I’m bewildered. I’m an anti-theist, so it makes me uncomfortable when I see a priest acting charitably and kindly and proposing that people should follow a higher moral calling. I am forced to admit that there are good people in the priesthood. Like Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde.
Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and their spouses were in attendance for the church service at the progressive institution, and had to listen as the Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal bishop at the cathedral, delivered a direct appeal to the president to conclude her sermon.
“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families—some who fear for their lives,” Budde said, but didn’t stop at LGBTQ rights, going on to address Trump’s plans for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.
“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,” Budde continued.
The bishop then called on Trump “to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear 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.”
I did have some of my biases confirmed, because Trump and Vance squirmed and scowled and generally acted like demons listening to the Lord’s Prayer. The words burned! You can tell they’re already dreaming of their vengeance, because how dare an Episcopalian bishop suggest that citizens should not fear for their lives? Their little gang of followers sitting behind them look stupefied.
Of course, Trump went home and banged out a rant, demanding an apology. He’s not used to people criticizing him.
The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater. 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!
Lies from beginning to end. “So-called Bishop”? How dare she bring politics into a prayer for the presidential inauguration? There has not been a giant crime wave caused by immigrants. The service couldn’t have been that boring, since she stirred up a few members of the crowd.
She is pretty good at her job, since she made this hard-core atheist feel some charity towards her faith.
Now, please, if only our media would stop pandering to the madman and publish sincere criticisms of him every time he plays the petty tyrant, that is, every day. Make him squirm all the time.
Have this topical article to brush up your high-school German or test your translator of choice.
Mercy: compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.
Asking Trump for mercy? An occupant of hell might as well ask the devil to give him a snowball.
Proud of the Reverend to confront Trump and the cabal, there aren’t enough people doing this. OTH, what she did was a useless gesture.
The media.. yes, well.. Its the 4 Fs, once called the “fight of flight” mechanism. They can’t fight, without him now crushing him, they can’t run, they can’t freeze (and stay in business), but kind of tried to in the sense of “both sidesisms”, so now they are left with puppy eyed fawning, in the hope that if they praise him enough he won’t remember all the reasons he hated them, and wanted to kill them. Its pure cowardice, but exactly what you expect from places owned by rich assholes, who don’t want to lose all their wealth, and/or end up in prison on trumped up charges, because they apposed the fuhrer.
Like so much wrong with the country right now, I understand the impulse, but I find it horrifying, cowardly, un-American, and morally bankrupt. But… sadly, I do understand it.
I saw Inside Edition on YT talk about this. The comments were predictable. Many saying it was “inappropriate” with sexism and/or homophobia mixed in. Comments about her looks. Suddenly conservatives were concerned with the separation of church and state, keeping religion out of politics, along with following the laws. You know, the usual right-wing double standard. I stayed up way too late last night trolling them. OTOH there were about as many comments supporting her and how she had nothing to apologize for.
He’d call Maggie Thatcher a hard left radical!
Some Republican hick (I think it was Collins) said that Ms. Budde (I don’t care what she said, I refuse to acknowledge her title.) should be deported. Ms. Budde is a native-born citizen, so either this Red State shitkicker think’s anyone who speaks ill of them and Dear Leader is an immigrant, or he thinks that all the liberals ought to have their citizenships revoked for “disloyalty.
It wouldn’t surprise me if it was the latter. Trump more or less said the exact same thing about flag burners.
@ ^ stuffin : useless? Define useless. Its got people talking and maybe thinking.
Its a little bit of resistance and speaking truth to power that hates hearing others and hates hearing truth -and Trump & co had to hear it.
I don’t know just how much good it did but it did some good in my view.
It sure beat the alternative and the expected.
It might or might not amount to a lot (ripples metaphor & all) but its set a bit of an example and maybe helped raise some thoughts and discomfort among the powerful and that’s something.
For anyone in danger of feeling an uncomfortable sympathy for this person because she made Trump uncomfortable once, remember this: She has either abused kids, and/or actively sheltered and enabled those she knows to have abused kids, and/or heard credible reports of kids being abused by her colleagues and failed to meaningfully act on those reports, and she has raised funds for an organization that she knows to have actively abused kids and actively sheltered and enabled child abusers.
I am sure I could have punctuated that paragraph better with proper use of colons. Semi or otherwise. Sorry about that, but I hope the point remains. Fucking yikes.
‘I am forced to admit that there are good people in the priesthood.’
Nuh uh.
@indianajones: At least better than Trump et al. I know that’s a low bar to slither under, but it’s something.
Akira MacKenzie
I think that’s OK. I have a vague memory from my years growing up as an Episcopalian that “Reverend” (and “Right Reverend” for bishops) should be used only with full names, not the last name alone. I might be misremembering that.
indianajones: are you aware that the National Cathedral is an Episcopal church, not Roman Catholic?
@10 Erlend Meyer, debatable. The church might be slightly less powerful than Trump right now and if so? Well they are similarly less capable of evil, but not less ambitious of evil. Kind of like how Buddhists seem ok until they have power and all of a sudden young girls are dying of exposure because they are menstruating.
But you know, I don’t want to fight with you over the degree of evilness of the evil people either. Cheers bud!
Trump always responds well to kind, gentle requests, so this should be effective….
@11 Billy seymour Not particularly, but it’s just a matter of degree. ROC is worst of the lot outside some tiny edge case sects (Duggars anybody), but they are all pretty bad. Just for instance the Uniting Church here in Aust has a $10M fund mandated by the courts specifically for compensating their victims of child abuse that they fight against every chance they get. Most recently (that I know of) in the supreme court of Western Australia on the grounds that if they keep maintaining this fund, they might have to sell some real estate. March last year I think.
Might have some of those details slightly wrong, but you get what I mean. Episcopal church vs ROC I think is just a slight difference of degree re evilness.
I’m not surprised. Church leaders have been complaining that congregations are pushing back on Christ’s teachings, because it sounds too “weak” to them.
The reverend’s homily was the most in-your-face critique Trump’s heard in quite some time. There he sat, like some bloated mythical creature, who’s just been called out for eating babies. I loved it. More of this, please.
@7-StevoR
My meaning of useless is in regard to her comments not having the desired outcome. Sure, there will some minor rumblings about how Trump responded but he has taken his schtick beyond ordinary thinking and emoting. He has skillfully dulled the senses of Americans, and they are no longer flabbergasted by his rhetoric. It may even be the opposite; people are being entertained and wanting for his next atrocious stunt. The occasional person standing up to this will never be enough. Look at Liz Cheney, Romney, et al.
It did send a ripple through the anti-Trump universe. But as I said, “Proud of the Reverend to confront Trump and the cabal, there aren’t enough people doing this.” Until there is a new vanguard strong enough to change American’s sensibilities, these minor acts of rebellion are useless. They may only serve to agitate the Orange Bovine further while the onlookers cheer him on. Own the Libs is real thing and stronger than ever.
My prediction is the change will only happen when Americans have realized the peril this man and his rule brings. I do not believe the change will occur until Trump’s act is no longer tolerated. By that time, it may well be too late. The repression could be complete.
I think that she’d be the Right Reverend Doctor Budde. I find these things picturesque
The Bishop put the mad King in check. Well played!
She did not address him; she addressed us. She said, sanity still exists.
Take a look at Melania’s bitter face. She looks like she had tasted gall. And why? Because the Bishop advised mercy.
The Republican congress rube who referred to the Bishop as a “Christian preacher” reminded me of Majorie Taylor Greene making a point of calling Dr. Fauci “mister Fauci because you’re mister Fauci to me.” We live in the Age of Abject Ignorance and Rudeness.
This kind of phrasing may be underselling or otherwise failing to convey the point.
Based on my social media observations, many people may be mentally stuck with the notion that even a single incident of crime (esp. something like murder) committed by an illegal immigrant is “too much”, because supposedly the criminal offender could (and in principle, should) have been prevented from existing in the country in the first place.
(In this framing, there’s no recognition that immigrants contribute positively to the society. There’s no recognition that having a bigger population means inevitably more crime, while each incident of crime has less chance of affecting you personally. There’s no recognition that an immigrant might “take your place” as a victim of potential murder, possibly even if the would-be-murderer is a native born citizen. There’s no recognition that passing the legal immigration system does not guarantee absolute lawfulness either. There’s no recognition that potential murderers do not cease to exist or murder people (or be murdered themselves) if kept out of the US. Especially there’s no recognition that allowing more brown people in Guatemala to be murdered is a problematic way to reduce the US murder rate.)
Trump’s own social media outburst responds to this on cue, by referring the a “large number” of killings made by illegal immigrants. For many people, any number you can’t count with your fingers is a large one, particularly when it comes to understanding scale and proportionality.
Many people also seem to be stuck with notion that illegal immigrants are criminals by definition (or something to that effect, since someone will likely come to point out that it’s technically an immigration offense, not a criminal offense). Why, it wouldn’t be against the law if it wasn’t a serious offense against something! The law must be enforced at any cost, because it’s the law.
@22 lumipuna
Based on my social media observations, many people may be mentally stuck with the notion that even a single incident of crime (esp. something like murder) committed by an illegal immigrant is “too much”, because supposedly the criminal offender could (and in principle, should) have been prevented from existing in the country in the first place.
This is exactly what I’m seeing. Asked a big Trumper why he disliked the immigrants, he said because he saw a video on you-tube showing an immigrant (on the Mexican side) giving the middle finger to some National Guard troops on the American side. Adamantly stated they all need to be killed. Another big Trumper was spouting off regarding a post from Trump how an immigrant killed someone, when I asked what he thought about the white guy who committed a more hideous crime he responded that person was not an immigrant. Trump has fine-tuned the focus on immigrants and his followers are happy to keep feeding the gullibles.
Yes. Make the people in power uncomfortable. They want comfort and cheer even while they attack. They should be denied both for the next 4 years. Every little emotional angle.
While I/we can’t agree with the bishop’s religious beliefs. I am compelled to respect the bishop’s moral values and decency. NEVER apologize to the magat. He does not deserve it, especially when the mercy and caring the bishop admonished was what we should all live.
@23 stuffin wrote: many people may be mentally stuck with the notion that even a single incident of crime . . .committed by an illegal immigrant is “too much”.
I reply: when the sheople elected a convicted felon to be president, they made a mockery of the ‘rule of law’ and THAT is TOO MUCH!
From a religious point of view, what she did was not useless and it was necessary. It’s a little bit weird all y’all atheists are missing the forest for the trees. Your own position should be that an inaugration should not have any religious representation, to my mind. However much it may displease you that there are still folks who are religious, the RL fact remains that many are. Ignoring reality is irrational, and if you are going to stand on that leg in your general criticisms of believers, you should be careful not to slip.
Anyone who has a position in that particular church is always addressing all of the United States. This is especially so if the event they are speaking at is an event of great national interest. As far as Pervident Felon in Chief Trump and his swamp-denizens’ reactions to this are concerned? Hit dogs holler.
seachange, alas.
“From a religious point of view, what she did was not useless and it was necessary.”, you wrote, but the variety of religious belief and experience is quite large. That is, there is no single religious point of view about this.
For example: https://religionnews.com/2025/01/22/after-eye-catching-sermon-to-trump-bishop-budde-beset-with-criticism-and-praise/
What makes you imagine it isn’t?
Who is supposedly ignoring reality, and how, in your estimation?
(You haven’t actually said)
From my life-long lefty, atheist pov, what the Bishop did was not useless but helpful. Some things need to be said, publicly, face to face with power. I personally dislike bigots, and I include in that category people who condemn those who only agree with them on some issues. By way of contrast, Dan Berrigan, for instance, was an important ally on anti-war issues, although a practicing Catholic priest who actively opposed abortion. (I interviewed him once, by phone, and I hope he found me as respectful as I found him.) If we cannot work with allies we lose. And in my view, we would deserve to lose.
@15 It’s sad that the central tenet of their “faith” is considered a weakness. Which is laughable hypocrisy considering how many of those Jan 20 rioters whimpered to their judges for lesser jail sentences.
will this make them more money? No? Then it won’t happen. The US doesn’t have a media ecosystem intended to report factual information in addition to entertainment, it has a media ecosystem where what makes money sticks, and everything else goes.
My father was an Episcopal priest. For myself, the Faith didn’t take. But my father was a good man and what I believe about Christians I learned from him. A true Christian leads with Love, Compassion and Forgiveness. If they don’t lead with this, they are despicable liars. Mr. President, you are no Christian.
“A true Christian leads with Love, Compassion and Forgiveness.”
True Christians are like True Scotsmen.
Also, love, compassion and forgiveness — without the capitalisation to indicate they are some sort of Platonic essences — can be done by anyone. Christians, in my experience, do none of those, as a rule.
Well, of course not. Not any more than any priest or whatever.
(You know, giving everything to the poor and so forth)
I have never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever seen someone who identifies as a Christian actually do the cheek-turning thing, the forgiving of enemies, that sort of thing. Never. Ever.
FWTW.
So. I spent a couple of minutes trying to find out her financial circumstances, but they’re not very apparent.
I did get this:
“The Episcopal Church provides guidelines for clergy compensation, which typically include:
Base Salary: This can vary widely but is often around $50,000 to $100,000 per year, depending on the diocese and parish size.
Housing Allowance: This can range from $10,000 to $30,000 per year, depending on the cost of living in the area.
Benefits: These may include health insurance, retirement contributions, and other benefits, which can add significant value to the overall compensation package.”
Not exactly transparent, but they need not be.
Still, she being the leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington suggests she is in the top range of remuneration and compensation.
(Very Christian of her)
Right now, I’m taking my allies where I can find them. Let’s face it, we’re not trying to win progressive rights, we’re trying to fight fascism.
Well done, reverend.
The only thing the Rev’s comments accomplished was to keep the fire burning (barely). She may even have done herself and her parishioners a disservice. Trump does not forget anyone who made him look small. She put a target on her back, admirably so. The man has control of the whole government, this includes both houses and the SC and she is a big shot in DC. Not a good situation, for her church.
First most people underestimate Trump’s capabilities to get certain things done. Trump while not appreciated for it, gets a behind-the-scenes A+. He was bidding to buy the Buffalo Bills football team, one of his major challengers to was Bon Jovi. Trump used his connections to a news outlet; they created a report that Bon Jovi would move the Team to Canada (Toronto?). The blow back from this unvalidated report took Bon Jovi out of the running. Only the NFL owners, who despise Trump, for reasons I will not explain, kept him from buying the team. This is how Trump operates and very few people see it. This is one example; his tactics are deceitful and done in secrecy. Until more people understand this and can have their defenses ready, Trump will continue to roll over anyone who gets in his way.
I see one positive avenue for the Rev’s attack on Trump. Religion may be the bullet that brings him down. If he goes after her causing major damage to her church, this could turn the other religions against him. They may possibly see him as the threat he is. There is a chance, if any litigation goes before the very religious SC, they may not take his side. To counter, I see Trump turning religions against each other. He will promise the winner will be the one true religion of America. What a prize! Another bold bullshit move, and that is how Trump does it.
And so it begins, from The Hill on YAHOO.
Trump World descends on bishop who pleaded for ‘mercy’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Wednesday that Budde had chosen to “weaponize the pulpit,” adding that her remarks “were egregious, and she should apologize to President Trump for the lies that she told.”
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), who campaigned heavily against transgender athletes last year, called Budde a “woke Bishop” in a post on the social platform X. Moreno, who immigrated to Florida as a child from Colombia, said Budde’s plea for mercy for immigrants without legal status was an “insult to all of us who came to this country the right way.”
Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) said Budde, born in New Jersey, “should be added to the deportation list.”
Others’ attacks were more personal.
Fox News’s Sean Hannity said Budde, whom he described as a “so-called bishop,” “made the service about her very own deranged political beliefs with a disgraceful prayer full of fearmongering and division.” Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire, a conservative media company, said Budde is a “fake bishop” and mocked her appearance.
“Who knew Satan wore granny glasses and stole his haircut from John Denver?” said Fox News personality Greg Gutfeld.
Trumplethinskin is upset because as a bishop, Budde is able to move as far as she wants diagonally. As a Russian pawn, he is only able to move one space at a time.
I note that being a Episcopal diocese, the budget is public. For 2024 https://edow.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/12/2024-Journal.pdf
The bishop’s total compensation is $291,000 (salary plus housing allowance); she and several other top officials did not get a cost of living raise that year.
High but certainly comparable to people in similar positions.
Franklin Graham who gave one of the invocations at Trump’s main event pulls in at least $870,00+ ($870,000 from Samaritan’s Purse which files a 990 but he is also involved with other groups which are exempt from filing 990s and don’t publish budgets).
I note that her speaking up is more likely to be heard (even if not by Trump himself) and may encourage others. It is certainly getting more airtime than the call by the presiding bishop and president of the House of Deputies https://www.episcopalchurch.org/publicaffairs/letter-from-episcopal-church-leaders-on-trump-administration-immigration-executive-orders/
Thanks, Erp.
Christian Bishops. Right.
Well, that explains last night’s annoying and inconvenient blackout. That particular broadcast must have blown every power grid with an irony meter connected to it throughout its reception footprint.
@John Morales #34 – Actually, I did. Quite a few times. Not that I think it is very relevant. Demanding perfection from the religious is like accusing a climate activist for taking a bus. Nobody will ever meet the standards, and then what? Dismiss their message altogether? There is a line between false and true Christians like there is a line between climate change deniers and climate activists, how imperfect the latter may be. The problem is that false Christians still call themselves Christians and @tigerprawn #32 is right to call them out.
rietpluim:
“Demanding perfection from the religious is like accusing a climate activist for taking a bus.”
I’m not demanding anything whatsoever.
I’m noting how much I’ve seen them practice what they preach.
As for true or false Christians, well… a bit of history there, within Christendom.
(Heresy!)
“Dismiss their message altogether?”
The Babble is full of contradictory messages, and you’re cherry-picking the ones that suit.
Whatever their advice, none of them require people to be Christian to be followed.
Nothing to stop someone from turning the other cheek and so on without the Christianity bit, right?
—
Anyway.
Point is that she got the attention because she is a Bishop and implored Trump to be nice “In the name of our God” and thus became newsworthy. Because they share a god, in her estimation. Ostensibly.
All very nice, but I don’t particularly credit her Christianity for it, other than it (ahem) provided her the pulpit.
[And, of course, the evangelical Trump rump that think he’s a Godsend]