Anniversary for Sunday. The Roman emperor Constantine the Great issued a Sunday edict on March 7th of 321 – exactly 1,700 years ago. In that law, the emperor determined that Sunday would henceforth be the official day of rest. Four questions and answers.
Eleanor McCrary, Louisville Courier Journal
Sat, April 5, 2025 at 11:41 PM GMT+34 min read
Hundreds gathered in downtown Louisville to voice concerns over President Donald Trump’s administration at a “Hands Off” protest — joining thousands of others globally on Saturday.
Get his “hands off” various items — from Medicaid to Social Security and from free speech to the economy.
As rain fell, people huddled under umbrellas and marched along the streets, starting at Louisville’s Metro Hall and walking down the tourist-populated Whiskey Row. Protesters called on the president to get his “hands off” various items — from Medicaid to Social Security and from free speech to the economy.
For several Louisvillians, it wasn’t one particular issue that brought them out, but the culmination of months of decisions by Trump that they disagree with.
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U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey spoke to a cheering crowd after the march, criticizing Trump and billionaire advisor Elon Musk.
“They’re waging a war against our public schools,” McGarvey said on the steps of Metro Hall. “They’re raging a war against our health care. They’re waging a war against our veterans. They’re waging a war against our economy. They’re waging a war against our workers’ rights. They are waging a war against the very country we love and the democracy on which it was built.”
He called on the protesters to “keep showing up.”
never assume that someone else is speaking for them
“Go out there,” McGarvey said. “Talk to your friends, talk to the people you go to church with, talk to the people you work with. Talk to people in your kid’s carpool lane. I don’t care. Tell them how important it is to stand up (and) to never assume that someone else is speaking for them.”
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Louisville Metro Councilman JP Lyninger, the body’s newly elected Democratic socialist, also attended the rally.
“We have an unelected billionaire and all these billionaire donors to Trump who are attacking Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, our national parks, our federal workers and their unions while cutting themselves huge tax cuts, trillions in tax cuts,” Lyninger said. “There’s only one term for what’s happening: That’s class war. Class war is happening to you as a working class member, whether you like it or not.”
There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
Proverbs 30 : 12
Labor Troubles—Through the working of trusts and the results of labor unions and strikes, the conditions of life in the city are constantly becoming more and more difficult. Serious troubles are before us, and for many families removal from the cities will become a necessity.6
Impending Destruction—The time is near when large cities will be swept away, and all should be warned of these coming judgments. AH 136.4 – AH 136.5
The nationwide protests come at the heels of Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement and a subsequent stock plunge over trade war fears. Since beginning his second term in office, the president has taken numerous controversial steps — from dismantling the U.S. Department of Education to cutting the federal workforce.
But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.Nahum 2 : 8
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told USA TODAY this week that “protests, lawsuits, and lawfare” will not sway Trump “from delivering on the promises he made to make our federal government more efficient and more accountable.”
Why Louisvillians joined the ‘Hands Off’ protests
Married couple Jim and Agnes Raymone protested together Saturday. Agnes said she was shocked by how “easy it is to dismantle the government,” and she believes checks and balances “don’t seem to exist.”
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She was also surprised and upset over the dismantling of several federal agencies.
“That’s the basis of our government,” Agnes said. “And that’s to provide services to the people. If you don’t have that, what is the purpose of the government? Health care, public education, national parks, medical research — I mean, everything.”
One Louisville man, who asked to remain anonymous, dressed as a naked monarch, drawing attention from other protest goers who posed with him for photos.
“When you have sycophantic people around you in office, you don’t think clearly,” he said. “So if everybody tells the king his clothes look beautiful when he’s naked, we’re in trouble as a society.”
The “Hands Off” march was the man’s first protest, and the recent decisions from the Trump administration — including the numerous executive orders he has issued — brought him out.
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“I have two children,” he said. “I’m worried about their future, and it’s really easy to create damage and chaos and harder to build stuff up. We need to protect our institutions and the younger generation.”
He was not the only protester likening Trump to a king. Kathleen Lolley dressed as a court jester because she believes the country is “going back into the dark ages.” She referenced the defunding of health care systems and disease protections. Lolley also said she believes Trump has had a “blatant disregard of the Constitution and democracy.”
Such were the means which Rome had invoked to quench the light of the Reformation, to withdraw from men the Bible, and to restore the ignorance and superstition of the Dark Ages. But under God’s blessing and the labors of those noble men whom He had raised up to succeed Luther, Protestantism was not overthrown. Not to the favor or arms of princes was it to owe its strength. The smallest countries, the humblest and least powerful nations, became its strongholds. It was little Geneva in the midst of mighty foes plotting her destruction; it was Holland on her sandbanks by the northern sea, wrestling against the tyranny of Spain, then the greatest and most opulent of kingdoms; it was bleak, sterile Sweden, that gained victories for the Reformation. GC 235.3
Signs reading “No King Trump” and “No Kings” were also present in the Louisville crowd.
It was demonstrated that the principles of the Bible are the surest safeguards of national greatness. The feeble and isolated colonies grew to a confederation of powerful states, and the world marked with wonder the peace and prosperity of “a church without a pope, and a state without a king.”
But continually increasing numbers were attracted to the shores of America, actuated by motives widely different from those of the first Pilgrims. Though the primitive faith and purity exerted a widespread and molding power, yet its influence became less and less as the numbers increased of those who sought only worldly advantage. GC 296.3 – GC 296.4
Philip Woods, another Louisvillian, held a sign that said “Elon: Hands off my privates!”
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Woods said he has been particularly disturbed by what he views as privacy violations. He referenced the Signal group chat used by top government officials to discuss U.S. military strikes in Yemen — which accidentally included the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.
The “Hands Off” rallies are expected to be the largest and most widespread protests since Trump’s second term began, USA TODAY previously reported.
Reach reporter Eleanor McCrary at EMcCrary@courier-journal.com or at @ellie_mccrary on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Why Louisville residents joined ‘Hands Off’ protests against Trump
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