Roman Sheremeta

April 17, 2026

Hope in the Midst of Suffering

It is easy to feel overwhelmed by darkness when war rages and loss touches so many families. As a Ukrainian, I carry that weight daily. But as a Christian, I am reminded that even in the valley of the shadow of death, God is with us (Psalm 23:4).

The world may shake. Hearts may break. But “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

We are not abandoned. Our pain is not ignored. “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

And we know that even this, even war, even loss, will not have the final word. Because Christ already spoke it from the cross: “It is finished.”

We live with a promise: that one day, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4). Until that day, we hold each other close, we speak truth, and we live with hope.

Let us not give up. Not on each other. Not on our future. Not on God.

……………….

I am not making this up. Republican Congressman Troy Nehls just said in an interview that Donald Trump is “almost the second coming” of Jesus Christ.

Sometimes, when I hear things like this, I honestly cannot believe it. I have to listen again just to be sure it’s real.

And all of this has come like a flood. First, Trump was compared to Jesus during Easter. Then he posted an image of himself as Jesus. Then Pete Hegseth started quoting fake Bible verses. Now, we are hearing about the “second coming.”

As a Christian, the only thing I can say is this is demonic. And any Christian who still supports these people should repent and denounce this demonic MAGA cult.

…………….

This administration has used Christians like puppets.

First, Donald Trump was compared to Jesus during Easter. Then he posted an image of himself as Jesus. And now his vassal Pete Hegseth is quoting a fake Bible verse from the movie Pulp Fiction to Pentagon staff and asking them to pray.

For me, as a Christian, this is the epitome of blasphemy. It is demonic. It is straight from the devil. And any Christian who supported these people should repent and denounce this demonic MAGA cult.

Video here :

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1B9FXn1urw/?mibextid=wwXIfr

…………………..

Trump just posted a letter from Franklin Graham saying he doesn’t believe Trump would knowingly share an image depicting himself as Jesus. Graham goes on to claim that Trump thought it was a “doctor helping someone,” and that critics are just trying to make him look bad.

I have two comments.

First, I think this is the first time Trump has gone to such lengths to whitewash himself. That means something. It means he is scared. He understands that he is losing a very significant part of his followers. And he is trying the only way he knows how to defend himself: lie. He is lying. But it is not working.

Any decent human being would simply apologize. Acknowledge the mistake. Show some humility. And move on.

Not Trump. His narcissistic personality does not allow him to say three simple sentences: “I was wrong. I am sorry. Please forgive me.” So for him, the only option is to lie.

Obviously, there is no way Trump truly thought it was him as a doctor. There is not a single country in the world where doctors look like that. But there are hundreds of paintings portraying Jesus exactly like that. So the only logical conclusion is that Trump is lying to reduce the backlash.

This brings me to my second point. Trump needs legitimacy. He needs someone to testify on his behalf. That is how Franklin Graham got into this mess. Graham has already said that Trump has been raised up by God. That God saved Trump’s life to save America. So of course, he cannot abandon his position now.

I am no longer surprised by Franklin Graham. This is the same man who has appeared on multiple russian propaganda channels, praised Vladimir Putin repeatedly, and urged people to pray for Putin’s “wisdom.” Not once has he called for Putin’s repentance.

It is because of people like this that many atheists want nothing to do with the church.

“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” – Brennan Manning

………………..

Russians have just struck a Baptist church in the city of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. One person was killed.

It would be good if Trump, instead of posting pictures of himself as Jesus, showed some basic human decency and helped Ukrainian Christians survive this genocide.

……………….

Should Christians stay silent to be “uplifting”?

I was recently told that as a Christian, I should be less critical and more encouraging.

But Christianity is not a call to comfort. It is a call to truth.

And truth is often uncomfortable.

When faith is used to elevate political power, silence is not neutrality — it is participation.

I wrote about this here:

https://kyivindependent.com/it-is-wrong-to-use-christianity-for-political-power-mr-trump/?fbclid=IwdGRjcAROx-1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeAR50OBH41Xwz6mvXB4bu60Rs6IulT_tfm6hi6mKzaRqOiCnwTt6-7HM-RDg_aem_lyQMA1sD_AWY04Q4D3SZdg

Using Christianity for political power is wrong, Mr. Trump

April 16, 2026

Roman Sheremeta

Chair of the Economics Department at the Weatherhead School of Management

A person recently reached out to me and said that I am too critical of U.S. President Donald Trump and the current administration. As a Christian, they suggested, I should be more uplifting — less negative, more encouraging.

It is difficult to understand this argument. Of course, we live in a time when people are tired, overwhelmed, and often anxious, and it is natural to want words that comfort rather than confront.

But it is precisely because I follow Jesus that I cannot remain silent in the face of moral failure in leadership. Christianity, first and foremost, is a call to truth. And truth is often deeply uncomfortable.

But today, the challenge is not only silence. It is also a distortion. We are increasingly seeing moments where the language of faith is used to elevate political figures and justify the consolidation of power. This is not what Christianity is about — and it never has been.

At a recent Easter event, Donald Trump‘s personal spiritual adviser compared his personal struggles to the suffering of Jesus Christ, a comparison that many Christians across denominations rightly found deeply troubling. And then, just days later, Trump himself published an AI-generated image depicting himself in the likeness of Christ, only to delete it and claim he had portrayed himself as a doctor. As far as my imagination can stretch, I struggle to picture a doctor draped in white robes.

The use of faith as a political instrument is dangerous, and history gives us ample reason to understand why.

During the rise of Adolf Hitler, many Christians in Germany chose silence — some out of fear, others out of convenience, still others having convinced themselves that staying quiet was the more peaceful, more constructive path. That silence did not preserve anything, but what it did, though, is enabling one of the greatest evils in human history.

But there were also those who refused. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a pastor who spoke out against the Nazi regime with clarity and at great personal cost, ultimately giving his life for it. He is believed to have said that “silence in the face of evil is itself evil — that not to speak is to speak, and not to act is to act.”

These words have outlasted the man because the conditions that demanded them keep returning in new forms.

Some people I know, people who voted for Trump, acknowledge that he sometimes says and does things that are wrong, but they argue that we should not amplify the negativity. People are already stressed, they say, and more criticism only makes things worse.

But criticism is not the same as negativity — it depends entirely on what is being criticized, and why.

When a leader repeatedly makes statements that are demonstrably false, when he uses rhetoric that undermines trust in democratic institutions, and when he then wraps these actions in the visual language of sacred iconography, that is a question of truth. To respond to it is to refuse to look away.

I respect the perspectives of others. But there are moments when I listen to my conscience. I urge everyone to be honest with themselves about what they are actually seeing.

My conscience does not allow me to remain silent when I see actions and rhetoric that undermine truth, justice, or human dignity.

And yet, how we speak matters just as much as whether we speak. My faith calls me to stand for truth with integrity — without profanity, without dehumanizing those with whom I disagree, without forgetting that even political opponents are human beings made with dignity.

I do not always succeed at this. There are moments when I speak too harshly or react too quickly. But I am trying to grow.

Because being uplifting does not mean pretending that everything is fine when it is not. True encouragement is rooted in truth, not in the avoidance of it. Some of the most genuinely uplifting figures in history were also among the most direct. They never tried to inspire people by sparing them from hard things.

Jesus Himself did this. He spoke words of love and hope, but he also spoke hard truths, particularly to those in power and to those who misused it.

So when I am told to be less critical, I reflect. I ask whether I am being fair, whether I am being truthful, and whether I am speaking in a way that actually reflects my values. But I cannot accept that silence is the better path. History has answered that question too many times, and the answer is always the same: silence before wrongdoing only allows it to grow.

That is why I will continue to speak, especially right now.

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in the op-ed section are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent.

Roman Sheremeta

Roman Sheremeta, Ph.D., is a Professor of Economics and Chair of the Economics Department at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. He is also the Founding Rector of American University Kyiv, which he helped establish in 2022.