A Call to Christians to Reject That Which We Were Taught to Reject

This is a first for me, a story told in the first person, and without the pretense of or effort towards journalistic remove. That does not mean that I don’t stand fully behind every statement and conclusion; I do. That does not mean that my efforts in being truthful and factual are any less; if anything, the personal nature of the statement requires that I be as fastidious as I can be.

I am equal parts furious, bewildered, and disappointed. In a time when those feelings are all too familiar to all too many, this is not about them, it is about me. To the degree that anyone feels the same or different, I’m open to the debate… but make no mistake, I’m here as an advocate and an accuser, to challenge the sources of my personal angst.

I want this fight.

Yesterday, I watched as peaceful protesters in my adopted home town were pushed around by riot geared law enforcement of all stripes. The authorities tear-gassed them, clubbed them with their shields, sent rubber bullets and flash grenades flying into the retreating crowd that had minutes before been a lawful and organized protest in and around Lafayette Park, driving them backward for blocks. Rows of mounted police rode in a carefully orchestrated effort to clear a broad path from the White House grounds to St. John’s church across the street.

Be very, very clear: the intent was a message. They knew that it was being broadcast live, and they assaulted the reporters as well. The use of aggressive force was not applied to rioters or looters. The assembled protesters were not in violation of the curfew; it was a half-hour before that would begin. There were no reported incidents of violence against the police, no threats. The President of the United States of America and his lackeys made a conscious choice to have Secret Service, National Guard and military police attack American citizens legally assembled for the purposes of two photo ops; one with a prop bible in front of an important church, and one where protesters (including clergy on church property) fled in horror from a “dominant” armed force. It was a confirmation of his philosophy, stated just moments before on the lawn of the “People’s House” that he lives in. It was all staged for the nation to see.

He made a choice, the choice that he warned us he would make. He could have waited thirty more minutes, and allowed the curfew to go into effect. He could have chosen to walk across the street — since he had no intention of actually entering God’s house — at any time that evening, and get the same picture taken. He deliberately chose 6:30, when families and young people, laypeople, and sympathetic clergy, were still gathered in the shadow of St. John’s Church before he unleashed America’s forces against America’s people.

It was an act of a petty tyrant, trying to show America that he could marshal armed resistance against it whenever it suited his mood. It was a chilling reprisal of every dictator’s oppressive thumb, made all the more appalling by the head of the nation’s law enforcement, AG William Barr, the Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, and Joint Chief Chair Mark Milley all marching in lockstep, and posing with the President for the picture.

Considering the circumstances and the prelude, it was a photograph that could have been taken in every failed state, every banana republic, every government run by the military after a coup. It was a picture that, before now, I could never imagine being taken in America. It was heart-breaking, and for me, it was the last of many last straws.

Explain yourselves now, my fellow Christians who have given their sacred honor to support this man. Explain yourselves now, my good brothers and sisters who were willing to barter their better moral compass for the promise of more jobs or more money or a vote on a bill… or whatever. Explain yourselves now, or join me in decrying this most un-Christian, most un-American man and his administration.

If you’re still unsure, then understand the location and its meaning that he chose to desecrate… listen to the clergy of St. John’s in their own words.

Once the protesters had been cleared, the President strode across the street to the church whose proud nickname is “The Church of the Presidents” for having hosted every U.S. President since James Madison. President Trump did not enter the church. He stood outside, brandishing a bible and surrounding himself with some of his cabinets, for a brief photo-op before briskly returning to the White House.

“He did not pray,” said a furious Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington. She accused the President of using “a church building and the Holy Bible for partisan political purposes.” The rector of St. John’s, Gini Gerbasi, shared the following report on her Facebook page:

“The police in their riot gear was literally walking onto the St. John’s, Lafayette Square patio with these metal shields, pushing people off the patio and driving them back. People were running at us as the police advanced toward us from the other side of the patio… We were literally DRIVEN OFF of the St. John’s, Lafayette Square patio with tear gas and concussion grenades and police in full riot gear. We were pushed back 20 feet, and then eventually - with SO MANY concussion grenades - back to K street. By the time I got back to my car, around 7, I was getting texts from people saying that Trump was outside of St. John’s, Lafayette Square. I literally COULD NOT believe it. WE WERE DRIVEN OFF OF THE PATIO AT ST. JOHN’S - a place of peace and respite and medical care throughout the day - SO THAT MAN COULD HAVE A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH!!! PEOPLE WERE HURT SO THAT HE COULD POSE IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH WITH A BIBLE! HE WOULD HAVE HAD TO STEP OVER THE MEDICAL SUPPLIES WE LEFT BEHIND BECAUSE WE WERE BEING TEAR GASSED!!!!”

“I am DEEPLY OFFENDED on behalf of every protestor, every Christian, the people of St. John’s, Lafayette square, every decent person there, and the BLM medics who stayed with just a single box of supplies and a backpack, even when I got too scared and had to leave. I am ok,” Gerbasi concluded. “But I am now a force to be reckoned with.” 

St. John’s is a special place for Christianity throughout American history. Pew # 54 is reserved for the sitting President, a space for reflection and communion that has awaited their use for over 200 years. Pew # 11 is marked with a plaque in honor of President Abraham Lincoln, who walked the same walk almost every night during the civil war without an entourage, without props, not to preen but to pray, to find comfort and wisdom in his faith.

This is the man who has been elevated by us Christians. This is the President who sits in his office because of their votes, because of their unqualified support. This is the man who draws his legitimacy, what passes for a moral mandate, from only that one source. This man who held a bible aloft for the cameras, but “did not pray”.

This is the man who states with pride and ego “Only I can solve these problems, only I am the answer”. Have you ever heard him speak about his God as a guide, as even a part of his decision making? Have you ever heard him quote scripture or reference Christ? If you sat beside him today and chatted, would you expect him to show a true understanding of Christ’s message, of what Christ’s sacrifice meant?

Certainly, there is nothing about his actions that warrant the respect of a moral person. A man that openly celebrates all things gold, and who defines riches as “winning,” and as justification for leadership. A man who has a deep and uninterrupted history of personal failings, dishonesty, and misogyny. A man whose policies are spectacularly oriented against true charity here or abroad. A man who enthusiastically repels the stranger, the immigrant, and the oppressed from his “home”.

A man who consistently and deliberately sows the seeds of division and hatred for the purpose of personal power.

Matthew 12:25: ““And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.”

And so it is coming to pass. America is teetering. Every challenge that our nation faces has been amplified and expanded by the singular control that he’s demanded, and been given, to operate out of nothing greater than himself. The roiling of America right now is becoming as much a reflection of his responses as it is the insidious presence of racism in our society and institutions.

Christians have placed this flawed man, this faux Christian, in power over America. He has gathered his minions to do his bidding, people who every day prove their love of power and wealth over fealty to God, or to the people of this great and special nation, mirroring his own identity. We are reaping the whirlwind — a confluence of crises that have never occurred before, all made worse by his myopic sense of personal supremacy over any form of humility or faith.

Have you had enough yet? Are you finally ready to acknowledge the miscalculation, the sin of having placed a political and ideological agenda over the true measure of the man? Are you ready to stop making excuses in order to prop up a false leader? Is it finally time?

I will do what I can do. I will write what I know to be true, and attest to the eternal values of the Christ that I follow. I am a very imperfect messenger, and I accept that readily, but I can no longer hold my tongue or my pen.

Can you?