Mariann Budde’s Bully Pulpit
On January 21st of this year, following President Donald Trump’s second inauguration, he attended an interfaith prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral. The Right Reverend Mariann Budde delivered the homily, using the occasion to address the President directly. Her remarks sparked a wide range of reactions, from high praise to damning condemnation.
On the one hand, there are those who offer high praise for Budde’s words. with Bernice King, youngest daughter of civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr., calling them “an appeal to his humanity and an appeal on behalf of humanity.” At the other end of the spectrum, U.S. Representative Mike Collins said that Budde “should be added to the deportation list.”
A side note: As an American citizen, Budde is not eligible for deportation. Collins’ comment about deportation appears to be a joke, but it comes across as insensitive. Deportation is a traumatic experience for those affected, regardless of one’s views on the issue.
Before discussing Reverend Budde’s address to President Trump, I want to note that using the pulpit to publicly criticize someone in the congregation is generally ineffective and inappropriate. The most appropriate response for Trump is to simply walk out. For that matter, everyone in attendance should have walked out. The pulpit is not a bulwark to launch personal attacks on someone, without fear of reprisal. Had the congregation simply stood up and walked out, it would have well communicated the message that she was being inappropriate.
Furthermore, calling someone out from behind the safety of the pulpit is a cowardly tactic. By doing so, Reverend Budde insulated herself from any potential argument, while still being able to express her views. Her address seemed more focused on appeasing her own congregation than genuinely appealing to the President.
“Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you. And as you told the nation yesterday, you felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now.
“There are gay, lesbian and transgender children, democratic, Republican and Independent families, some who fear for their lives.”
This seems an exaggeration, even hyperbolic. Trump is far from a threat to the gay community. In fact, he is the first President who entered office fully supporting gay marriage; when Obama took office, both he and Biden expressed their opposition to gay marriage. Trump on the other hand, allowed a gay couple to get married on his Mar-A-Lago estate.
Trump is also the first President to allow a gay man to attain a cabinet level position. In 2020, Richard Grenell became the Acting Director of Department of National Intelligence.
Additionally, Grenell launched a global campaign to end the criminalization of homosexuality under the Trump Administration, a first in U.S. history.
So, if gay people indeed “fear for their lives,” then I can only assume they aren’t paying attention.
“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 . . .”
In 2015, Kelly Osborne made a regrettable comment while guest hosting on “The View,” asking, “If you kick every Latino out of this country, then who is going to be cleaning your toilet, Donald Trump?”
Her fellow panelists on “The View” were visibly offended by this suggestion that Latinos are good only for the most menial tasks. The statement was widely condemned as racist.
Interestingly, when Reverend Budde makes a similar suggestion, it’s met with praise from the Left. But political ideologues of any persuasion are rarely consistent.
Budde continued, “They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.”
If they entered the country illegally, then technically they are 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.”
There are programs in place, Reverend Budde, for asylum seekers and immigrants who wish to reside in the U.S. But violating our laws and entering the country without permission is not how they should go about it.
It would appear that Budde would fault Trump for upholding the laws of our land.