I’m just a preacher, but I know when a covenant is being broken. Democracy at its core, at its very root is not simply a political system, but a moral agreement. It is the belief that reflects a deep spiritual commitment that every person, regardless of wealth or status, bears the image of God and holds equal value in shaping our shared future. It is a covenant. But today, that covenant is in jeopardy. Today, that covenant is dangerously thin. A democracy cannot survive when its wealthiest citizens refuse to share a common world with the people they govern. And right now, those among us who are the richest are living not just above society, but way beyond it. In other words they are immune to the consequences the rest of us in the United States of America must bear.
Believe it or not, members of today’s billionaire class are richer than any kings or pharaohs of old. However, what needs to be pointed out is the fact that wealth today is not just wealth, it also includes power, political influence, and ownership of the very systems meant to hold power accountable. Thanks to decades of deregulation, a court system increasingly shaped by corporate interest, and economic policies shaped by trickle-down ideology, the balance of power has shifted sharply away from “We The People” and toward those who already have more than they could ever spend.
In my humble opinion, several landmark judicial rulings laid the legal foundation for this shift. In 1976 in Buckley v. Valeo, The Court struck down limits on campaign expenditures and independent expenditures, ruling that money constituted protected political speech. In 1978 in a case called First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, the Supreme Court extended free‐speech protections to corporate political spending. In 2010 in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, The Court eliminated long-standing prohibitions on independent political spending by corporations and unions, allowing them to funnel vast sums into elections. Finally in 2014 in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, The Court struck down aggregate limits on how much an individual may contribute across all federal candidates and committees during a given election cycle. The decision further loosened regulations that once confined political spending.
These decisions when considered with decades of deregulation and tax policies that favor the ultra-wealthy have transformed money from a tool of commerce into the dominant instrument of political control. The questions that come to my mind are “What does it mean for democracy when one man pays a lower tax rate than the teacher who educates his children?” “What does it serve the nation when corporations receive tax breaks larger than entire school budgets in Black and working-class communities?” “How long can a nation survive when wealth determines policy, access, and justice?”
When the wealthy retreat into gated realities such as private jets instead of airports, concierge doctors instead of public hospitals, exclusive schools instead of shared classrooms they lose sight of the United States of America that the rest of us inhabit. If the powerful do not feel what working people feel, they will never govern in ways that can meet real human need. The Bible tells us in John 1:14, “14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” If Jesus walked among us to experience real human need in order to empathize with human suffering and temptation, then the rich should do the same. You see, I see a spiritual dimension to this crisis. The Scriptures make clear that God cares for the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized and He calls His people to do the same. Psalm 82:3 says, “Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and oppressed.” Proverbs 28:27 tells us, “Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but one who turns a blind eye will get many a curse.” These are not optional verses for moral contemplation, they are a mandate. When the structures of society give growing power to the already powerful, and leave the most vulnerable without voice or protection, we are not simply witnessing a political crisis we are witnessing a moral and spiritual failure. This actually makes me question the motivation of the “White Evangelicals” in following the edicts of Project 2025. A democracy cannot endure when its richest citizens operate like a nation unto themselves. And a faith that honors God cannot remain silent while kingdom-building becomes the privilege of the few.
Yet, hope lives because democracy is not defined by wealth, but by will. There remains power in the ballot box, in collective mobilization, in congregations and communities willing to say: enough is enough! We must demand tax structures that reflect fairness, not favoritism. We must challenge a legal system that prioritizes profit over people. And we must insist that America remains a place where every voice counts not just every dollar.
History teaches us that nations do not collapse from poverty, but from indifference. Empires fall not because the poor are too weak, but because the powerful are too detached. To preserve democracy and to honor the God who calls us to justice and compassion we must reclaim a shared world. A world where wealth does not buy silence, a world where justice is not auctioned to the highest bidder, a world where leadership is rooted not in privilege, but in responsibility.
If America is to remain a democracy and if the church is to remain faithful then the wealthy must live in the same nation as the people they expect to lead not above it. But as I said in the beginning, “I’m Just A Preacher!”
It’s All About The Benjamins: By Reverend Dr. Robert M. Spooney
