When Theology Turns Deadly

A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” - Micah 6:8 (NRSV)

---

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

Over the weekend in the US, in the midst of protests and parades, we learned of an unspeakable act: the assassination of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the attempted murder of Senator John Hoffman and his wife. The assailant, Vance Boelter, left behind a list of people he believes deserved death for their political views and progressive values. But it is not only the violence that demands our attention. It is the source of his conviction.

Vance Boelter claimed to be an evangelical pastor.

He did not just act from hate—he acted from a theology so malformed, so severed from the sacred, that it could justify murder in God’s name. What we are facing is not merely political extremism. It is a theological collapse. And not just theological, but cosmological—a collapse in how we understand God, self, earth, and other.

At its most extreme, toxic evangelical cosmology teaches:

• The Earth is disposable, not sacred.

• The body is shameful, not holy.

• The Other is enemy, not kin.

• God is authoritarian, not relational.

This theology of separability kills long before it draws blood. It kills connection. It kills nuance. It kills reverence. It creates a logic in which violence becomes virtue, and domination becomes divine.

This is the weaponized myth of righteous violence:

I am God’s agent.
You oppose me.
Therefore, destroying you is holy.

It is not metaphor. This logic has animated crusades, colonization, lynchings, and now, political assassinations. When people are denied rites of passage rooted in vulnerability and care, they will seek power through force. When grief has nowhere to go, it metastasizes into false prophecy. When the world changes and power shifts, those who enjoyed supremacy grasp for a God who will restore their control.

And pulpits—yes, pulpits—have too often given them one.

Boelter did not just kill humans. He enacted a theology that had already killed his sense of kinship. His bullet was not just metal. It was forged in sermons. In silence. In theologies that sever instead of stitch.

We must resist the temptation to “other” this man as merely deranged. That lets the larger system off the hook. This is not just about one extremist. It is about a spiritual formation that has failed.

And so, our response must go deeper than condemnation. For a culture to navigate collapse and to create something new, we need:

• Rituals of spiritual accountability that name harm and call for repair.

• Communal grief work that lets pain metabolize instead of metastasize.

• Theological reweaving rooted in Earth, body, interconnection, and justice.

• Spaces of refuge for those deconstructing authoritarian religion—where they can unlearn without shame, and re-member without fear.

This is not just counter-theology. It is counter-cosmology. It’s not just calling out—but calling home those willing to reimagine the sacred.

Our work is not only to grieve the death of public leaders. It is to grieve the slow spiritual death that precedes this violence. And then—to become midwives of a sacredness that cannot be weaponized.

What do you think?

We are in this together,

Cameron

---

Reflection Questions

---

• Where have I been shaped by spiritual ideas that separate me from others or from creation?

• What parts of my formation—religious or cultural—need unlearning to make room for deeper love?

• How can I help create communities of theological repair for those wounded by weaponized religion?

---

A Prayer for the Day

---

For a Sacredness That Cannot Be Weaponized

Holy One,

In the face of unspeakable violence,
Break our hearts open, not closed.
May we grieve, but not grow numb.
May we speak truth, but not from vengeance.
We pray not only for justice,
but for the healing of our moral imagination.
Make us architects of sacred kinship,
and prophets of a faith that frees.

Amen.

---

Spiritual Practice

---

Reweaving the Web

Set aside 10–15 minutes of quiet time today. Sit somewhere undistracted, grounded, and still. Begin with a few deep breaths, letting your body arrive fully in the present moment.

Now, bring to mind someone—or a group of people—whose views or actions you find most painful, frightening, or incomprehensible. Not to excuse, but to see.

Without jumping to justification or blame, ask gently:
What fear might they be carrying? What grief might be living unspoken beneath their rage?
Can you trace even the faintest thread of shared human vulnerability?

Now shift your awareness to your own story.

Where have you acted from fear instead of love? From confusion instead of clarity? From grief that had no place to land?

Allow these threads—yours and theirs—to come into relationship, not as agreement, but as recognition. Let yourself feel the ache of our collective unprocessed sorrow.

When you’re ready, place your hand on your heart.
Say aloud:

“I choose to see without separating. I choose to grieve without turning away. I choose to act from kinship, even in conflict.”

Close your time with a breath of gratitude for your own courage to hold complexity, and a prayer that our world will learn to do the same.

---

Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…

---

SOLD OUT!!! July 20-25, 2025 - The Art of Wilding: A 5-Day Expedition in Wyoming for Women Leaders. Click here to learn more in case you want to come next year!

August 11, 2025, 2pm ET - Dr. Andrew Root and I will be hosting a 6 part series on Spirituality in the Secular Age based on his research. The dates are August 11, 18, September 8, 15, and October 6, 13. Mark your calendars! More on this soon.

September 4, 4:30pm ET - I will be collaborating with the Anderson Forum for Progressive Theology to host a conversation with Thomas Jay Oord on Open and Relational theology. It’s a FREE event. Register here.

October 15-18, 2025 - Converging 2025: Sing Truth Conference (all musicians invited!) at Northwest Christian Church in Columbus, OH. Register here!

I drafted a Strategic Framework for Congregations as we move into the coming years of increased authoritarianism around the world. If interested, you can download it here.

---

If you are a leader or member of a congregation looking for consulting support in visioning, planning, hiring or staffing, please consider Convergence.