Vertical Morality

In Iowa – a place where faith still shapes daily life – many people are asking the same question:

How can those who claim to follow Jesus also justify acts of cruelty, dishonesty, or oppression?

The answer, increasingly, lies in something theologians and ex-evangelical advocates call “vertical morality.” It’s the belief that right and wrong flow downward from a higher authority – God, a pastor, or even a political leader – and that obedience to that authority is the ultimate measure of righteousness.

Under this system, compassion, justice, and empathy become secondary to loyalty. When applied to politics, it’s not about living by the teachings of Christ – it’s about obeying whoever claims to speak for Him. It explains how Christian nationalism can sanctify cruelty, how Project 2025’s architects can preach family values while dismantling social safety nets, and how political movements can rebrand vengeance as virtue.

In contrast, horizontal morality – also grounded in scripture – measures righteousness by how we treat others: feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, caring for the sick, and loving our neighbors. It’s the morality Jesus Himself taught in Matthew 25, where service to “the least of these” is the true measure of faith.

What Iowa – and America – face now is a spiritual crossroads. Will faith remain a ladder of obedience reaching upward toward power, or a bridge stretching outward toward community?