Speaking truth to power
Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s words to Trump should inspire every Christian pastor to speak the same truth
Here’s a quick news quiz: Which act enraged conservative supporters of President Donald Trump more this week: a. Elon Musk’s Nazi salute at an inauguration event, or b. An Episcopal bishop speaking to Trump from her pulpit and asking him to treat immigrants and other marginalized people with “mercy.”
I’m kidding. That’s not a fair quiz. We all know the Nazi salute didn’t bother any Trump supporters. It was the Christian plea for mercy that enraged his Evangelical supporters, most of whom seemed strangely unfamiliar with the core teachings of Jesus and the prophets he often quoted.
In case you didn’t hear about or watch Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s sermon on Tuesday during the inauguration worship service at Washington National Cathedral, here is what she said to President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance as they sat, sulking, in the cathedral’s front row:
“Let me make one final plea. Mr. 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. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, some who fear for their lives. And the people, 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 — they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwara and temples.
“I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that 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. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love and walk humbly with each other and our God for the good of all people, the good of all people in this nation and the world.”
You can watch the entire sermon here.
Trump, as you might expect, was deeply offended by Budde’s words. “I didn’t think it was a good service,” he said, grumbling that “they could do much better.”
On her Substack, scholar Kristin Du Mez summarized some of the fevered reactions on the political Right and among some prominent “Christian” leaders:
Republican Representative Mike Collins shared a clip of the sermon on X and wrote: “The person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list.”
Denny Burk, president of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, called Budde “a false teacher who has no authority or right to speak in the name of Jesus,” and added: “We don’t need [the president] to be led away from Christ by an apostate priestess usurping the pastoral office.”
According to Tony Perkins, Budde represented “the cause of America’s decline”: “What we heard today was not a prophetic voice from the church, but rather pathetic.”
Speaker Mike Johnson alleged that Bishop Budde had “hijacked the National Prayer Service to promote her radical ideology,” using the service “to sow division.” All of it was “Shameful.”
Charlie Kirk said Budde had wasted the honor she’d been given and the chance to unify the nation; “Instead, she disgraced herself with a lecture you’d hear on CNN or an episode of The View. What an embarrassment.”
Joe Rigney of Doug Wilson’s Christ Church and New Saint Andrews College got to the heart of the problem: “Women’s ordination is a cancer that unleases untethered empathy in the church (and spills over into society).”
Perhaps influenced by some of these responses, Trump upped his game, criticizing the “so-called Bishop,” calling her a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater,” and demanding an apology. “She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart.” Also, the service was “boring and uninspiring.”
I have several thoughts about what Budde said on Tuesday.
First, I cannot imagine more loving and gentle words from a pastor to a president. She was full of respect for Trump and his position. Her words overflowed with all the love and concern for the oppressed that Jesus commanded.
Second, Jesus himself may have been more direct if he had spoken to Trump from that pulpit. How do I know this? Well, because of what he is quoted as saying in Matthew 25 (The Message translation):
“When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left. . .
Then he will turn to the ‘goats,’ the ones on his left, and say, ‘Get out, worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—
I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.’“Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?’
“He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.’
“Then those ‘goats’ will be herded to their eternal doom, but the ‘sheep’ to their eternal reward.”
Can you imagine Trump’s meltdown had Budde read those words to him without comment?
Or, better yet, maybe she could have read these words from the prophet Isaiah (3:12-26).
O my people, your leaders mislead you; they send you down the wrong road.
The Lord takes his place in court and presents his case against his people.
The Lord comes forward to pronounce judgment on the elders and rulers of his people: “You have ruined Israel, my vineyard. Your houses are filled with things stolen from the poor. How dare you crush my people, grinding the faces of the poor into the dust?” demands the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
The Lord says, “Beautiful Zion is haughty: craning her elegant neck, flirting with her eyes, walking with dainty steps, tinkling her ankle bracelets. So the Lord will send scabs on her head; the Lord will make beautiful Zion bald.”
Third, I sincerely hope Budde’s courageous and God-inspired words will help pastors of all faiths summon the courage to speak similar truths to their congregations.
In that vein, I recall the prophetic wisdom I read earlier this week from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “A Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” Every Christian pastor would do well to consider this passage the next time he or she is tempted to water down his or her words in the pulpit:
“So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s silent–and often even vocal–sanction of things as they are.
“But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century.”
Finally, Budde wrote an excellent book I recommend: How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith. I wanted to buy a print version, but it’s sold out everywhere, so I’m halfway through an e-book version. It’s moving, inspirational, and courageous. It’s not only about speaking truth to power; it’s about finding the faith to make brave decisions in your personal life.
“We all have the capacity to live within a narrative of great adventure, no matter our life circumstances,” Budde says. “The courage to be brave when it matters most requires a lifetime of small decisions that set us on a path of self-awareness, attentiveness, and a willingness to risk failure for what we believe is right. It is also a profoundly spiritual experience, one in which we feel a part of something larger than ourselves and guided by a larger Spirit at work. Decisive moments make believers out of everyone.”
I think you’d find Budde’s book worth your time. Buying it will also allow you to show a little support for her and her important work.
Where you can hear me speak about my new book, You Are My Sunshine: Jimmie Davis and the Biography of a Song
I’ll start crisscrossing the state next week to discuss my new book, You Are My Sunshine: Jimmie Davis and the Biography of a Song, published by LSU Press.
It’s 50 years of country music history and four decades of Louisiana politics through the lens of one iconic song.
If I'm in your area, I hope you'll come and hear me speak about the book. Soon, it will be available in local bookstores or online. If you’d like to purchase a signed, personalized copy from me directly, you can find it and my other books for sale at RobertMannBooks.com.
Below is my schedule as of Thursday. Not every meeting is open to the public, but you may know someone who belongs to the organization and would like to invite you as a guest.
Jan. 28: Alexandria Rotary Club, noon
Feb. 6: The Claiborne at Baton Rouge, 3 p.m.
Feb. 11: St. James Place, Baton Rouge, 3:30 p.m.
Feb. 12: New Orleans Rotary Club, noon
Feb. 18: Hammond/Ponchatoula Rotary Club, Hammond, 7:30 a.m.
Feb. 19: Holy Chow, Broadmoor United Methodist Church, Baton Rouge, noon
Feb. 20: Monroe Rotary Club, noon
Feb. 23: East Baton Rouge Parish Library, Main Branch, 3 p.m.
Feb. 25: Shreveport Rotary Club, noon
Feb. 25: Louisiana State University Shreveport’s Noel Memorial Library (late afternoon, exact time TBA)
Feb. 26: Shreveport Bar Association, noon
Feb. 28: Current Book Club, Rapides Parish Library, Westside Regional Library, Alexandria, 10 a.m.
March 5: OLLI, East Baton Rouge Parish Library, Bluebonnet Branch, 2:30 p.m.
March 6: English Speaking Union dinner meeting, Shreveport
March 15: Secular Humanist Association, Jefferson Parish Library, East Bank Regional Library, 3 p.m.
March 21: Louisiana Library Association annual convention, Baton Rouge, 4:30 p.m.
April 10: Newcomers/Encore Club luncheon, Baton Rouge, noon
July 17: St. James Place Look and Learn luncheon, Baton Rouge, noon
I hope to see you out there on the road!
If you’d like me to speak to your civic or other organization, please drop me a note in the comments below. I’d love to talk to your group, if possible.
Bishop Budde is a truth teller. She did not waste her opportunity to speak truth to power in a respectful yet forceful manner, forceful in that she was on the solid foundation of human decency. It is really unfortunate that those who do not recognize that respect for decency come out of the woodwork to defend a man who breaks every norm of behavior that we expect from the leader of our country. Tony Perkins and Mike Johnson continue to be transactional players in the game of politics, but no one should take them seriously as really being concerned about the common good for the people of our country or our state.
Bob, thank you for writing an expanded understanding of the Right Reverend Budde’s sermon given this past Tuesday in Washington, D.C., directing her words to the newly inaugurated President Trump. I chose not to watch the event but saw and heard her sermon after and applauded her faith and courage. I feel a great majority of citizens support the Biblical references expressed in that sermon. Most of us have hearts of empathy for those who are disadvantaged but seek a better life, Americans and immigrants. How downright mean must a person/President be to want to separate families while sending illegals back to their countries?