What a long year this week has been.
There's a saying you hear sometimes, which goes something like, "My desire to remain sane is constantly conflicting with my desire to remain informed." That's how I feel. It's overwhelming the amount of harmful (outright hateful even), discouraging, and confusing orders coming down from DC*. Decades of civil rights victories are being stripped away, as well as extremely dangerous orders put in their place which endanger not only our immigrant neighbors, but also, all of us.
This blog has never been intended as a political commentary. While I think it's pretty obvious what side of the political fence I sit on, I strive to be first and foremost a follower of Jesus. A servant of a higher Kingdom. Therefore, political affiliation is only a small part of who I am. Which is why I have protested so often and so loudly the intermixing of Christianity, the religion I was raised in, the faith I follow, the God I love, with right-wing politics. We saw quite a bit of this intermixing - and clashing - happen this week.
First and foremost, the incredibly moving and Biblical message of Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde. If you haven't viewed the full 15-minute message, I highly recommend it. It puts her comments - the short clip which has gone viral - into context. Bishop Budde came into the spotlight after speaking in a homily on unity in an Episcopal church where Trump and Vance and their wives were in attendance as part of the inaugural celebration. Watching her speak, she has such incredible poise and grace, I was impressed (and a little jealous! I need that kind of poise and grace). She quoted from Jesus' sermon on the Mount and His commands to care for the least of these. Several times you see her taking deep breaths, as though calming her nerves, and perhaps it is because of what she says at the end to the president:
"Millions have put their trust in you. And as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now."
She goes on to pled in particular for migrants and the LGBTQ+ community. Never is she insulting or patronizing or hateful. This plea is delivered in the same poise and grace as everything else she said.
Conservatives - including many Christians - reacted in rage. Trump demanded on Truth Social that she apologize to him and if not then be deported (she's from New Jersey, so perhaps he meant ex-communicated?). That was not surprising. Some of the other comments, though, were.
Tony Perkins of the Christian Family Research Council called her sermon "pathetic".
William Wolfe of the Center for Baptist Leadership said she was "preaching a false faith".
Sean Feucht, formerly of Bethel, called Bishop Budde a "witch" and a "crazy woman" who was "demonically inspired" and a "God-hater".
Franklin Graham said Bishop Budde had a "sexual political agenda" and was "wrong" to say what she said.
Another well-known Christian leader blasted across social media that her sermon was why "only men should be pastors".
And of course, the everyday people had their own comments to make as well.
On the flip side, there was also support for her message. Bishop Budde was commended for her bravery, as well as for speaking truth and pleading for empathy. In no way that I saw was she attacking Trump. She was calling for mercy, in the same way Jesus extends mercy to us. She was advocating for the least of these.
Shane Claiborne of Red Letter Christians called Bishop Budde's message "prophetic" in a beautiful opinion piece regarding the division around her message. It is titled, "Inauguration week was a collision of two Christianities." In his piece, the entirety of which you can read here, he writes:
"The obvious problem, as evidenced in the service this week and the surge of hateful responses from Trump-evangelicals, is that MAGA’s version of Christianity doesn’t look or sound like the Jesus of the Gospels — who blessed the poor and the peacemakers, the meek and the merciful, who insisted we love our enemies and turn the other cheek, who commanded his disciples to sell their possessions and give the money to the poor. And, yes, who said that when we welcome the stranger, we welcome him because whatever we do to the “least of these” we do to Christ. That’s the Gospel of Jesus … and it looks very different from the gospel of Trump."
Reminds me of something Gandhi once said, "I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." Never has that seemed more true.
Similar to Gandhi's message, Claiborne also quotes Frederick Douglas from over 100 years ago:
“Between the Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference — so wide, that to receive the one as good, pure, and holy is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt, and wicked. I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ; I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity.”
In the end, Claiborne concludes, as the Bible says, we cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve both Trump and Jesus.
A message I 100% agree with and have been saying for eight years (along with many others).
But here's where I find hope.
I find hope in the Bishop Buddes. I find hope in those who rose up in celebration and support of her message. I find hope in posts encouraging and offering support of our immigrant neighbors. I find hope in the governments and school districts who are refusing to cooperate. I find hope in those who insist on continuing to love when hate is the popular thing to do.
A relative messaged me out of the blue last week and said, "You are the only Christian I know who doesn't believe in Trump."
I know there are more of us out there.
I am calling to the Church - the true Church - the Church who still follows Jesus and believes in loving our neighbor, to rise. Rise in peaceful resistance. Rise in speaking out against human atrocities. Rise in sharing the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Rise in action and in advocacy. Be the Church! Be who God has called us to be.
This is not about politics. This is about humanity. This is about love. This is about being the hands and feet of Jesus.
And if there ever was a time the world needs us - that time is now.
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*In case you missed it somehow, here's a summary of the orders I am referring to:
- Terminating all DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) measures and programs in all federal programs.
- Terminating the Equal Opportunities Act, meaning employers can now legally refuse to hire someone or fire someone because of their gender or race.
- Withdrawing from key climate treaties.
- Pulling the U.S. out of the World Health Organization.
- Terminating funding for foreign assistance to many of our allies.
- Pardoning over 1500 January 6th protesters, many of whom violently assaulted capitol police officers, leading to their deaths.
- Telling federal health agencies to "pause" communications, leading to many people were shocked to find that after egg prices doubled last week now there were no eggs in the store this week (hello, bird flu).
- Ending funding for cancer research and cancer trials.
- Ending (or at least attempting to end) birthright citizenship.
- Declaring an emergency at the Southern Border in order to take federal funds to build more wall.
- Boosting oil and gas drilling.
- Declaring that his White House staffers do not have to go through normal security checks in order to have access to high security clearance materials.
- Ending the program asylum seekers at the border were using to get appointments for asylum interviews (the legal way to seek asylum, so virtually ending asylum).
- Putting a freeze on the refugee resettlement program.
- Cancelling flights for refugees who have already been cleared to come to the U.S.
- Freezing funding for immigrant and refugee support services in the U.S.
- Revoking a Biden law which lowered the cost of medications for seniors.
- Terminating the school safety board designed to prevent school shootings.
- Permitting ICE officials to legally raid schools, hospitals, and churches, which previously have always been places of safety.
- Hiring military aircraft to deport migrants (at the cost of $10,600 each).
- Sending the military to the U.S. border.
- Expediated removal of any undocumented person in the country less than two years - meaning they are immediately deported without trial or consideration of whether or not their life is in danger.
- Revoking Biden's orders to increase ethical practices in government and voter registration.
All of these have been fact checked, but feel free to check yourself. And I could go on...
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