Okla. faith leaders talk Trump, Project 2025 on national film tour stop

Published September 10, 2024 at 8:13 AM CDT

About 500 people gathered at B’nai Emunah Synagogue on Monday to screen a film about Christian nationalism and hear from community leaders.

"Bad Faith" is a film that traces in about an hour and a half the history of Christian nationalism in the United States. It ultimately connects current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to a network of evangelical activists that are seeking to eliminate the federal government.

About a dozen Oklahoma churches co-sponsored the event to express their support. Screenings of the film are currently scheduled around the United States until the end of October.

Attendee and recent transplant to Tulsa Stacey Paisner said she experienced “an epiphany” about Trump while watching the film.

“I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out how this disgusting, unfaithful, cheating, lying man got all these evangelicals behind him. And it’s because he’s the puppet to get them what they want,” said Paisner.

A panel moderated by Brian Silva with Americans United for the Separation of Church and State convened after the showing. Speakers included Tulsa Rabbi Dan Kaiman, Oklahoma City Reverend Shannon Fleck, and Columbia University scholar Anne Nelson.

Nelson, who is from Stillwater, described a nearly 900-page document produced by Trump’s backers known as Project 2025. Though Trump has tried to distance himself, Project 2025 is considered a blueprint for his second term should he win November’s election.

“They want to ban the words reproductive health from all federal documents, they want to prevent the CDC from recommending vaccinations for school children, they want to close down the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency, and allow the oil companies to proceed and drill wherever they want to with no safety measures,” sad Nelson. “It is a radical, radical document.”

Panelists promoted voting and political involvement for those concerned about Project 2025. Fleck encouraged attendees to sign a letter from the Oklahoma Faith Network she aims to send to lawmakers and school boards.

Kaiman emphasized community-based solutions and sharing values while building relationships. He championed 2022 state legislation around teaching the Holocaust that synagogue members were instrumental in finalizing.

“Well, sure, the place to start is with Holocaust education. But let’s follow it with legislation about teaching the Tulsa Race Massacre, about seeking the history of Indigenous peoples in our state. There’s a lot we can do, and it is possible,” said Kaiman.

The next showing of "Bad Faith" is planned in Lexington, North Carolina on Tuesday. It will show again in Oklahoma on Sept. 15 in OKC at New Covenant Church, 1200 N. Rockwell Ave.