I was stunned into silence as I listened to Bishop Mariann E. Budde’s humble appeal for President Donald J. Trump to have mercy on the many people who are in fear over his words and actions. Her voice was soft yet firm. Her gesture, loving, even if it took many by surprise.
The New York Times described the moment like this: “One representation of American Christianity began speaking to another, and the most powerful man in the world was arrested by the words of a silver-haired female bishop in the pulpit. Until he turned away.”
When I think about the bible scripture from Proverbs 27:6, “faithful are the wounds of a friend,” I think of Bishop Budde. So many people will lament over the President’s policy proposals and positions. Few will have an opportunity to directly ask for mercy.
A Courageous Action
It took tremendous courage to make a direct appeal to a powerful man in the world.
As one might imagine, Budde’s genteel remarks were met with outrage. One policymaker suggested that she should be added to the deportation list, while other critics noted she was weaponizing the pulpit against the nation’s commander in chief. Some demanded she apologize.
Rather than question, even for a moment, whether the nation was on the right track, some will castigate Budde as just another DEI hire. Others will quibble over whether her remarks were offered in the right setting or at the right time. Some may even question whether women should preach. None of these things matters to me.
I applaud Bishop Budde. And I hope we will not deify her.
Her actions are precisely the role and responsibility of Christians. We have been commanded in Matthew 22:37-40 to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself.”
We Are Enamored When Certain People Speak Up
And yet, in a nation that prioritizes race, it is easy to be enamored when white people do precisely what Black people and other people of color have been doing for generations. This is one of the reasons people like Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility, was celebrated for so long. DiAngelo was doing what Black people had been doing for as long as Black people have been in this country. And yet I wonder if Black scholars earned anywhere close to what she earned in a year.
It is easy to deify those who do the right thing. But we must resist it. It is not fair to Bishop Budde, and it is not fair to the people on whose shoulders she stands.
That Bishop Budde’ humble request caught so many by surprise is also a testament to the possibility that perhaps too few white people are consistently speaking truth to power. Maybe too few white women are willing to look power in the face and say it is off course. Doing so comes with risks. It has always been dangerous to question the powerful or to urge the strongman see himself. This is true for all of us, and it is especially true for marginalized communities.
Budde Isn’t the Only One
The truth is that Bishop Budde isn’t the only person to urge political leaders to rethink their actions. There have been tons of faith leaders and civil rights activists who have spoken up and challenged injustice. I think of Ida B. Wells. I think of Fannie Lou Hamer. I think of Shirley Chisholm.
In modern times, I think of the Rev. Lisa Sharon Harper of Freedom Road. I think of the Rev. Dr. Iva Carruthers of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference. There are countless others.
And yet, you won’t see them on The View for the courage they display. They won’t be interviewed by the New York Times, NPR or other mainstream outlets. They won’t be talked about in TIME Magazine. In fact, getting media interest at all for the work they do is an uphill battle.
Challenging perceived injustice should be the norm for all of us, not the exception.
Budde made an urgent and prophetic appeal. Her actions should be viewed as an invitation to others to similarly speak up.
Jennifer R. Farmer is an author and founder of Spotlight PR LLC.