The Gospel According to Foggy Bottom

Now, I have always believed that a government should mind its own business, and that includes keeping its fingers off a man’s conscience and his Bible. But in Washington, that belief has long been seen as a quaint artifact, like powdered wigs or honest politicians.

During Holy Week, when Christians reflect on suffering, sacrifice, and resurrection—the State Department finally dared to look itself in the mirror. And to the surprise of many–though not to those with a whit of sense left in them–what it saw was a shadowy trail of anti-Christian bias stretching back years.

Secretary Marco Rubio, a man some say prays before breakfast and others say prays over policy, sent a cable to every American outpost on earth—an urgent call for employees to report religious discrimination they may have suffered or witnessed under the Biden administration. Not just discrimination, mind you, but anything from being forced to hide a crucifix on a desk to losing a job because of one’s conviction to refuse experimental vaccines or reject enforced use of “preferred pronouns” that conflicted with their faith.

Now, some folks laughed. But it wasn’t funny.

Men and women of conscience endured whispered mockery and quiet punishments for four years—not because they did wrong–but because their moral compass didn’t come with the latest political trends. One former staffer said he’d been warned not to “offend” colleagues by referencing Easter in an office memo—this in a country founded by men who once called on Divine Providence in every second sentence.

And while the usual critics sneered, called it “political theater” or “dog-whistling,” the truth was as plain as the cross on Calvary–Christians got pushed to the margins. Under the guise of “equity,” many were denied basic religious accommodations, passed over for promotions, or publicly shamed for their beliefs.

But now—finally—there was a reckoning.

And who, you might ask, was behind the resurrection of moral accountability? Oddly enough, it was the same Trump administration figures the press loves to mock and the bureaucrats love to fear.

Take Pete Marocco, for instance—a man sent to dismantle USAID, not because he hated foreign aid, but because he hated waste, fraud, and the endless funneling of taxpayer money to programs that had nothing to do with American values. He did his job, cleaned the house, and left before anyone could throw the first stone.

That’s called honor.

And then came Lew Olowski—appointed to run Global Talent Management, who didn’t tiptoe into the office like some paper-shuffling diplomat. No, he came in quoting Scripture and Lincoln, reminding his fellow officers that swearing an oath means something, or at least it used to before oaths became just another formality conveniently dismissed. The Constitution, he said, was more than parchment—it’s a covenant.

And he was right.

Some cried foul that he wasn’t a career diplomat, and that’s precisely why he’s needed. The swamp doesn’t clean itself with the same moss that grows in it.

His wife, Heather, now leads the department’s civil rights office. And with the new task force, she’s giving a voice to the voiceless—to the man told to remove his Bible verse, to the woman forced out of her position because she wouldn’t put a rainbow sticker on her office door. What enrages the critics isn’t that Christians are asserting their rights—it’s that they’re no longer content to turn the other cheek while their faith gets trampled in the name of “progress.”

For years, the Elite had its task forces—on climate, gender, race, and pronouns. Now, at long last, the Trump-aligned holdouts in the government have one of their own–a task force for truth, conscience, and the defense of those who believe in something higher than a government paycheck.

The press may scoff, the bureaucrats may seethe, and the careerists may clutch their security cards—but the message has been sent–A man’s faith is not government property. And if he must suffer for it, then at least let it be on record.

And if Washington can’t stomach that, then perhaps it is not the Christians who are out of step with America—but the government.