{"id":334,"date":"2026-05-12T16:12:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T16:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=334"},"modified":"2026-05-12T16:12:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T16:12:30","slug":"florida-pastors-outraged-by-christian-leaders-defense-of-golden-trump-statue-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=334","title":{"rendered":"Florida pastors outraged by Christian leader\u2019s defense of golden Trump statue"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>After an Evangelical pastor presided over the unveiling of a golden statue of President Donald Trump at his Doral golf course last week, several Florida religious leaders are likening the homage to idolatry and a violation of the biblical prohibition against worshiping false idols.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=333\">Bon Jovi\u2019s youngest just graduated from UM. What we know about him<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>At a ribbon-cutting ceremony last Wednesday at Trump National Doral golf course in Doral, Trump\u2019s spiritual advisor and Evangelical pastor John Mark Burns presented the 22-foot golden effigy alongside dozens of other religious leaders.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The statue, worth $450,000, depicts Trump raising his right fist in a gesture similar to the moments after he survived the assassination attempt at a 2024 campaign rally.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The optics of the ceremony soon sparked backlash from the faithful and religious leaders, many of whom drew a parallel to biblical scripture Exodus 32, which warns believers about the dangers of creating false idols and worshiping other gods. Burns took to social media to defend himself.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>On X, Burns said the statue, dubbed the \u201cDon Colossus,\u201d was \u201cnot a golden calf,\u201d which is referenced in Exodus as a false idol, but \u201ca powerful symbol of resilience, freedom, patriotism, courage, and the will to keep fighting for America.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Burns went on to say that statue is meant to be a symbol of the \u201chand of God over President Trump\u2019s life,\u201d and a \u201cthank-you\u201d to God for preserving the president\u2019s life in multiple assassination attempts.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Coral Gables pastor Laurinda Hafner said she was \u201cdeeply troubled\u201d by the pastoral dedication to the statue. Though Burns insisted the statue was not a \u201cgolden calf\u201d moment, Hafner said the \u201csymbolism and emotional energy\u201d of the event tell a different story.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we build a towering golden image of an elected official, we are no longer just \u2018thanking God.\u2019 We are visually exalting a human being in a way that blurs the line between rightful gratitude and idolatrous devotion,\u201d said Hafner, who is the senior pastor of Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn my Christian faith, not any president, not any party, not any nation is to be worshiped,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Fort Myers pastor Rev. Arthur Jones III criticized Pastor Burns \u2014 and other Christian pastors who surround Trump \u2014 as being more concerned about accessing political power than preaching the Gospel.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s so egregious what he\u2019s done. He\u2019s not teaching the gospel. He\u2019s actually advocating and teaching idolatry and blasphemy,\u201d said Jones who is a minister at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fort Myers. \u201cPastor Burns is dead wrong for what he did, and he knows it &#8230; You are compromising people\u2019s spiritual lives for reckless pursuits of power, and it\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=332\">Progress being made fighting Broward and Miami-Dade wildfires<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Trump is no stranger to blurring the lines of religion and politics. He has touted himself as a champion for religious freedom and faith-friendly policies, including his creation of a task force to \u201ceradicate anti-Christian bias,\u201d as well as the White House Faith Office, which is headed by famed televangelist and megachurch pastor Paula White-Cain.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>As a Christian pastor who grew up in an Evangelical home, Jones said he believes the president\u2019s current appeal towards religious freedom is more about appeasing Christian Nationalists, or those who believe in an ideology that seeks to merge Christian and American identities in a way that gives more power and privilege to those who adhere to certain expressions of Christianity.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt certainly has nothing to do with God, has nothing to do with faith. This has much more to do with Christian Nationalism than Christianity, and sadly, it\u2019s becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between the two,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>But Burns argued on social media that many musicians, athletes and cultural icons have statues dedicated to them, yet they did not receive the same public response.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiving honor where honor is due is biblical. Bowing down and worshiping an idol is sinful. There is a major difference,\u201d Burns wrote.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was created to honor a man whom many may disagree with, but millions of Americans believe has done extraordinary things to make this nation stronger,\u201d Burns wrote, adding that dedicating the statue to Trump was \u201cone of the greatest honors of his life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Rev. Nyya Toussaint of First Church Miami said that Burns brought up the \u201cgolden calf\u201d reference initially in order to \u201cget ahead of accusations that the regime is idolizing Trump.\u201d Toussaint said elected officials should not be concerned with gold statues and \u201cgallivanting through golf courses\u201d and should instead focus society\u2019s critical issues, including the housing crisis and environmental problems.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Hafner said as pastor she wants to remind the faithful that \u201cour worship belongs to God alone and not to any golden image, and certainly not to any president. Faithfulness in this moment means turning our eyes away from gilded statues and back toward our neighbors who are hungry, hurting, and in need of the justice and compassion. \u201c<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p><i>This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and donors in South Florida\u2019s Jewish and Muslim communities, including Khalid and Diana Mirza and the Mohsin and Fauzia Jaffer Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=330\">Florida pastors outraged by Christian leader\u2019s defense of golden Trump statue<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><\/p>\n<p>This story was originally published <span>May 12, 2026 at 11:00 AM<span>.<\/span><\/span><!-- --><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Florida pastors criticize a 22-foot golden Trump statue at Trump National Doral, calling it idolatry and a troubling mix of religion and politics in Miami.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-florida"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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