CT’s editorial, of course, did no such thing. It noted that, for the most part, the publication’s approach has been to stay above the fray of politics and allow Christians with different political convictions to make their arguments in the public square. CT also acknowledged that the Democrats have had it in for Donald Trump from day one, and cited with approval Trump’s defence of religious liberty, his stewardship of the economy and his Supreme Court appointments. Loading But in a moment as important as Congressional impeachment of a president, CT said it believes it is necessary to speak up for moral values, and to apply the same standards as CT has done in times past, when presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton had been impeached. And that means that, as its headline proclaimed, “Trump should be removed from office”, because “the facts in this case are unambiguous. The President of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the President’s political opponents. This is not only a violation of the Constitution: it is profoundly immoral.” And more than just a one-off affair, CT noted that President Trump’s “twitter feed alone – with its habitual string of mischaracterisations, lies and slanders is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused”. This is a courageous example of faith at work: a Christian publication putting substance and consistency ahead of tribal attachments.

In 1998, CT called for president Clinton’s impeachment because “his failure to tell the truth – even when cornered – rips at the fabric of the nation”. Loading Twenty-one years later, CT reflected that “unfortunately the words that we applied to Mr Clinton 20 years ago apply almost perfectly to our current President”. In case the message was not clear, the editorial last week laid down the gauntlet to evangelical believers: “Remember who you are and who you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” In the words of Jesus, you cannot serve two masters. At the same time, a group of self-proclaimed standard bearers for evangelicalism remain locked in behind Trump, publishing an open letter signed by 200 church leaders to rally their evangelical troops to not defect. Just a day before in Congress, Republican Barry Loudermilk from Georgia carelessly compared Trump’s impeachment to the trial of Jesus before his crucifixion “when Jesus was falsely accused of treason Pontius Pilate gave Jesus the opportunity to face his accusers. During that sham trial Pontius Pilate afforded more rights to Jesus than the Democrats have afforded this President in this process”. No matter that the President had done all he could to block the inquiry, nor that Trump can rely on Republican Senators to be saved from impeachment, while Jesus went to his death.

America’s religious debates might all seem a long way from our far more secular Australian culture. Yet Trump also has religious standard bearers here as well. Journalist Greg Sheridan, author of the worthy book God is Good for You, wrote in The Australian that ''this impeachment is one of the most contemptible acts in modern US politics''. More significantly, America’s political conflicts reflect the larger trend of identity replacing ideology as the driving force in politics across the world. There are no stronger sources of group identity than religion and nationalism. Combined together, they can form a deeply divisive ''us-versus-them'' agenda. Just look at Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s Hindu nationalist agenda; Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s authoritarian advancement of Sunni Islam, or Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s warnings of a civilisational threat to Christendom from Muslim immigration. Loading But when the substance of religious faith transcends tribalism, it can be a powerful force for good. I’ve seen that power in humanitarian efforts in every corner of the world. Australia is, of course, a more secular nation than most, but we are feeling the rising tide of tribalism. And the same question must be asked of faithful communities here: in an overly politicised world is faith only a subset of politics? Can faith have any independence? And at least something of that breeze is appearing here at home too. There is the religious freedom draft legislation, that many secularist people wonder why we suddenly need, that signals religion is back. Significant Labor Party figures have noted that they lost votes because they were perceived as hostile to religion.