Christian Contemplations #1: Bishop Budde's Bonhoeffer Moment
When a call for mercy generates hate
Don’t adjust your email - this is still the MCIMAPS Report. I have a special announcement for a new addition to this newsletter series.
A New Series
Starting with this issue, I am going to begin a column on religious news and musings. These issues will be far fewer than the political coverage I offer, but will pop up from time to time. Those of you who have known me for a long time know that my Christian faith is the central pillar of my outlook on the world. I’ve certainty addressed this before, either on twitter or in articles here. However, while I have long been guided by faith, I have always wanted to avoid invoking it too much.
This is not because I fear scaring off readers; either those who are more conservative or lefty, but rather because of my own lack of confidence in the matter. I see people constantly cite scripture or invoke God to justify political positions or actions; basically committing heresy in the process. We have no shortage of people ready to cite a line of scripture incorrectly or without context. Some do this maliciously, not caring about the truth and likely not believers themselves. Others, truly believing their interpretations are correct, still fall into traps - guided by a desire to be right and justify a position they WANT to have. I do not consider myself above the trappings of convincing myself “surely I’m right about these lines.” I am not a theologian, I am not a Biblical scholar. I am, however, a true believer that tries, and often fails, to practice what I preach. I pray, I reflect, I hold private meetings with my Pastor, I sit on a stack of religious writings which sometimes I have to then google to understand “what the heck does this mean.”
As such, I am not here to proclaim myself an authority. My goal with this column series is a two-fold
Personal: To force myself to step away from spreadsheets and GIS software and contemplate greater issues. In the day-to-day world, its easy for me to be entirely tunnel-visioned in current events and worldly concerns. I have struggled for a long time to honor the sabbath more than attending or watching a Church service. As such, my goal is to dedicate as much of my Sundays as possible to researching, reading, and writing for these columns. That doesn’t mean a column will come out every week; but it means I will be spending more of my Sundays researching, writing, or considering different issues of faith - rather than looking up how a 1940s state house race went in Calhoun County (or wherever).
Theological: For decades, a right-wing, American-centric political movement has twisted scripture and invoked God to justify its political goals. Thanks to these people, the number of Christians in America has rapidly fallen. Generations growing up right now are exposed to a distorted Christianity that offers no love and salvation and only offers hate and political hypocrisy. I am well aware that many, if not most, of my followers are left-leaning people who are either atheist, agnostic, or a broadly non-religious grouping. I want to show these people, as well as anyone else, that many of us Christians are not power-hungry hypocrites. As such, while I am a rambling lay-person, I will often be siting other stronger theological authorities - hoping to expose a new generation to a different way of looking at the Cross.
As I stated, these columns will come and go, not necessarily every week. When something needs to be discussed, it will be. Some will be free-wielding thoughts on something in Christianity. Others, like this first issue, will be more of a coverage of current events. I am honestly going to be struggling to find my voice as I branch further into this topic. I’m confident like hell to talk about district trends of historic elections, but I approach faith discussions with much more caution.
That said, on this first issue, I have a good degree of confidence on where I stand and what the response should be. This issue will discuss the sermon of Bishop Mariann Budde and the reaction she received when she called to Donald Trump to offer mercy.
An Unexpected Homily
It all started on January 21, 2025, the day after Donald Trump's second inauguration. Political leaders gathered at Washington National Cathedral for the traditional Interfaith Prayer Service. There, Mariann Edgar Budde, Bishop of the Diocese of Washington, was tasked with giving the homily. That homily, and the reaction to it, has been in the news for days.
I think it is safe to say that most people reacting to the Sermon by Bishop Budde have not actually watched the entire 15 minutes. I’ll even be honest when I say I did not get a chance to for a few days after everything transpired. With that said, I think it is in the best interest of anybody reading this to give the ENTIRE sermon a watch. It is conveniently uploaded on the Washington National Cathedral YouTube page.
Even if you didn’t know what was coming, as you would listen to the sermon, it was clearly aimed at the social and political moments of our time. While she did call for unity, Bishop Budde warned about an increasing “culture of contempt that has become normalized in this country” - warning that it threatens to erode the nations foundations. The sermon pointed out that while disagreement is unavoidable, as we are ALL imperfect creatures, we must disagree with respect and grace. Unity is never possible when laced with contempt.
This issue of contempt, as well as vitriol, is clearly evident in our modern society. In my time, I have seen political disagreements turn into outright hatred. Two decades ago, the debate over immigration was heated by far less dehumanizing as it is today. In my own personal experience, the people I differed with on gay rights back in 2003 come off downright lovely compared to the vile stuff from modern opponents in 2025. I myself am guilty of falling too easily into contemptuous and vengeful language. Anyone who follows my twitter feed will at times see me really lay into someone or a group of people. These outbursts, for myself or anyone, are a personal failing and not what Christ calls us to be. This is directly called out by Christ in the Gospel of Matthew: Chapter 5 verses 21-22
21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ [contempt] is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
This is of course a famous line from the Sermon on the Mount. It is a command we all fail to uphold. Its a command I’ve failed to uphold this week alone. But why are we called to avoid this anger and contempt? Well I think this excellent video from ‘The Bible Project’ lays out what seething in anger and contempt does to your soul.
This section of the homily itself is noteworthy, but likely would not have drawn the attention the next part did. The last two or so minutes of a 15 minute homily have dominated the news.
As Bishop Budde’s homily came to an end, she made a plea for mercy from the President. First she addressed the increasingly nasty attacks on the LGBT community and the Trump administration’s plans to erode civil rights protections and flat out erase the transgender community from legal standing.
“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.
Bishop Budde next addressed the issue of immigration - responding the Trump’s push for mass deportations and restricting migration for refugees.
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…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, gurudwaras 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.
Bishop Budde ended her Sermon with a reminder that Christians are called to be merciful to the stranger; a sentiment laid out in the Gospel of Matthew.
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. Good of all people in this nation and the world. Amen”
The speech quickly caught international attention. What was initially expected to be a typical pro-forma event suddenly showed the Church was ready to stand against the policies being pushed by the incoming administration. Conservatives seethed from the moment the speech was done while many liberals, religious or not, celebrated the “smackdown” - as some saw it.
However, Bishop Budde herself as made it clear her goal is not to start a war or words with Trump; pointing out that the call of her sermon is not a hostile act, but a humbling act.
“To plea for mercy is actually a very humbling thing to do. I wasn’t demanding anything of him. I was pleading with him, like, can you see the humanity of these people? Can you acknowledge that there are people in this country are scared? … If not him, if not the president, could others?”
When speaking with CNN, Bishop Budde stated the reason for being so direct. After all, she could have left out the last 2 minutes and the rest of the sermon clearly had some allusions to modern politics. However, Bishop Budde saw a moral need to directly lay out the case for immigrants and LGBT people.
I was looking at the president because I was speaking directly to him. I was also, frankly as you do, in every sermon, speaking to everyone that was listening through that one on one conversation with the President. Reminding us all, that in the people that our frightened in our country, the two groups if people that I mentioned, are our fellows human beings, and that they have portrayed all throughout the political campaign in the harshest of lights. I wanted to counter, as gently as I could, with a reminder of their humanity.
As Bishop Budde laid out, she humbled herself to plead for mercy from the President. Of course, no one could be surprised what the President and his allies thought.
Trump’s Response and Lack of Faith
Would you be shocked to learn Donald Trump not only didn’t like the sermon, he couldn’t resist going on the attack? Yeah me neither. As Conservatives railed against the sermon in the hours after, Trump posted to Truth Social shortly after midnight.
Now of course Donald Trump disagrees with Bishop Budde’s politics, but he also is notably attacking her directly. He calls her a “so-called Bishop” - even though I bet A MILLION DOLLARS he doesn’t actually know what a Bishop is or how they get appointed. He called her nasty and not smart and said the sermon was boring. Again, Trump could have said “I disagree and here is why” - but no of course he went on the attack.
This never surprised me because I know Trump has no regard for Church institutions. For 9 or so years I have routinely pointed out that Donald Trump is an obvious atheist - a man who just uses faith to get ahead in the political arena. Unlike George W Bush, someone I disagreed with on 95% of things but who I do believe to be a man of faith, Trump is the classic false Christian. Never has Trump demonstrated actual interest in Christian principles or scripters and has never lived his live according to any sense of Christian morality. I laid this sentiment out firmly in my diatribe against Donald and his attacks on Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio.
In that special newsletter, I discussed how the local churches were begging Trump and his allies to stop attacking the Haitian population of the town. The incident was only the latest to highlight Trump’s disregard for Christian decency and humanity.
The Lesson of Bonhoeffer
It is perhaps a great coincidence that just last week I did a very detailed article on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. For those who don’t know, and omg if you don’t please click the link below, Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran Pastor who was an outspoken opponent of Hitler and NAZI policy. He would form underground churches and write extensively on faith amid unjust institutions. Born in Germany and raised in the Christian Nationalism of its time, Bonhoeffer would credit the Black Churches of Harlem, which he spent time at in 1930, as reshaping his faith and solidifying it.
Bonhoeffer’s ministry would eventually merge into direct resistance, becoming a spy for the allies. His implication in the infamous bomb plot to kill Hitler led to his execution at Flossenburg Concentration Camp in 1945. He’s widely regarded as one of the great Christian martyrs of the last several centuries.
Bonhoeffer’s writings from the time give us plenty to use as we enter a new era of authoritarianism and desires to marginalize groups of people. In April 1933, Bonhoeffer responded to NAZI Party efforts to implement anti-Semitic policies in the German Church with a pamphlet called “The Church and the Jewish Question.” In his essay, Bonhoeffer laid out the ways the Church must be willing to response to oppressive actions by the state. Three key points emerged; though the third has by far become is most known line.
FIRST, questioning the state as to the legitimate state character of its actions, that is, making the state responsible for what it does.
SECOND is service to the victims of the state’s actions. The church has an unconditional obligation toward the victims of any societal order, even if they do not belong to the Christian community. “Let us work for the good of all”. These are both ways in which the church, in its freedom, conducts itself in the interest of a free state. In times when the laws are changing, the church may under no circumstances neglect either of these duties.
“THE THIRD possibility is not just to bandage the victims under the wheel, but to jam a spoke in the wheel itself”
“Spoke in the wheel” has become a rallying cry for direct action against state injustices. However, even before this option, which is the option of last resort, Bonhoeffer lays out a clear call to “speak truth to power.” The Church has a long history, before and after Bonhoeffer, for taking government’s to task for the inhumane policies they endure. In this, Bishop Budde was following in Bonhoeffer’s footsteps.
Trump’s Deutsche Christens
Of course, it should be no shock that Trump’s political allies, who prioritize good relations with him more than they care about professing actual Christian faith, went on the attack. The vitriol against Bishop Budde and the church has been astounding but not at all shocking.
Of course many have brought gender into this, claiming its “proof” women should not be Bishops or Pastors. This whole diatribe from the “Center for Baptist Leadership” is quiet a ride of sexism and Christian nationalism. I swear I’d find Christ in a brothel before I’d find him in that link. Read at your own risk.
The attacks of not just come from commentators, but have come from the halls of Congress itself. Congressman Josh Brecheen has drafted a formal resolution condemning the sermon. That’s right - a resolution from congress over a sermon they didn’t like.
Congressman Mike Collins took things even further, outright calling for the deportation of Bishop Budde.
I don’t know folks, I feel these people are not following the Gospel of Matthew well with these stunts and rants. As I see it, these folks fit perfectly with the “Deutsche Christens” - or “German Christians” of 1933 in Germany. I discussed it much more in my Bonhoeffer piece, but this exert can be seen below.
The German Christian Movement aimed to shape the Christian faith into the NAZI ideology. For years I have seen the same thing done with Congresspeople and evangelical leaders. For so many of them, Trump has become the Biblical authority, not sculpture - not Christ.
I’ve long speculated how many of these Congresspeople that proclaim faith are remotely serious. Honestly, I wouldn’t be shocked if half of those who profess faith actually have any. Maybe they hold some superficial faith - the stuff that Bonhoeffer called out plenty. Maybe they are entirely devoid of belief and just see it as the best way to get ahead. That very topic is likely a subject of a future issue. In the meantime, these folks fit in so well as part of Trump’s own “Deutsche Christens.”
The Church Stands Up
While Bishop Budde has seen plenty of detractors, she has also received a great deal of praise from religious leaders. Trump’s defenders insisted the event should have been a nice uniting event. Bishop Budde defenders correctly point out that the Church is not here to ordain political leaders. This is especially true right now because the administration coming in is so antithetical to Christian teaching. No movement has ever been so hostile the Christian calls for compassion and a shared humanity as MAGA. For the Church to get up and give a simple homily and look the other way as people are demonized, discriminated against, and rounded up, would be a betrayal of the Gospel.
The perfect example of this Church push-back has come in relation to Congressman Andy Barr. The Kentucky Republican, like other Trump allies, attacked Budde. However, when reporter Jack Jenkins reached out to Barr’s Bishop, the Bishop took the side of Budde.
Listen I’m all for thinking for yourself, but if my Pastor contradicted me like this, I’d at least reconsider my positions and actions. I’d venture Bishop Koevering is more biblically adept that Congressman Barr.
Meanwhile, Connor Hartigan at the Jesuit Review highlighted many instances just in the last century where the church spoke truth to power with world leaders. Likewise, Kathleen Bonnette laid out why Budde was an example to be exemplified.
Michele Dunne, O.F.S., the executive director of the Franciscan Action Network said
“What Bishop Budde did—appeal to an elected leader to be merciful toward people under his authority—was entirely appropriate for a faith leader to do, whether in public or private. Many saints, for example St. Catherine of Siena and St. Francis of Assisi, engaged with political leaders on moral issues.”
The fact is, the Church is not in any country to sanctify or endorse political leaders. This is not the 1200s, an era where the Pope would crown Kings of nations. The church is always meant to speak out when civil authorities conflict with the commandments of Christ. The anger at this sermon has exposed the vitriol at the heart of the Christian Nationalist mindset. I believe that Brian Kaylor’s piece from just the day after the sermon sums that sentiment up the best.
Bishop Budde has made it clear she does not consider herself at war with Trump or his followers - stating “I don’t consider him an enemy.”
“I regret that it was something that has caused the kind of response that it has, in the sense that it actually confirmed the very thing that I was speaking of earlier, which is our tendency to jump to outrage and not speak to one another with respect,”
Budde pleaded for mercy and was met with vitriol. No moment better shows who in this back and forth truly holds the light of Christ in their hearts.
I, for one, am grateful for your sidebars on theology Matt. We can never have enough true followers of Christ humbly shining the Light these days. Please keep them up.