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Friday, January 24, 2025

A Flagrant Act of Christianity


Bishop Budde committed a flagrant act of Christianity last Tuesday. In the post-swearing-in service at the Washington National Cathedral where, like every president before him since Ronald Reagan, President Trump was in attendance, she delivered him an address reminding everyone - especially him - of their Christian obligations towards mercy, and love. Who could possibly find fault with that?

Trumpy could, apparently.

It's helpful to take a brief moment to note the role that this cathedral, and its episcopacy, have played in American politics in recent years.

Construction of the Episcopalian Washington National Cathedral began in 1907 when Theodore Roosevelt led the cornerstone-laying ceremony. Like the great cathedrals of Europe, the construction project spanned generations, taking a remarkable 81 years to complete, in spite of the more modern construction techniques the 20th century offered. Services began inside the unfinished structure as early as 1917, and have continued ever since. Franklin D. Roosevelt attended the prayer service after his second inauguration in 1937. But it didn't become traditional for presidents to attend this service until Ronald Reagan's second inauguration in 1985. Even then, the cathedral wasn't fully completed until 1988! Every president since then has honored this achievement by attending the prayer service at this marvelous venue, despite only one of them being Episcopalian (that would be George H.W. Bush).

As such, seven U.S. presidents have listened to an Episcopal minister address them via a sermon, including Trump himself back in 2017! To the best of my memory, none of those addresses were ever controversial, or even noteworthy.

Until now.

If you haven't heard the address of the Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, please take a moment to watch it here. I also found a complete transcript, available if you wish to read it. It's a truly remarkable address, done in the tradition of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. She reminded the congregation of God's message of forgiveness, of loving one's enemies, blessing those who curse you, doing good to those that hate you, and praying for those who despise and persecute you.

Naturally, Trump would have none of that shit!


Apparently, Trump is utterly, insanely blind to the fact that with that "Truth Social" tweet, he proved, beyond all shadow of a doubt, that he is the personification of what Bishop Budde meant when she said:

"Those of us gathered here in the cathedral, we are not naïve about the realities of politics, when power and wealth and competing interests are at stake, when views of what America should be are in conflict, when there are strong opinions across a spectrum of possibilities and starkly different understandings of what the right course of action is. There will be winners and losers. When votes are cast–decisions made that set the course of public policy and the prioritization of resources, it goes without saying that in a democracy not everyone’s particular hopes and dreams can be realized in a given legislative session or a presidential term, not even in a generation. Which is to say, not everyone’s specific prayers, for those of us who are people of prayer, not everyone’s prayers will be answered in the way we would like. But for some, the loss of their hopes and dreams will be far more than political defeat but instead a loss of equality and dignity and their livelihoods. Given this then, is true unity among us even possible? And why should we care about it?

"Well, I hope we care. I hope we care because the culture of contempt that has become normalized in this country threatens to destroy us. [Emphasis mine.] We are all bombarded daily with messages from what sociologists now call the outrage industrial complex, some of that driven by external forces whose interests are furthered by a polarized America. Contempt fuels political campaigns and social media, and many profit from that. But it’s a worrisome–it’s a dangerous way to lead a country."

The outrage industrial complex!

So, it seems sociologists have come up with their own name for what I refer to as the Right-Wing Media Machine.

The most frequently quoted segment of Bishop Budde's sermon is this:

"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 meat packing 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, wadara 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 honour 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."

And the Right-Wing Media Machine's response to this loving kindness is in universal alignment with this knucklehead: 


The irony is not lost on me (nor anyone else on either side of the political aisle) that leftists are now the ones siding with a Christian minister. Nor is it lost on me the irony that Christians are utterly, desperately, shitting on Jesus' own message of love and forgiveness in order to kowtow to their Dear Leader. And I've mentioned many times how Trump is the closest thing to the Antichrist I've ever seen, and the Antichrist is bluntly depicted in the Bible as "deceiving the faithful." I can't imagine any bigger proof than his response to Bishop Budde!

Had Trump suffered a head wound from which he recovered, I might just have repented and returned to Christianity! As it is, Trump's political comeback almost fits this description symbolically. I'm an ATHEIST, and that thought gives me pause!

But the transformation of much of American Christendom is complete. Christianity is dead. In its place is a strange perversion, bereft of kindness or forgiveness.

Instead of forgiveness, we have guns and "stand your ground."

Instead of helping the needy, we have the withholding of aid to fire victims in California.

Instead of healing the sick, we have total withdrawal from the World Health Organization.

Instead of aiding the downtrodden, we have a total suspension of DEI.

Instead of love, we have hate.

It is literally the personification of Anton Zandor LaVey's Satanic Bible, which says:

"If your enemy strike you on the right cheek, smash him on the other."

Could it get any more anti-Christian than this?

The Right-Wing Media Machine - excuse me, the Outrage Industrial Complex - has rendered more than half of America truly blind. At long last, it is time to declare Trump voters to be what they truly are. 

No, they are not voters. They are prisoners! Prisoners to whatever the Outrage Industrial Complex feeds them. Prisoners to institutionalized disinformation. Prisoners in every sense of the word.

They are not free. Not in the head, and not in reality.

So if Trump can pardon a whole slew of violent insurrectionists without so much as a cursory review of their cases (and that's seriously what he did; even Vance claimed the violent ones wouldn't be released, but lo and behold, Trump couldn't be bothered with the paperwork of doing an actual case-review, and so he just said, "Fuck it, free 'em all!") then how much more should we free Trump voters from their prison of the mind? Why shouldn't we break their chains?

Why shouldn't we do everything in our absolute power to destroy the Outrage Industrial Complex?

If we ever have the courage to do so, this Atheist will say, "Amen to that!"


Eric

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