The newly created White House Faith Office announced earlier this week that President Trump would honor and celebrate Holy Week and Easter “with the observance it deserves,” according to Jennifer Korn, director of the Faith Office, including a special presidential video message and a pre-Easter dinner which Trump himself hosted on Wednesday.
“What a contrast to Easter last year at the White House when President Biden declared the most holy day of the year on the Christian calendar ‘Transgender Day of Visibility,’” evangelist Franklin Graham wrote.
Indeed, last year, former President Joe Biden issued a proclamation on that Good Friday which read, in part, “We honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm our Nation’s commitment to forming a more perfect Union — where all people are created equal and treated equally throughout their lives.”
By contrast, President Trump last Sunday launched Holy Week by recognizing “the Crucifixion of God’s Only Begotten Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ… and, on Easter Sunday, we celebrate His Glorious Resurrection and proclaim, as Christians have done for nearly 2,000 years, ‘HE IS RISEN!’”
As Easter dawns this weekend, Christians across the globe will gather to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ—a singular event that overthrew the dominion of death and anchored the hope of salvation. This is no mere nostalgic ritual; it is the heartbeat of a faith that has shaped the moral and cultural architecture of the West for two millennia.
Yet, in our time, Easter’s promise stands in stark contrast to a world increasingly hostile to its message. Christians face unprecedented persecution globally, while at home, the radical Left has secularized our cultural institutions, eroding the foundations of a civilization built on Judeo-Christian values. In the context of this crucible, Easter is not just a commemoration but a defiant call to spiritual and cultural renewal.
The spiritual significance of Easter is inseparable from its radical claim: that Christ’s resurrection is the ultimate victory over sin and death. For believers, this is not a metaphor or a myth but an historical and metaphysical reality. The empty tomb testifies to a God who personally entered human suffering, conquered it, and continues to offer redemption to a fallen world. In our nihilistic age, when meaning is reduced to political activism and an idolization of the self, Easter’s message is a thunderclap. It proclaims that our lives have purpose, that our sacrifices are not in vain, and that love—divine and human—triumphs over despair. It is a reorientation of the soul toward eternity.
But this spiritual truth is under siege. From the Middle East to Africa to Asia, Christians face brutal persecution. In Nigeria, Boko Haram and Fulani militants slaughter Christian villagers with impunity, their churches reduced to ash. In China, the Communist Party demolishes crosses and jails pastors, replacing the Gospel with state-sanctioned propaganda. In the Middle East, ancient Christian communities—descendants of the faith’s earliest witnesses—are being erased by jihadist violence and systemic discrimination. The numbers are staggering: Open Doors estimates that 365 million Christians live under high levels of persecution or discrimination, with 2024 seeing a sharp rise in attacks. These are not abstract statistics but the bloody testament to a global assault on the body of Christ.
This persecution is not merely physical but ideological. In the West, cultural Marxists have waged a relentless and largely successful campaign to secularize the public square, purging Christian symbols and values from cultural institutions. Schools, once grounded in Judeo-Christian ethics, now inculcate ideologies that promote moral relativism over the True, the Good, and the Beautiful. Universities, media, and even many churches have embraced a progressive orthodoxy that recasts Christian virtues as oppressive relics. The neo-Marxist vision is clear: a society unmoored from transcendence, in which the State, not God, defines morality. Easter, with its humble yet glorious affirmation of divine authority, is an affront to this project. It reminds us that no earthly power can command our ultimate allegiance.
Culturally, Easter has been a cornerstone of Western civilization, its themes of renewal and redemption woven into our art, literature, and moral imagination. From Dante’s Divine Comedy to Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, the resurrection imbues us with humility but has also inspired our highest aspirations. It fueled the abolition of slavery, the rise of charity, and the concept of inalienable human rights—ideas rooted in the revelation that every soul is made in God’s image – that all lives matter.
Yet today these cultural fruits are under attack. The Left’s secularizing zeal has birthed a destructive new iconoclasm, toppling not just statues but the very ideals they represented. In their place has arisen a culture of grievance and division, where identity politics negates – intentionally – the universal brotherhood Easter proclaims.
The Left understands that to remake society, it must dismantle its spiritual foundations. By marginalizing Christianity, they aim to sever the West from this moral compass, leaving it adrift in a sea of relativism. The result is a civilization in decline—spiritually hollow, culturally fragmented, and increasingly authoritarian. The rise of cancel culture, the suppression of free speech, and the weaponization of institutions against dissenters are symptoms of a society that has forgotten Easter’s call to truth and grace.
Civilizationally, Easter’s significance lies in its power to renew and restore. The resurrection is not just a personal promise but a cosmic one, pointing to the restoration of all things. This hope has sustained the West through its darkest hours—Roman persecution, barbarian invasions, world wars. It can sustain us now – if we choose to reclaim it. Will we return to the faith that birthed our greatness, or will we surrender to a secular dystopia where power, not principle, reigns?
The resurrection is a rallying cry for those of us who refuse to submit to the spirit of the age. It calls Christians to stand firm with the courage of conviction. This means defending the faith in the public square. It means rebuilding cultural institutions—schools, churches, families—that reflect Easter’s values of truth, beauty, and sacrifice. It means bearing witness to the Gospel in a world that despises it, knowing that the God who raised Christ from the dead can raise a civilization from its ashes.
Easter assures us that no persecution, no ideology, no earthly power can extinguish the truth. This is not blind optimism; history is replete with examples of Christianity’s resilience, from the early martyrs to the medieval monks who nurtured civilization for a thousand years after the collapse of Rome, to the dissidents who defied communist tyranny with the cross. Today’s persecuted, from Nigerian villagers to Chinese house churches, embody this same indomitable spirit. Their witness shames the complacency of the comfortable West.
This weekend, as churches fill with hymns of triumph, let us remember what is at stake. Historically, spiritually, and civilizationally, Easter is a revolutionary act. It declares that death is not the end, that evil will not have the last word, and that a broken world can be made whole. In a time of chaos and re-paganizing decay, this is the message the West desperately needs. The question is whether we will have the courage to carry it. The tomb is empty. Christ is risen. And the future belongs to those who dare to believe it.
Mark Tapson
“What a contrast to Easter last year at the White House when President Biden declared the most holy day of the year on the Christian calendar ‘Transgender Day of Visibility,’” evangelist Franklin Graham wrote.
Indeed, last year, former President Joe Biden issued a proclamation on that Good Friday which read, in part, “We honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm our Nation’s commitment to forming a more perfect Union — where all people are created equal and treated equally throughout their lives.”
By contrast, President Trump last Sunday launched Holy Week by recognizing “the Crucifixion of God’s Only Begotten Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ… and, on Easter Sunday, we celebrate His Glorious Resurrection and proclaim, as Christians have done for nearly 2,000 years, ‘HE IS RISEN!’”
As Easter dawns this weekend, Christians across the globe will gather to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ—a singular event that overthrew the dominion of death and anchored the hope of salvation. This is no mere nostalgic ritual; it is the heartbeat of a faith that has shaped the moral and cultural architecture of the West for two millennia.
Yet, in our time, Easter’s promise stands in stark contrast to a world increasingly hostile to its message. Christians face unprecedented persecution globally, while at home, the radical Left has secularized our cultural institutions, eroding the foundations of a civilization built on Judeo-Christian values. In the context of this crucible, Easter is not just a commemoration but a defiant call to spiritual and cultural renewal.
The spiritual significance of Easter is inseparable from its radical claim: that Christ’s resurrection is the ultimate victory over sin and death. For believers, this is not a metaphor or a myth but an historical and metaphysical reality. The empty tomb testifies to a God who personally entered human suffering, conquered it, and continues to offer redemption to a fallen world. In our nihilistic age, when meaning is reduced to political activism and an idolization of the self, Easter’s message is a thunderclap. It proclaims that our lives have purpose, that our sacrifices are not in vain, and that love—divine and human—triumphs over despair. It is a reorientation of the soul toward eternity.
But this spiritual truth is under siege. From the Middle East to Africa to Asia, Christians face brutal persecution. In Nigeria, Boko Haram and Fulani militants slaughter Christian villagers with impunity, their churches reduced to ash. In China, the Communist Party demolishes crosses and jails pastors, replacing the Gospel with state-sanctioned propaganda. In the Middle East, ancient Christian communities—descendants of the faith’s earliest witnesses—are being erased by jihadist violence and systemic discrimination. The numbers are staggering: Open Doors estimates that 365 million Christians live under high levels of persecution or discrimination, with 2024 seeing a sharp rise in attacks. These are not abstract statistics but the bloody testament to a global assault on the body of Christ.
This persecution is not merely physical but ideological. In the West, cultural Marxists have waged a relentless and largely successful campaign to secularize the public square, purging Christian symbols and values from cultural institutions. Schools, once grounded in Judeo-Christian ethics, now inculcate ideologies that promote moral relativism over the True, the Good, and the Beautiful. Universities, media, and even many churches have embraced a progressive orthodoxy that recasts Christian virtues as oppressive relics. The neo-Marxist vision is clear: a society unmoored from transcendence, in which the State, not God, defines morality. Easter, with its humble yet glorious affirmation of divine authority, is an affront to this project. It reminds us that no earthly power can command our ultimate allegiance.
Culturally, Easter has been a cornerstone of Western civilization, its themes of renewal and redemption woven into our art, literature, and moral imagination. From Dante’s Divine Comedy to Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, the resurrection imbues us with humility but has also inspired our highest aspirations. It fueled the abolition of slavery, the rise of charity, and the concept of inalienable human rights—ideas rooted in the revelation that every soul is made in God’s image – that all lives matter.
Yet today these cultural fruits are under attack. The Left’s secularizing zeal has birthed a destructive new iconoclasm, toppling not just statues but the very ideals they represented. In their place has arisen a culture of grievance and division, where identity politics negates – intentionally – the universal brotherhood Easter proclaims.
The Left understands that to remake society, it must dismantle its spiritual foundations. By marginalizing Christianity, they aim to sever the West from this moral compass, leaving it adrift in a sea of relativism. The result is a civilization in decline—spiritually hollow, culturally fragmented, and increasingly authoritarian. The rise of cancel culture, the suppression of free speech, and the weaponization of institutions against dissenters are symptoms of a society that has forgotten Easter’s call to truth and grace.
Civilizationally, Easter’s significance lies in its power to renew and restore. The resurrection is not just a personal promise but a cosmic one, pointing to the restoration of all things. This hope has sustained the West through its darkest hours—Roman persecution, barbarian invasions, world wars. It can sustain us now – if we choose to reclaim it. Will we return to the faith that birthed our greatness, or will we surrender to a secular dystopia where power, not principle, reigns?
The resurrection is a rallying cry for those of us who refuse to submit to the spirit of the age. It calls Christians to stand firm with the courage of conviction. This means defending the faith in the public square. It means rebuilding cultural institutions—schools, churches, families—that reflect Easter’s values of truth, beauty, and sacrifice. It means bearing witness to the Gospel in a world that despises it, knowing that the God who raised Christ from the dead can raise a civilization from its ashes.
Easter assures us that no persecution, no ideology, no earthly power can extinguish the truth. This is not blind optimism; history is replete with examples of Christianity’s resilience, from the early martyrs to the medieval monks who nurtured civilization for a thousand years after the collapse of Rome, to the dissidents who defied communist tyranny with the cross. Today’s persecuted, from Nigerian villagers to Chinese house churches, embody this same indomitable spirit. Their witness shames the complacency of the comfortable West.
This weekend, as churches fill with hymns of triumph, let us remember what is at stake. Historically, spiritually, and civilizationally, Easter is a revolutionary act. It declares that death is not the end, that evil will not have the last word, and that a broken world can be made whole. In a time of chaos and re-paganizing decay, this is the message the West desperately needs. The question is whether we will have the courage to carry it. The tomb is empty. Christ is risen. And the future belongs to those who dare to believe it.
Mark Tapson
