Bishop Budde spoke truth to power. Rep. Andy Barr and Donald Trump didn’t like it. | Opinion
On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Andy Barr voiced his displeasure with Bishop Mariann Budde, who at the National Cathedral Service for President Donald Trump earlier that day, made a plea for compassion and empathy toward those who fear him — trans children, immigrants, and refugees. She asked him to show mercy.
Barr, who described himself as a “conservative Episcopalian,” said on X he was profoundly disappointed that Budde “politicized” the service of prayer for the nation.
“I am profoundly disappointed that Bishop Mariann Budde politicized today’s inaugural Service of Prayer for the Nation. By disregarding President Trump’s appointment of Scott Bessent, a brilliant, openly gay man to serve as Treasury Secretary and Elon Musk, a genius, first generation legal immigrant to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency, Bishop Budde’s gratuitous criticisms ring hollow,” the Lexington Republican wrote.
Barr wasn’t the only one offended. Shortly after midnight Wednesday, Trump himself expressed his anger on social media, calling her a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater.” (Most of the comments on Barr’s post were mad a woman was a priest, much less a bishop, so ...)
Budde’s calls for mercy, I believe, were timely.
Shortly after being sworn-in Monday, Trump released his raft of executive orders cracking down on all kinds of immigration, including birthright citizenship enshrined in the Constitution, and basically erasing transgender people.
Like Barr, I was baptized Episcopalian and now attend the same church he did for most of his life. The Episcopal Church has as many problems as the next one; in places like Kentucky and Virginia (where I grew up), it was long a defender of the Confederacy and the white supremacy that many of its often powerful congregants represented.
Like many churches, it has enduring splits between conservative and liberal branches in many of its dioceses. The Washington National Cathedral, where the prayer service was held, is the seat of the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.
But what I have heard from pulpits all my life is almost never politics and most often the message of the Beatitudes from the Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. The one that goes, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the Earth ... Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Et cetera.
As our religion writer Paul Prather pointed out two weeks ago, Jesus was extraordinary because he turned narratives about power and strength as exemplified by the Roman Empire upside down. The underdogs were the heroes of the story now.
And as part of that narrative, Budde begged Trump to think of underdogs, the trans children now being targeted, the children of immigrants here through no fault of their own, the refugees fleeing death and despair.
Budde didn’t criticize Trump, she entreated him to be kinder. She didn’t accuse him of wrongdoing, she reminded him of his immense ability to do good.
Barr, who is probably going to run for the U.S. Senate once Mitch McConnell leaves office, understands all this because he’s a very smart guy. It’s why he should be held to a higher standard.
He used to stick to his wheelhouse of finance and banking but like many politicians, has decided that kowtowing to Trump is more important than the the tenets of the religion he espouses. He could be one of the good guys, a fiscally conservative Republican who doesn’t cave to scapegoating and culture wars.
But he doesn’t get to claim the mantle of Christianity, with the moral and cultural value it possesses in the minds and hearts of his constituents, and simultaneously do policy violence towards those whom Jesus told us to protect.
If, like Trump, he truly wishes to persecute gay, trans, undocumented and desperate refugees, just be straight with us about it. He’ll still find plenty of eager voters.
Budde gave us an important message about the values of a so-called Christian nation, but did something even more important: How to speak truth to power calmly, respectfully and dispassionately.
We are all going to need to do that in the next four years, no matter what our feckless representatives do and say.
Budde ended her prayer: “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. Amen.”
Andy Barr would do well to listen.
This story was originally published January 22, 2025 at 10:58 AM.
