PUBLISHED |Molech to MAGA: Idolatry in the Church

'Offering to Molech' in Bible Pictures and What They Teach Us, by Charles Foster, 1897. (Credit: Jamaica Gleaner , Wikimedia Commons)

“Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.” — Leviticus 18:21 (NIV)

Molech. The name conjures images of ancient horror—an idol of bronze, arms outstretched, a furnace blazing within. To appease this deity, the ancients, including backsliding Israelites, offered their children as burnt sacrifices. These grotesque rituals, denounced by the prophets and forbidden by God, symbolised spiritual rot: when a people trade truth and justice for raw power.

But let us not relegate Molech to ancient history. The idol’s statue is gone, yes—but the spirit of Molech lives on. Its appetite for sacrifice has adapted to modern taste. And, chillingly, it has taken up residence within parts of today’s Church, especially in factions of the Christian Right, both in the global North and here in Jamaica and the Caribbean.

IDOLATRY REBRANDED

Idolatry today is not about bowing before golden calves. It is about placing nation, money, ideology, political strongmen, or tribal loyalty above obedience to God. This is the very sin condemned by the Hebrew prophets, by Jesus Himself, and by the early apostles.

But in many congregations that proudly wear the labels “Bible-believing” or “Spirit-filled” we now see Jesus’ name being used to justify:

• Nationalist agendas that criminalise foreigners and asylum-seekers;

• Uncritical loyalty to leaders who embody greed, cruelty, or deceit;

•Hostility to science, learning, or reform, all waved away as “worldly”;

• Prosperity gospel peddling, now bordering on spiritual racketeering.

Such distortions of faith are not rare. They are daily fare. And just like Molech, these idols demand sacrifices.

NEW SACRIFICES

Ancient Molech demanded literal children. Today’s idols demand subtler sacrifices: truth, empathy, reason, compassion, and the moral authority of the Church itself.

• Children at the border are detained, orphaned, left traumatised—and too many Christians, with a shrug, quote Romans 13 (“submit to authorities”) instead of Matthew 25 (“I was a stranger and you welcomed me”).

•The poor are lectured about personal responsibility while obscene wealth is praised as a divine reward.

• Young thinkers are trained to reject history and suppress doubts, rather than explore, discern, and grow into mature faith.

• The Gospel itself is bartered for cultural power, political relevance, or donations from billioneering “benefactors”.

Let us speak plainly: this is not Christianity. This is modern Molech worship.

CROSS WRAPPED IN A FLAG

How did it come to this?

One answer: fear. Fear of decline. Fear of the outsider. Fear of losing privilege. And so, instead of trusting in Christ, many believers have placed their hope in political strongmen and flag-draped idols, mistakenly believing that Caesar and the security forces can do what Christ has not.

The result? A grotesque spectacle where the Church becomes a mascot for empire, an echo chamber for power, a chaplain to greedy party stalwarts.

Jesus warned of this. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom ... I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.’” (Matthew 7:21–23)

When the Church bows to Molech—be it nationalism, wealth, or lies—it ceases to be the Bride of Christ and becomes a concubine of Pharaoh.

JAMAICANS, LOOK IN THE MIRROR

This is not just an American crisis. The Molech spirit is alive in Jamaica, too.

We may not chant “MAGA” or quote Fox News, but we too bow to idols, especially when convenience and connections override compassion.

Consider the disproportionately scandalous oppression of the people of Gaza paralleled by our own treatment of Haitian refugees on our soil: frightened children seized, mothers deported (no, refouled), fathers criminalised, not because they are violent or unruly, but because they are poor, black, and fleeing disaster, murder, rape, and zero human dignity.

We do not burn their bodies on altars, but we routinely sacrifice their physical safety and human futures in the name of border control, orderliness, and the whispered preferences of certain donor-nations or powerful money-man ‘investor/philanthropists’ that pull our strings and capture our state.

And who blesses this policy with eerie silence, or worse, endorsement?

Too often it is our pulpits. The same pulpits that once thundered against apartheid or colonialism now issue only muffled prayers as the ‘least of these’ are cast out.

One wonders whether the CBAJ, Tarrant-like Baptists, traditional churches, prosperity-pushing Pentecostal, and even some pre-eminent sectors of the SDA Church, and of Pathways International KR Ministries, have knelt with minds in one accord before Jamaica’s own Molech: that unholy alliance of billioneering developers, vote-seeking politicians, and prosperity preachers who dare call this “God’s favour”.

WHAT THEN MUST WE DO?

The prophets of old had one word: repent. Tear down the altars. Seek justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly.

We need to rediscover a faith that is:

• Christocentric, not Caesar-centric;

• Biblically literate, but not anti-intellectual;

• Compassion-first, not image-first;

• Courageous enough to name sin, even when it’s wearing a clerical collar or a party pin.

This begins with leaders, yes. But also with congregants, choirs, teachers, ushers, and youths who dare ask: “Is this still about Jesus?”

We must boldly say, “This is not of Christ.”

And we must refuse to sing hallelujahs over cruelty, corruption, and billioneering-driven “development” that trumples the poor and ‘fairly’ rewards the cunning, the broad-smiling greediest influencers on sundry media.

FINAL WORD

Molech was not conquered by debate. His reign ended only when the people tore down the altars and returned to the God of justice and mercy.

The same decision confronts the Church today.

Will we continue to clutch and cling to our idols—political, cultural, economic portfolios—or will we return to the Cross?

As Elijah asked the Israelites: “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him.” (1 Kings 18:21)

The time to choose is now—before we lose the right to call ourselves His.

Dennis A. Minott, PhD, is a physicist, green energy consultant, and longtime college counsellor. He is the CEO of A-QuEST. Send feedback to a_quest57@yahoo.com