Are President Trump’s prodigal chickens finally coming home to roost?

A surprisingly scathing editorial Thursday by the prominent American evangelical publication Christianity Today (CT) condemning the president’s “profoundly immoral” behavior, and noting his historic impeachment this week by the U.S. House of Representatives, indicates the roosting may have begun.

“The [editorial] was the most notable example of dissent among the religious conservative base that has supported Mr. Trump through controversy after controversy, and came at one of the most vulnerable moments of his presidency,” The New York Times reported the next day.

In the Christianity Today editorial, longtime editor-in-chief Mark Galli urged evangelical Christians, who have remained steadfast in their support for the president, to forsake him.

“[T]he facts … 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,” wrote Galli, who says he plans to retire in January. “That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.”

The Illinois-based publication, notably founded by prominent evangelical Billy Graham in 1956, largely has steered clear of politics, Galli says, “to allow Christians with different political convictions to make their arguments in the public square, to encourage all to pursue justice according to their convictions and treat their political opposition as charitably as possible.”

Galli writes that the publication has “reserved judgment” on the president for years, trying to give his evangelical supporters “their due” and to “try to understand their point of view.” But the moment has arrived to be unreserved, he wrote.

“To use an old cliché, it’s time to call a spade a spade, to say that no matter how many hands we win in this political poker game, we are playing with a stacked deck of gross immorality and ethical incompetence,” he wrote in the CT editorial.

The future well-being and reputation of evangelical Christianity and its members, and that of the nation, are at stake, he says.

“Remember who you are and whom you serve,” Galli wrote. “Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior. Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come?”

Although Trump’s evangelical supporters have touted his Supreme Court and federal court nominees who continue to be seated, and his successful stewardship of the economy, backing of federal regulations specifically favoring devout Christians, and promoting of faith values, they do not “justify” ignoring the president’s moral travesties that threaten the republic, the editorial concludes.

“We believe the impeachment hearings have made it absolutely clear, in a way the Mueller investigation did not, that President Trump has abused his authority for personal gain and betrayed his constitutional oath,” Galli wrote. “… This damages the institution of the presidency, damages the reputation of our country, and damages both the spirit and the future of our people. None of the president’s positives can balance the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character.”

Predictably, the president launched two dismissive tweets Friday lambasting the CT editorial, tarring the publication as “far left” and claiming it was “doing very poorly” economically. Also, Billy Graham’s son, Franklin, a prominent American evangelical, said he believed his late father would be “embarrassed” by Galli’s editorial, according to a Friday New York Times article.

Franklin Graham said Christianity Today represents a “liberal element within the evangelical movement,” implying a fringe status.

“It is not going to change anybody’s mind about Trump,” he said.

The stinging editorial drew so much response, pro and con, that the publication’s website temporarily crashed.

“The heart of white evangelicalism is realizing that its pulse is weak, and that there is sickness in the faith,” Lisa Sharon Harper, president of FreedomRoad.us, a Christian justice group, told The Times. “The fact that it took them so long is something they must learn from … But I’m glad they spoke out.”

Franklin Graham may be right that the editorial won’t make much difference among evangelicals at the end of the day. The Times reports that opposition to Trump among white evangelicals “remains exceedingly rare.” Indeed, 99 percent of Republican white evangelical protestants opposed the president’s impeachment, according to a recent Public Religion Research Institute poll.

Nonetheless, the CT editorial concluded that:

“… none of the president’s positives can balance the moral ad political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character. That he should be removed, we believe is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments.”

Or, in the atheist view, Trump should be dethroned as a matter of loyalty to compassionate, fair humanist values inherent in all human beings, believers and nonbelievers alike.

Amen to that.

Cartoon/Thanks to Larry Smith (@thelushlarry)