm ET, you can watch “Bad Faith 2026,” a documentary that exposes the network of organizations using religious nationalism to fuel a political movement and highlights the moral movement that is growing to reconstruct democracy in America.

Immediately following the film, we will be live with Lisa Sharon Harper, who is in Alabama this weekend with faith leaders as part of the “All Roads Lead South” National Day of Voting Action, and Robert P. Jones, who will will bring a live report from the National Mall.

The biblical prophets remind us how genuine faith that challenges injustice and lifts the lowly must be consistent and embodied. We have moments for mass gatherings and events that bring us together to expereince the breadth of the beloved community. But a moral movement requires a consistent witness to what is true and right. The Civil Rights Movement had its March on Washington, but that’s not what built and sustained it. The faith at the heart of that movement moved people in their communities to show up at the seats of power over and over again - often in small groups - to use every tool of nonviolent soul force to demand change.

This is why Moral Mondays will be back outside the White House and Congressional offices across the country this coming Monday. We hope you’ll take a couple of minutes to watch and share this short video. As always, be sure to follow Repairers of the Breach for the latest on how you can be involved in Moral Mondays.