Candidates for the American presidency love slogans. Think of “Yes, we can!” (Obama in 2008), “Build back better” (Biden in 2020), and “Make America great again” (Trump in 2016 and 2024). The second Trump administration, however, has gone beyond positive slogans to identify a target to attack: D.E.I., short for diversity, equity and inclusion. From the outset, this administration has rooted out D.E.I. policies both inside and outside the federal government. 

The thoroughness of this effort was demonstrated in March, when the United States, alone among 161 nations, voted against a United Nations General Assembly resolution designating July 12 as an International Day of Hope. The U.S. representative to the United Nations objected that the resolution “contains references to diversity, equity and inclusion that conflict with U.S. policies aimed at eliminating all forms of discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities for all.” The administration’s anti-D.E.I. policies have continued in its day-to-day operations.

One wonders, however, whether Christian supporters of the administration’s anti-D.E.I. policies have thought carefully enough about their support. As a longtime biblical scholar, I believe the enemies of D.E.I. fail to recognize that diversity, equity and inclusion characterize God’s actions throughout the Bible. The three qualities are thus Christian virtues; God encourages diversity among humans, practices equity and excludes no one except those who exclude themselves.

God respects diversity in humans’ homelands and languages. In the foundational chapters of Genesis 1-11, for instance, God makes a covenant with all of Noah’s descendants, who eventually become 70 diverse nations. (“Seventy” is a biblical number symbolizing plenitude.) In Genesis 11, God actually introduces different languages to stop the builders of Babel from working together. God commands them instead to journey to the diverse territories assigned to each. 

Even when God elects Abraham and the other patriarchs and matriarchs, he still cares for these 70 nations, or the “non-elect.” A touching example of God’s love of Israel spilling over to these nations is the mention of the “mixed multitude” (Ex 12:38) that joined Israel in fleeing enslavement. The Jewish Study Bible describes the mixed multitude as “non-Israelites, most likely members of other enslaved groups in Egypt.”

Equity, second in the D.E.I. triad, means freedom from bias or favoritism. The present administration complains that the current usage of equity focuses on protecting the rights of members of a group rather than attending the particulars of a case. Critics of D.E.I. do not reject the concept of equity in itself, but they object to its neglect of an individual’s uniqueness because of external factors like a past history of prejudice against a group. Such critics prefer the word merit instead of equity, saying that the current understanding of equity disadvantages certain groups such as white males.

It is true that extending the concept of equity to every individual case thoughtlessly would be a mistake; legal processes should be primarily concerned with the particulars of cases. But the fact that a practice like equity has been misused in the past does not invalidate its intended purpose. It should also be remembered that legal processes in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, presumed a broad context in individual cases, including the people’s relationship to their God and the legal covenant that binds them.

Inclusion, the third component of D.E.I., is widely attested in the Bible and positively assessed. In Genesis 1, God brings discordant features of chaos into a harmonious world: Darkness is paired with light in a productive day-night sequence; chaotic waters are safely contained in the seas; and human beings are delegated to oversee the complexity. In sharp contrast to accounts from ancient societies of gods who made humans as slaves in order to serve their needs, Genesis 1 does not explain why God created the world. Perhaps the best explanatory reason is the Latin aphorism bonum est diffusivum sui, “goodness spreads of itself.” Good things naturally share themselves with others. God creates simply out of his generosity and goodness.

Inclusion is characteristic of the biblical God. Why should God have included so unlikely a father of the nation as Abraham into his plans? There is no record of Abraham having done anything to merit God’s attention. God’s call was not even “reasonable,” for Abraham and Sarah were beyond the age of childbearing, and Sarah was barren. Young Lot, not old Abraham, was more suitable to be father of the nation. But God chose Abraham. Similarly, the future king David was only a boy when Samuel anointed him; even his own father did not regard him as royal material (1 Sam 16). Nevertheless, God included David in his plans for Israel.

And in the New Testament, inclusion marks every aspect of Jesus’ life. His social contacts included unpopular and even hated people like prostitutes and tax collectors. And he broke from custom in including women into his social circle.

Diversity, equity and inclusion characterize God’s action as recorded in the Bible, and challenge Bible readers to make those qualities their own. Some Americans boast that the United States is a Christian nation, but that claim is baseless if its government sidelines, fires and penalizes people upholding diversity, equity and diversity. The United States would then cease to be a Christian nation.

The Trump administration’s war on D.E.I. subverts the biblical portrait of God. Instead of the portrait of a loving and generous God who invites and heals, the administration on its own authority looks for occasions to separate, curtail and exclude.