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Donald Trump says he was “saved by God to make America great again”. However, the best criticism of his presidency so far comes from a priest – the Episcopal bishop of Washington.
Rt Rev Mariann Budde’s sermon on Tuesday went where business leaders and even Democratic politicians struggled to attend. As Trump sat a few feet away in the audience, he asked him to show mercy to gay, lesbian and transgender people and to immigrants who are “threatened” by his policies.
“Our God teaches us that we should have mercy on strangers, because we have all been strangers in this country,” Budde said in the service. It was no more than a passing rebuke to Trumpism; it was a clear 15 minute debate for different politics.
Trump stayed there, sulking at the time in the National Cathedral. His vice president JD Vance, a Catholic, protested by whispering to his wife. Maybe they didn’t expect it. Because at the inauguration the day before, they were given a very different religious reception.
The preachers described Trump’s return as a “miracle”. Another pastor, Lorenzo Sewell, invoked Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech in his honor.
In 2023, the zealous Sewell was locked out of his Detroit church because its constitution had been changed and he was able to excommunicate rank and file members. Shortly after his inauguration, he launched a crypto token, telling X users: “I need you to go buy Lorenzo Sewell’s coin.” The price of money quickly fell by more than 90 percent.
Who represents the Christian view of Trump? Is it Sewell and his pro-Trump, success self-confident, or liberal Budde, who wants to advocate for the marginalized? And, if Christianity can encompass both outcomes, is it of much use for understanding and confronting Trump?
Budde supported his address with references from the Bible. He agrees with Pope Francis, who has condemned Trump’s mass deportation plan as “disgraceful”.
On the other hand, pro-Trump spirituality often seems to rely on taking words out of context. Sewell stripped King’s dream of its meaning. (As for Sewell’s speech, let me just say: the phrase “I’m free at last” is not meant to sum up what the audience feels when you stop talking.)
Or take the confusion of Christianity and growth. Another keynote speaker at the inauguration, Rabbi Ari Berman, suggested that George Washington called faith and morals essential to “America’s success”. In fact, Washington said they are essential to “political success”. The meaning, back in 1796, was a plea for social unity, and a warning not to trust “the absolute power of the individual”. Trump would have balked at that speech again.
But pro-Trump pastors are recognized as a legitimate part of the church as the rest. And the chairs have a president, too. According to Michael Emerson, a religious researcher, Christians living now are mostly Republicans, because liberal Protestants and Catholics stopped going to church disproportionately.
Last year Trump won nearly 60 percent of the Christian vote, and more than 80 percent of white evangelicals. He paid hush money to a porn star, promised to stop any state ban on abortion and didn’t seem to put his hand on the Bible at the inauguration. But some white evangelicals see him as a useful vessel, someone who will let them lead the conversation.
Ironically, after invoking God several times in his inaugural address, Trump complained that Budde’s teaching had mixed politics and religion. One thing Sewell and Budde agree on is that you can’t keep politics out of Christianity. If the church decides to just bless whoever is in power, it ends up compromising.
The question becomes: has religion fallen out of politics? Will Trump’s supporters restore their faith in the politics they love, and his opponents do the opposite? Perhaps the answer is: often, but not always. There is really no point in listening to a preacher if you don’t think they will change your mind.
“When we know what is the truth, it is our responsibility to tell the truth even if it costs us,” said Budde. His success should not be measured by how many people come to his next service. It should be measured by how many other people feel a responsibility to speak out against what they know is wrong.
