In the Bible, chapter 8 of 1 Samuel is the story of Israel demanding a king. In that story, Samuel prays to God, and God advises Samuel that such a demand is a rejection of God. A human king is a rejection of God’s authority. God tells Samuel to warn the people about kings. Samuel warns the people of Israel:

“These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots, and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. He will take your male and female slaves and the best of your cattle and donkeys and put them to his work. He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And on that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you on that day.” (1 Samuel 8:11-18)
The people don’t listen and continue to demand a king. And everything that God predicted through Samuel came to pass. Both Chronicles and Kings report how Solomon decided to build a temple for God and a palace for himself. He conscripts laborers from the people. He took half of the immigrants living in Israel and forced them to labor. He ordered the temple to be built of massive cedar beams and for precious metals to be used. The nails alone cost fifty shekels of gold. He had carved figures covered in gold. He had the entire inner sanctuary overlaid with pure gold. Chains were made with pure gold, and the altar was overlaid with gold. If you read the descriptions in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, the word “gold” is used over and over again.

The wealth of the temple and residence was part of Israel's downfall, as reported in the books of the prophets. Because so much wealth was concentrated in one place, Israel became vulnerable to attack. Isaiah describes the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. Israel's wealth was taken along with many of its people, who were spread out across Babylon in exile.

Even though the people demanded a king, the kings weren’t good for Israel.

It should come as no surprise that many people of faith who know Biblical history have participated in “No Kings” rallies. The current president of the U.S.'s wildly evident gold obsession provokes easy comparisons with the descriptions of Solomon’s temple and residence.

Just like the descriptions of the temple, each time the president uses the word “gold,” people cringe. In an executive order issued in May, he said, "My Administration is committed to restoring a gold standard for science to ensure that federally funded research is transparent, rigorous, and impactful, and that Federal decisions are informed by the most credible, reliable, and impartial scientific evidence available.”

The way that order has played out is for vast amounts of funding to be withdrawn from science and research. The administration has cut the workforce at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, terminated over $1 billion in funding of the National Institutes of Health, cut over $6 billion in NASA funding, battled universities and cut billions of dollars for research, and put decades of scientific research in jeopardy by deleting data sets collected by satellites. The so-called “gold standard” seems to be aimed directly at environmental science and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Researchers filing out grant requests now must answer questions such as “Can you confirm this is not a climate or ‘environmental justice’ project or include such elements?” and “Can you confirm that this is no DEI project or DEI elements of the project?” Not only is it clear that the administration is targeting solid science, but it is also evident that they haven’t hired people skilled in using language to design their questions.

The administration’s “gold standard” for science is an apparent attempt to stifle research and innovation. Because so much science is conducted in international arenas, other countries are moving to take up some of the slack, and that includes hiring some of the most educated and capable scientists away from the US. The brain drain has already begun, and the US's position as a leader in international science research has slipped dramatically in just a few months.

Biblical history teaches that consolidating power and wealth creates injustice, and a government that ignores or perverts justice cannot long succeed.

As a result, it is impossible for preachers and scholars in this generation to avoid politics. It isn’t that religion has strayed from its normal boundaries. Politics has entered churches and other religious institutions. The prophets of the Bible were not popular in their day, and faithful religious leaders may not be popular today. God cannot be silenced, even when people refuse to listen.

Scientific method and research were born out of religious faith. The observation of creation led to systems of organizing information. Churches and other religious institutions supported and funded research, founded institutions of education, and supported science. Harvard University, target of the current administration, was founded by the church I served during my career. Attacks on science attempt to change the nature of truth, but reality intervenes. Truth is not subject to political whims.

Students of the bible find many warnings in the orders being issued by the administration. Faithful people will be wise to listen.