We’ve reached the end of another week. But before we clock out for the weekend, we’re giving credit where it’s due. Bishop Budde is the latest champion in our winners of the week series.
Bishop Budde and her respectful leadership couldn’t have come at a better time.
If you’ll recall, the day after President Trump took office the first time, thousands took to the streets to protest an agenda they predicted—correctly, it turned out—would do serious damage to civil rights in this country. This time, response has been more muted, not because the country is any less polarized (it’s not) but because of many factors we won’t iterate here; the election is over, it happened, he won.
Still, the world keeps turning, and for those in positions of power who can’t remove themselves from the narrative, the question arises (again): how to respond? On January 21, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde delivered a sermon that demonstrated a solemn and tactful approach. It ended with a widely-quoted plea addressed explicitly to the president, who was in attendance at the National Cathedral. (The whole thing is worth watching.)
“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” she said, her eyes locked with the president’s. “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children…who fear for their lives. The people who…may not be citizens or have the proper documentation. But the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals…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.”
Bishop Budde’s sermon was widely shared and praised, but it also left a lot of people wondering, who is Bishop Budde? Currently, she’s the leader of Episcopal Dioscese of Washington, a position which she’s held since 2011. She is also the first woman to hold her position. And though she’s certainly a practiced public speaker as the Bishop of Washington, she told the New York Times that before her sermon, she was nervous.
“I had a feeling that there were people watching what was happening and wondering, Was anyone going to say anything?” she told the paper on January 21. “Was anyone going to say anything about the turn the country’s taking?”
In her remarks, Bishop Budde also explored the meaning of unity, and did more than pay lip service to the concept. She enumerated three key principles that underly true unity: honoring the inherent dignity of every human being; honesty in both private conversation and public discourse; and humility. She warned against feeding the “outrage industrial complex” that profits and capitalizes off of vitriolic disagreement, criticizing the current “culture of contempt.” But she did not downplay or gloss over the very real reasons Americans are divided, acknowledging that in democracy and in government, not everyone’s ideals will be upheld.
Which is all well and good in theory, you may be thinking. Sure, the religiously enlightened would insist we love our enemies, but if my enemy hates me, why should I be unified with them on any level? Fair enough. But in a practical sense, what’s the alternative? We work with people we disagree with. We have family members we disagree with. We share a country with people we disagree with. Have boundaries, yes, but also a sense of community as people. As Bishop Budde pointed out, first responders during a natural disaster “never ask those they are helping for whom they voted in a past election or what positions they hold on a particular issue.” You don’t have to live in the still-burning city of Los Angeles, as I do, to appreciate that.
Though Bishop Budde herself is an advocate for many liberal causes, she did not push an agenda, but, in her “plea,” asked simply for mercy. I doubt it will have much effect on Trump’s thinking (in fact, he’s already bashed her on social media), but that’s not really the point.
We have a tendency, in election years, to think that there’s only one person in the whole country with any power, and that’s just not true. We also have spiritual leaders and business leaders and people like the recently departed Cecile Richards, a leader in the fight for reproductive rights. And those people will have to deal, in some form or another, with Trump and Trumpism in the coming months and years. Justified rage is an option, and a fair one. Stoic dignity another. But as Bishop Budde demonstrated, earnest, respectful and intelligent discussion is possible, and staring down the barrel at another Trump term and all it entails, I’ll take it.
The post Bishop Budde and Her Pointed Message to President Trump Is a Bright Spot in a Dark Week appeared first on Glamour.
