Friday, January 24, 2025

At That Time, In That Place

President Donald Trump was forced to sit in a church (no, he did not burst into flames) on Tuesday moring and listen to a dimunitive lady, Washington, D.C. Presiding Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, plead

In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country. We’re scared now. The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals. They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes, and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwara, and temples. I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.

Oh, the horror! Mr. Trump and acolytes were shockedt that a member of the clergy could ask for "mercy upon the people in our country," especially for the children who "fear that their parents will be taken away." His feelings hurt, the President posted on his ironically named Truth Social

She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart. She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people. Many were deposited from jails and mental institutions. It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA. Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!

That's a harsh critique from America's pre-eminent atheist. There is no "giant crime wave" taking place in the USA; Trump is confusing the past year with the last year, 2020, of his first term. Rev. Budde was polite, soft-spoken, and respectful, 

Yet, Budde joins a long list of people Trump has called "nasty": Danish Prime Minister Mette Fredericksen, Meghan Markle, Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, Omarosa Manigault Newman, April Ryan, Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, Mitt Romeny, and Elizabeth Warren. It's a habit Trump enjoys almost as much as fantasizing about pleasuring two men at one time.


 



Still, the church service, as Sojourners pointed out on Inauguration Day, would not be partisan and thus

the church departed from the daily readings and chose scripture readings in conjunction with the Trump team.

All three scripture readers were close allies of the new Trump administration. Jack Graham, a Texas megachurch pastor and Trump advisor, read from Proverbs 3. Henry Stephan, a Catholic priest and mentor who baptized JD Vance, read 1 Peter 4. And Alveda C. King, niece of Martin Luther King Jr. and a Republican activist and politician, read from Galatians 3.

In addition to the scriptures, the church sang three hymns: “O God, our help in ages past,” “My country, ’tis of thee,” and “America the Beautiful.” All three selections are from The Episcopal Church’s hymnal.

Two of those three are not classic Christian hymns, but rather patriotic songs. Still, the pastor knew that the U.S. Park Police in June, 2020 delivered a volley of tear gas to clear the area between Lafayette Square and your church so the then-President, hostile toward Christianity, gets to hold a photo-op in front of your church without your knowledge. Five years later, that man, remaining pleased that non-violent protesters were squashed became President again and promptly signed an Executive Order to invalidate the 14th Amendment. Three days late, the federal judge considering the request for a restraining order recognizes the request is "blatantly unconstitutional" and notes "I have been on the bench for over four decades. I can't remember another case where the question presented was as clear."

The bishop then assumed the role of delivering a sermon to that individual, who is openly contemptuous of Christianity  If she had kept silent upon something which bears so heavily on her conscience and on the direction of the nation, it would have been an opportunity wasted, malpractice either in her role as a member of the clergy or simply as a concerned citizen.  

Afterward, Bishop Budde stated "I wanted to emphasize respecting the honor and dignity of every human being. I was trying to counter the narrative that is so divisive and polarizing and in which real people are being harmed." That narrative is being driven by the President, who has initiated, promulgated, and led a movement intended to be divisive and polarizing. The Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday was the right time and the right place to call out the demagogue behind it all.


 



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