Bishop Budde: Trump's Visit to St. John's Church Outraged Me.
While the president cloaks himself in spiritual authority, he preaches the antithesis.
By Mariann Edgar Budde
Ms. Budde is the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. June 4, 2020.
In a crucible moment of life or history, it's important to keep focused on what matters most, lest the moment pass and we miss a transformational opportunity.
Gayle Fisher-Stewart, an African-American Episcopal priest who refuses to suffer white-supremacist fools gladly, wrote this week, "I hope the outrage over the continuing abuse and destruction of black lives is as great as the outrage over the president holding a bible in front of a church." To that I say, amen. Let's keep our focus where it belongs.
Yes, I was outraged by President Trump's use of the Bible and the backdrop of St. John's Church for his political purposes. I was horrified to learn that while he was threatening to use military force across America, peaceful protesters were being forcibly removed from Lafayette Park so that he might pose before the church for a photograph. I wasn't alone. My phone lit up with messages from people across the country who, like me, couldn't believe what we were seeing. But if we keep the focus of our outrage there, we allow ourselves to be distracted from the issues that are compelling Americans to take to the streets in large numbers. I wonder if that's the intention.
Let me assure those who might be concerned by my lack of hospitality that the president is always welcome to pray at St. John's. In fact, we would have loved for him to address from the church our nation's collective grief, anger and frustration. We would have stood by him had he called for swift justice for the killing of George Floyd. We would have added our voices had he asked for calm and the need to stop opportunistic looting and senseless destruction.
Instead, Mr. Trump used sacred symbols to cloak himself in the mantle of spiritual authority, while espousing positions antithetical to the Bible that he held in his hands. That's why I drew the line, as did my colleague Archbishop Wilton Gregory when the very next day Mr. and Mrs. Trump made an unannounced visit to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine.
Had the president opened the Bible he was holding, he could have read passages calling on us to love God and our neighbor, to seek God in the face of strangers and even to love our enemies. He could have read exhortations calling us all to the highest standard of love, which is justice. He could have even recited texts that warn faith leaders like me about the sin of hypocrisy. Scripture is clear that God is not impressed by prayers unaccompanied by sustained efforts to create a more loving world. "Let justice roll down like waters," God says through the prophet Amos, "and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."
Scripture is clear: Justice, which is the societal expression of love, matters most to God. Justice is also what is most important to those who are exercising their right to peaceful protest. They are expressing what we all know to be true: It's past time to fix a law that allows police officers and vigilantes to go unpunished for crimes against people of color. It's past time to correct the gross disparities in health care that Covid-19 has revealed. It's past time to change economic and educational systems that privilege white people.
Like everyone else, people of faith are not of one mind — my email inbox this week is evidence of that. We show up on every side of every issue. Often we prefer to take no side at all, for fear of offending, or stepping out of our lane, or failing to love everyone without distinction. But there are times when taking a side, and a stand, is precisely what's needed from people of faith. For me, now is such a time. I stand with those engaged in peaceful protest, calling for meaningful change, and especially with young Americans who rightfully wonder if there is hope for their future.
This is a crucible moment. By grace and with courage, I believe that we can rise to meet it, and we must. The God I serve is on the side of justice. Jesus calls his followers to emulate his example of sacrificial love and to build what he called the Kingdom of God on earth. In this moment, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry challenges us to ask, "What would the sacrificial love of Jesus look like now?"
To me that looks like seeing if we might actually move the needle on things like police reform, universal health care and opportunities for all of our young people, no matter the color of their skin. The path of lasting change isn't easy, and we don't always get it right. But if we keep our eyes fixed on what matters most, we can refuse to be distracted by lesser things.
Mariann Edgar Budde is the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. June 4, 2020
New York Times.
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Voices4America Post Script. The Bishop of St. John's speaks! #DerangedDonald #RemoveTrumpNow
