Trump and the disturbing priest

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Donald Trump said he was “saved by God to make America great again”. But by far the best opposition to the president came from a priest – the Episcopal Bishop of Washington.

The Rt Rev Mariann Budde’s sermon on Tuesday left business leaders and even Democratic politicians scrambling to get going. As Trump sat a few feet away in the assembly, she asked him to pardon gay, lesbian and transgender people and immigrants who are “feared” by the policy.

“Our God teaches us to show mercy to strangers because we were all strangers in this land at one time,” Bude said in the service. It was not a temporary punishment for TPLF; It was a 15-minute heated debate for a different kind of politics.

Trump sits there, then sulking in the National Cathedral. His Catholic vice president, JD Vance, whispered to his wife. Maybe they weren’t expecting it. Because they were given a very different religious reception at the inauguration held the previous day.

Preachers have described Trump’s return as a “miracle.” A pastor, Lorenzo Sewell, attributed Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech to him.

In the year In 2023, the charismatic Sewell was shut out of his Detroit church because the constitution was changed and disenfranchised rank-and-file members. Shortly after his inauguration, he created a crypto token that said to X users, “I want you to buy the official Lorenzo Sewell coin.” The currency then rapidly depreciated by more than 90 percent.

Who represents the Christian view of Trump? Sewell’s pro-Trump, pro-prosperity rhetoric, or what liberal Budde wants to say to the marginalized? And, if Christianity encompasses both outcomes, does it have much value in understanding and confronting Trump?

Bude supported her address with references in the Bible. She joins Pope Francis, who has criticized Trump’s mass deportation plan as “disgraceful”.

In contrast, Trump’s spirituality often seems to depend on taking words out of context. Sewell stripped King’s dream of its intended meaning. (As for Sewell’s legend, let me just say: “free at last” is not meant to sum up what listeners feel when she stops speaking.)

Or take the controversy between Christianity and progress. Another Conservative speaker at the inauguration, Rabbi Ari Berman, said George Washington’s faith and morals were essential “to the prosperity of Americans.” In fact, Washington said that they are necessary for “political prosperity”. The context, in 1796, was an appeal for national unity, and a warning not to trust in “the absolute power of one individual.” Trump was also stumbling in that speech.

But pro-Trump pastors are accepted as part of the church. And the mobs are with the president. According to religion researcher Michael Emerson, Christians are now more likely to be Republicans because liberal Protestants and Catholics have stopped going to church.

Last year, Trump won 60 percent of the Christian vote and more than 80 percent of white evangelicals. He paid hush money to a sex movie star, vowed to oppose any federal abortion ban and didn’t appear to have his hand on the Bible at his inauguration. But some white evangelicals see it as a useful tool that allows them to lead the conversation.

Interestingly, Trump complained that Bude’s sermon mixed politics and religion as he repeatedly invoked God in his opening speech. One thing Sewell and Bude agree on is that you can’t keep politics out of Christianity. If the church decides to only bless those in power, the end is up for negotiation.

The question is, is religion below politics? Do Trump’s supporters change their beliefs about the politics of his election and his opponents do the opposite? The answer is probably: mostly, but not always. There’s no point listening to a preacher if you don’t think he’ll ever change your mind.

“When we know the truth, we have an obligation to tell the truth, especially when it costs us,” Budde said. Her success should not be measured by how many people attend her next service. It should be measured by the extent to which other people feel obligated to speak out against what they know to be wrong.

henry.mance@ft.com