“Woe to those who make iniquitous decrees, who write oppressive statutes, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right.” — Isaiah 10:1–2, NRSVUE
The White House has created something called the Fraud Ledger.1 It is a public website celebrating the Trump administration’s efforts to uncover fraud in government programs. There are impressive dollar amounts, announcements of investigations, and accounts of money the administration says it has prevented from being stolen.
I would support a government that truly works to protect public money. Fraud is a serious crime, especially when it takes resources meant to feed children, provide medical care, or help families in need.
But in September, researchers at Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families looked at what the White House was actually counting.2 Out of eleven Medicaid-related items in an August report, only two were real fraud convictions, totaling about $277 million. Five were just allegations that had not been proven in court. Four involved $2.8 billion in federal funding held back from states during Medicaid payment disputes. The administration counted these withheld funds as anti-fraud successes, even though holding back money does not prove fraud happened.
This distinction is important because numbers on an official government website seem to carry moral weight. They suggest to the public that someone was caught, money was saved, and justice was served. But the real evidence shows a much more complex situation.
Another part of this campaign worries me even more. It has to do with which people Americans are being led to connect with fraud.
This week, President Trump gave $10,000 to conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley, whose videos brought national attention to claims of fraud at Somali-run childcare centers in Minnesota. The administration also started a program that offers money for reporting fraud. State officials have challenged some of the video’s claims, though a woman linked to one of the businesses has since pleaded guilty to fraud.
Minnesota has had real fraud scandals. The Feeding Our Future case involved stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from programs meant to feed children during the pandemic. These crimes should be investigated and held accountable. But the political story built around these crimes affects people who did nothing wrong.
I just got back from Minneapolis, where I spent much of the past week hearing people talk about the fear in their neighborhoods during federal immigration raids. Families have changed their routines because they might be detained. Children now know what warning whistles mean. Neighbors have set up networks to protect each other. U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Somali woman, will move out of her Washington, D.C., home that federal agents searched last week because she now feels unsafe there.3 These experiences have made me more aware of the gap between a criminal investigation and the suspicion that can fall on a whole community.
America has often turned the actions of a few people into a story about the character of an entire racial group.
Ronald Reagan’s well-known “welfare queen” story helped spread the idea of someone cheating public assistance. The story was based on a real fraud case, but its political impact came from the racial stereotypes it stirred up.
Political scientist Martin Gilens wrote about this in his book Why Americans Hate Welfare.4 He looked at decades of media coverage and found that Black Americans were shown more often in images of poverty, especially in negative stories about poor people. These images influenced how white Americans saw welfare recipients and whether they thought those people deserved help. This research shows how racial assumptions can work through language that seems to be only about budgets, eligibility, and accountability.
In the current Minnesota controversy, the Somali background of some defendants has become a big part of the public story. President Trump has also often made negative comments about Somali immigrants. This creates a political climate where people see claims about certain businesses along with talk that makes a whole community look suspicious.
This is a common way racial stereotypes spread. One person commits a crime, but the story is told so that people see it as proof about a whole group. The accused person’s identity becomes just as important in the story as what they actually did.
The Hebrew prophet Isaiah gives us a challenging way to look at how public authority is used. In Isaiah 10, the prophet speaks out against those who make unfair laws and use government power to take away the rights of vulnerable people. He is concerned about the moral effects of official decisions, especially when those decisions hurt people who cannot fight back.
Isaiah knew that injustice could happen through rules that seemed proper. A law could be written, an official could enforce it, and the harm caused could be described as just normal government work.
This insight is especially important when talk about protecting public resources gets mixed up with suspicion toward racial or immigrant communities. The duty to keep honest standards of accountability also applies to those in government. This is where the contrast becomes especially troubling.
While the Trump administration promotes its fight against fraud in public assistance programs, the president and his family have gained huge wealth from business deals closely tied to his presidency. Reuters found that the family’s main cryptocurrency ventures brought at least $2.3 billion in gains for the Trumps, while investors lost about $2.3 billion. The president’s financial disclosures show over $1.4 billion in cryptocurrency income in 2025 alone. At the same time, his administration has supported policies that help the cryptocurrency industry, raising serious questions about where public authority ends and private gain begins.
The contradiction extends to the treatment of people convicted of financial crimes. President Trump pardoned a nursing-home operator who had pleaded guilty in a $38 million payroll-tax fraud scheme. He pardoned a cryptocurrency executive who had pleaded guilty to violating federal anti-money-laundering requirements. Reuters recently documented clemency for at least 85 public officials convicted of or charged with corruption-related offenses, most of them Republicans or vocal Trump supporters. At the same time, the administration has weakened parts of the federal government’s anti-corruption enforcement apparatus.
Think about what the public is being told. Fraud by people getting government help is shown as a big threat to the country’s morals and economy. But when people close to the president get very rich, it is defended, and some convicted of serious financial crimes are pardoned. These are different legal issues, but the uneven standards of accountability should be questioned.
There is another painful side to this story. Reuters found that many regular investors who put money into Trump-linked cryptocurrency ventures lost money while the family made profits. Some invested because they trusted the president and thought investing with him would let them share in his success. Their losses show that deals that help powerful people can end up costing those who trust them.
The Hebrew prophets would have seen the moral risk in this kind of situation. They often challenged rulers and rich people who claimed to act for the public but used their power for personal gain. They did not just care about whether someone broke a law. They wanted to know whose interests were served, who was getting rich, and who was paying the cost.
That is the question I want us to consider about this anti-fraud campaign. A government truly committed to integrity would investigate wrongdoing wherever it happens, even among its own allies and those in power. When those who loudly condemn fraud are also gaining from their positions and pardoning financial offenders, the public has good reason to wonder what the campaign is really achieving.
I keep thinking about the White House Fraud Ledger. A government can share huge numbers but still leave people unsure about what has really been proven. It can start a campaign against wrongdoing while building a story that links certain communities to dishonesty. It can make people think justice is being done without showing the full picture of how power is used.
The risk is that public accountability gets mixed up with public accusation.
And when racial stereotypes influence those accusations, the effects reach far beyond the people being investigated.
The people I met in Minneapolis reminded me that real life goes far beyond the labels used in political debates. They are parents taking kids to school, workers earning a living, neighbors helping each other, and families hoping for a better future.
Maybe this is where the prophetic challenge becomes most personal. We need to ask ourselves whose wrongdoing we focus on, whose honesty we take for granted, and whose humanity we overlook once a public story teaches us to be suspicious.
Fraud should be investigated. Public money should be protected. People in power should be watched closely.
And every person deserves to be judged by what they have actually done, not by their race, religion, or community.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
Martin Gilens’s research shows how racial stereotypes can shape our understanding of who deserves public assistance. Where have you noticed the language of fraud, waste, or personal responsibility being used to cast suspicion on an entire community?
How do you recognize the difference between genuine efforts to hold people accountable and public campaigns that selectively direct our attention toward the wrongdoing of particular groups?
Isaiah challenges those who use public authority to enrich themselves or deprive vulnerable people of their rights. What responsibilities do we have when we recognize that the institutions entrusted with protecting the public good may be serving the interests of those who control them?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer: Teach Us to See Clearly
Holy One, You see what power conceals and hear the voices that public accusations drown out. Forgive us when we mistake suspicion for wisdom, wealth for virtue, and accusation for truth. Where prejudice has narrowed our vision, restore our capacity to see. Where greed has captured public trust, awaken the courage to demand justice. Protect those whose names and faces have become convenient targets for the fears of others. Give us discernment to recognize deception, and compassion to resist the cruelty it permits. May our common life be governed by truth, our resources serve the vulnerable, and our judgments honor the dignity of every person. Amen.
Spiritual Practice: The Faces Behind the Story
Think about a group of people who have become the subject of public suspicion. It might be immigrants, people receiving government assistance, or members of a racial or religious minority.
Consider where your impressions of that community have come from. Perhaps you have learned about them primarily through news reports, political speeches, or social media rather than through relationships with people who belong to the community.
Today, spend fifteen minutes listening to or reading a firsthand account from someone within that community. Look for an interview, personal essay, or conversation in which someone describes their ordinary life, family, work, hopes, and experiences.
As you listen, notice what surprises you. What aspects of their life have been absent from the public narratives you usually encounter? What assumptions might you need to reconsider?
If you have an opportunity to build a genuine relationship with someone whose experience differs from yours, approach that relationship with curiosity and respect. Do not ask anyone to defend an entire community or explain the actions of people they have never met.
At the end of the practice, consider one small way you might interrupt an unfair generalization when you encounter it. Perhaps you can ask for evidence, challenge an assumption, or share a story that restores the individuality of people being discussed as a group.
The spiritual discipline is to resist allowing public narratives to determine whose humanity we are willing to recognize.
Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…
My team and I launched a new experiment we are calling “The Commons.” It’s an online space centered around communities of practice: groups of people who share a common concern, set of problems, or passion for a topic, and deepen their knowledge and expertise by interacting on an ongoing basis. Join the community here.
October 27, 2026 - 12:30 - 1:30pm ET - ONLINE BOOK CLUB - I am hosting a book club where we are reading Fr. Gregory Boyle’s “Cherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times.” Father Gregory Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries, has spent decades building community among people whom society has often discarded. In Cherished Belonging, he draws on those relationships and stories to explore what might happen if we stopped sorting people into categories of worthy and unworthy, us and them. Don’t worry if you don’t have time to read the book. We always have incredibly rich conversations. All are welcome. RSVP Here.
November 4, 2026 - 7-8:30pm ET, ONLINE EVENT - Theologian Matthew Fox and I are teaming up again in a series called Journeying with the Mystics. The mystics have always emerged in times of uncertainty. They appear when old certainties are crumbling, when institutions no longer provide easy answers, and when people find themselves longing for a deeper experience of the Sacred. Join us for a 24-session exploration of the teachings of St. John of the Cross, Thomas Merton, Hildegard of Bingen, Kabir and Rumi, Meister Eckhart and more. This is more than a lecture series. It is an invitation into a living spiritual journey. Learn more and REGISTER HERE!
November 10, 7-8:30pm ET - I’ll be joined by theologian, writer, and professor Dr. Debra Rienstra for a special ONLINE conversation on Refugia Faith. In ecology, refugia are small places where life survives amid disruption, pockets of resilience from which life can eventually regenerate and spread. Debra invites us to consider what this might mean spiritually in an age of climate instability, political turmoil, institutional decline, and profound uncertainty. What if our congregations, communities, relationships, and even our own lives could become refugia, places where courage, compassion, beauty, wisdom, and possibility are protected and cultivated for whatever comes next? I hope you’ll join us for this timely and deeply hopeful conversation. REGISTER HERE!
November 19, 2026, 7-8:45pm ET - I will be joining Jackie Sussman for an online session on practicing eidetics as part of our “Reclaiming the Power of Imagination” monthly series. Eidetic Imagery is a powerful tool for pastors, denominational leaders, coaches, and spiritual directors working with others, and for individuals seeking deeper integration and healing in their own lives. Jackie is a psychotherapist, author, and leading expert in Eidetic Image Psychology, and has spent over forty years helping leaders and individuals unlock creativity, uncover hidden strengths, and move through limiting patterns. During this session, she will lead a live Eidetic process shaped by mythic imagery, offering a direct experience of the work. REGISTER HERE.
December 15, 7-8:30pm ET - FREE WEBINAR - I will be joined by Dr. Charissa Mikoski, Assistant Professor of Research and Hartford Institute for Religion Research for a presentation on “The State of American Congregations: What the Latest Data Tell Us.” This webinar explores findings from the 2025 Faith Communities Today survey, including changes in worship attendance, congregational vitality, finances, volunteering, programming, and leadership. It will also examine what more than 24,000 individual attenders tell us about participation and their experiences of congregational life. Together, these findings offer a picture that is neither simply one of decline nor one of revival, but of significant change and uneven recovery. REGISTER HERE.
Fun Things My Friends Are Up To…
I get to work with such amazing, creative people. This section is my way of celebrating them—no paid promotions, just joy in what they’re creating.
Every Monday, 12pm ET - ONLINE WRITING GROUP - My dear friend, Meryl Marshall-Daniels, is leading a writing group open to all. This is a simple and spacious writing circle for people who want time to listen inwardly and put words on the page without overthinking, performing, or polishing. Meryl offers a prompt designed to invite reflection, imagination, and attunement to what is already alive within you. The practice honors writing as a way of listening, of letting images, memories, questions, and insights surface in their own time. Learn more here.
If you are a leader or member of a congregation looking for consulting support in visioning, planning, hiring or staffing, please consider Convergence.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/fraud/
https://ccf.georgetown.edu/
https://apnews.com/article/ilhan-omar-home-search-immigration-probe-21e4b07a2c3a18addc751e4535f2954f
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo3633529.html