A powerful 50–60 minute keynote address by Rev. Jason Carson Wilson, author of Makeshift Messiahs: Why the American Right Keeps Creating Political Saviors.

For decades, a sophisticated machinery — media ecosystems, think tanks, the Religious Right, and donor networks — has transformed politicians into secular saints and partisan loyalty into something resembling civic religion. From the deliberate myth-making around Ronald Reagan, through the theological gymnastics of the Cyrus Doctrine, to the rapid sanctification of modern figures, this pattern reveals a dangerous shift: a democracy that stops looking for servants and starts praying for saviors.

Drawing on history, theology, journalism, and hard-won pastoral experience as a Black gay ordained minister, Rev. Wilson names the human cost — the erosion of accountability, the corruption of faith, the real pain inflicted on marginalized communities — while refusing despair. This is not just critique. It is a prophetic call to see clearly, name honestly, and choose the harder, holier path of service over spectacle, truth over idolatry, and genuine democracy over manufactured messiahs.

You will leave clearer, more awake, and equipped to resist the seduction of political power dressed in sacred language.

Perfect for faith leaders, organizers, journalists, students, and anyone concerned with the soul of this nation and the integrity of our shared life.

Join us for a talk that comforts the afflicted, afflicts the comfortable, and points toward resurrection hope grounded in truth. Recording included with ticket. Limited sliding-scale and group options available.

Baby, this isn’t another political rant — it’s a reckoning. Come ready to think, feel, and act. The machinery is running. The question is what we’re going to do about it.

Reserve your spot. Truth to power, always.