As part of the general festivities surrounding the inauguration, there was a prayer service at the National Cathedral. The RNS has a write-up: In sermon to Trump, Bishop Budde pleads for immigrants, transgender rights.
About halfway through the service, Trump, seated in the front row, heard a sermon that functioned as one of the first public criticisms of his second administration. After beginning her homily by exploring the difficulty of forging a “kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division, a unity that serves the common good,” the Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, singled out three foundational principles for the task: honoring the inherent dignity of every human being, honesty and humility.
Near the end of her sermon, Budde directed her remarks to Trump himself, noting the declaration in his inaugural address that he believes he was “saved by God” from an assassination attempt last year.
She then expressed concern for LGBTQ people who may feel targeted by his administration: On Monday evening, Trump signed a blitz of executive orders, including one that condemned “gender ideology” and declared, “it is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female.”
[…]
Budde also made a plea for immigrants, a group under fire from Trump’s incoming administration, saying they include people who “pick our crops” and “work the night shift in hospitals,” among other vital roles.
I recommend watching the full clip:
These statements did not go over well with Trump and his allies.
Trump, for example, posted the following:
There is a lot here. First, it is awfully hard to listen to the delivery of Bishop Budde and call it “nasty.” But, of course, that is just how Trump hears any criticism sent his way.
I would note, too, that he continually lies about the threat posed by immigrants and about the notion that other countries are emptying out their jails and mental institutions to send those folks to the US.
I will come to her politics and her message below.
But first, some other responses:
Representative Mike Collins (R-GA ) calls for her deportation–as one does when an American citizen exercises her First Amendment rights. (I wonder why a lot of people view the contemporary Republican Party as pro-authoritarian?).
BTW, it is quite hilarious for him to have shared her words, even as he condemned them.
Trump’s Press Secretary:
And I would especially note Speaker Johnson’s tweet, especially given his very public Christianity.
So, and to run the risk of disapproval from the readership of the site, I can see why Republicans would see this as a partisan attack on their guy. Budde clearly has left-leaning political views (at least in the context of US politics) and publically criticized Trump after his Bible-holding photo-op in LaFayeyette Square. I can even see an argument that the expectation of these kinds of events would be for them to be vaguely nonpartisan (although since, by definition, the events are the celebration of a partisan victory, it is hard for them to be nonpartisan or even bipartisan in their entirety). It is utterly silly, I would note, to think of these types of things as nonpolitical events, as they are, indeed, inherently political. I would hasten to add that Trump himself did nothing to make his inauguration into a unifying event (just look at his speech, as simply one example among many).*
Having said all of that, I find all of the protesting hollow, if not mostly absurd.
First, it is amusing, in a Streisand Effect kind of way, the amount of attention being brought to the Bishop’s words by Trump and his allies.
Second, and more importantly, the notion that what she said was untrue or that her words constitute some uniquely leftist views is simply wrong.
I challenge anyone to tell me where the lies are.
In terms of how “radical” she was (as both Trump and Johnson assert), she sounds a lot like Jesus of Nazareth.
The content of her admonitions is all very much rooted in basic Christian theology. Further, it is hardly a shock to anyone who has ever attended a religious service for the officiant to admonish the audience to behave in particular ways that comport with their views of their religion. Yes, singling out a specific member of the audience may be unusual, but being the President of the United States is an unusual position, and carries a lot of power and responsibility.
But let’s focus on the message.
Mike Johnson, who often carries his Christianity on his sleeve, surely knows that Jesus said that the second greatest commandment is “love your neighbor as yourself” and that the whole story, for example, of the Good Samaritan is that everyone, especially those in need, is our neighbor.** It is especially galling, I have to say, for people like Johnson, who has been very overt in his desire to impose his specific views of Christianity on the rest of us, to call obviously Christian notions “radical” in a derogatory sense. And please spare us all the notion that he and his fellow travelers use their religious views to unify us all.
The following are all quotations from the book that we are constantly told is inerrant and worthy of being used as a guide for public policy:
You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. Deuteronomy 10:19
The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:34
‘Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.’ Then all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ Deuteronomy 27:19
Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another. Zechariah 7:9-10
That’s just a sample from the Old Testament.*** This is not a comprehensive list.
At a bare minimum, there is a lot more textual support for treating immigrants with kindness, mercy, and compassion than there is for doing the opposite. There is absolutely more support for such compassion than there is for getting upset about Drag Queen Story Hour, for example.
I am mostly focusing here on immigrants, but I will note that there is nothing in the teachings of Jesus that supports cruelty to the LGBTQ+ community. I would note that Paul’s admonitions that mention homosexuality also mention adultery. And we aren’t getting upset about that now, are we?
Having a pastor ask the President of the United States to show some level of compassion to groups of people who are fearful and persecuted should not be seen as “radical” but I guess that is ground that the GOP wants to stake out.
Along those lines let me close with the following.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.–Known radical leftist Karl Marx (oops), Jesus of Nazareth.
Don’t like that one? How about this one?
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”–Known radical leftist, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (aka Lenin). Oops again! It was Jesus of Nazareth.
Note that I am not saying that there should therefore be no immigration laws. But I am saying, as directly as I can, it isn’t radical leftism to assert that we should treat other people with mercy and compassion (or, at least, it shouldn’t be).
Moreover, while we can have debates about policy, I find it grotesque for people who are very public about their supposed religious faith to choose to defend Trump over words and views that comport pretty closely with the religious figure they claim to follow above all else.
And to be clear, I am not at all asserting that just because it is in the Christian Bible, it is somehow magically perfect. I am just asking for consistency (or for people like Johnson, Trump,**** et al., to stop acting like God is exclusively on their side and that this justifies what they want to do). I have zero doubt that Mike Johnson would state if asked, that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. Well, that position means taking it all seriously. And as far as I can tell, he doesn’t.
Indeed, a reminder of something Johnson said about himself not long after he became Speaker:
“I am a Bible-believing Christian,” Johnson said. “Someone asked me today in the media, they said, ‘It’s curious, people are curious: What does Mike Johnson think about any issue under the sun?’ I said, ‘Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That’s my worldview.’”
His response to Budde’s words suggests that maybe he needs to do some reading himself.
*A lot of the problem here is that the president is both head of state and head of government. The head of state role is supposed to be inclusive and national in orientation while the head of government role is partisan and political in that sense of the term. These roles don’t mix well, to be honest, and Trump is especially bad at anything that is unifying. Most inauguration speeches type to cleave more to the head of state role than the head of government role. Trump’s speech this time, however, was about himself and sounded more like a bad SOTU than an inauguration speech.
**To be clear: I am quoting Christian scripture not as some kind of proof-text slam dunk, but rather to illustrate what the religion that these people all loudly profess says about these topics.
***I know some Jewish friends who might find that usage offensive. I will note that this entire conversation is based on the POV of the Christians who allegedly find Budde’s comments offensive.
****Again: Trump claimed in his inaugural address that God saved him so he could be president again. I would say that opened the door for this conversation.
And, because I can’t get it out of my head, a humorous digression:
