Trump and the troublesome priest
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Donald Trump says that he was “saved by God to make America great again”. However, the best rebuttal to his presidency so far has come from a priest, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington.
The Rev. Marian Budde’s sermon on Tuesday went where business leaders and even Democratic politicians struggled to go. As Trump sat in the congregation a few feet away, she asked him to show mercy to gays, lesbians and transgender people and immigrants who are “scared.” are” from his politics.
“Our God teaches us that we must be merciful to the stranger, for we were all strangers in this land at one time,” Budde said during the service. it was an eloquent 15-minute argument for a different policy.
Trump sat there, agitated, then flaming in the National Cathedral. Perhaps they did not expect it. Because they were given a very different religious reception at the inauguration the day before.
The preachers described Trump’s return as a “miracle”. One pastor, Lorenzo Sewell, cited Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech in his honor.
In 2023, the charismatic Sewell was shut out of his Detroit church because its constitution was changed and he was able to disenfranchise the rank and file. “I have to go buy an official Lorenzo Sewell coin.” The price of the currency then quickly fell by more than 90 percent.
Who represents the Christian view of Trump? Is it Sewell with his supporter Trump? pro-welfare a conversation about self-reliance or a liberal Buddha who wants to speak for the marginalized?And if Christianity can incorporate both outcomes, is it very useful for understanding and confronting Trump?
Budd backed his address with biblical references, aligning himself with Pope Francis, who has criticized Trump’s mass deportations of immigrants as a “disgrace.”
In contrast, pro-Trump spirituality often relies on taking words out of context. Sewell took King’s dream out of its intended meaning. I speak).
Or take the confusion of Christianity and growth. Another conservative inauguration speaker, Rabbi Ari Berman, suggested that George Washington called faith and morality “indispensable to American prosperity.” In fact, Washington said they were essential to “political prosperity.” The context as early as 1796 was a call for national unity and distrust of the “absolute power of the individual.” warning. Trump would also be upset by that speech.
But pro-Trump pastors are accepted as a valid part of the church. And so are the pews with the president. According to religion researcher Michael Emerson, incumbent Christians are now overwhelmingly Republican because liberal Protestants and Catholics have disproportionately stopped attending church.
Last year, Trump won about 60 percent of the Christian vote and more than 80 percent of white evangelicals. He paid a porn star a fortune, pledged to veto any federal abortion ban, and he didn’t seem to put his hand on a Bible during his inauguration. : But some white evangelicals see him as a useful vessel, someone who will let them lead the conversation.
Ironically, while invoking God several times in his inauguration speech, Trump complained that Bude’s sermon mixed politics with religion. One thing Sewell and Bude agree on is that you can’t keep politics out of Christianity decide to just bless whoever is in power, he gives way.
The question arises: does religion come down from politics? Will Trump’s supporters simply rebuild their faith in their preferred policies and his opponents do the opposite? mostly, but not always. Of course, there’s no point in listening to the preacher if you don’t think he’ll ever change your mind.
“When we know what’s true, it’s our responsibility to speak the truth, even when, especially when it costs us,” Bade said.His achievement shouldn’t be measured by how many people attend his next service. It should be measured by how many other people feel compelled to speak out against what they know is wrong.
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