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.