The Budde Incident

Early this week there was a bit of an uproar with relevance to a homily by Bishop Budde at the National Cathedral. Bishop Budde is bishop of the Episcopal Archdiocese of Washington. Supposedly, the service was held with relevance to a day of prayer. I don’t visit church very often these days; however, I still consider myself an Episcopalian (a Christian denomination that is part of the Anglican Communion). Earlier this week, I had only seen a clip from the sermon. The clip made national news because President Trump and Vice President Vance were present in the congregation during the service. I decided to watch the entire sermon to get a better understanding of the matter. It wasn’t the first time I’ve watched Bishop Budde preach, and I invite all to watch the sermon at the following link: https://youtu.be/xwwaEuDeqM8?si=xKXNj5SrvqHHWO5i. Why the uproar? Basically, during the last couple of minutes, she addressed President Trump directly and pleaded with him to show compassion toward immigrants, the people in our country who are supposedly scared, LGBTQ, children who are afraid parents will be taken away, etc. I am not writing this peace to criticize the opinion of Bishop Budde, but I will give my thoughts on it and address other issues surrounding the matter that perhaps need attention, some of which are relevant to the cathedral itself. I wish to note that with relevance to Jus soli, even in Sweden (the bishop’s birthplace), a child born there does not automatically become a citizen, but for some reason many want the United States to have standards that most countries don’t have.

Bishop Budde has spoken against Trump previously. She even wrote a piece in the New York Times back in 2020, in which she expressed outrage over him going to Washington's St. John's Church. I remember the event well when Trump held a bible in front of the camera. Trump had a bunch of Black Lives Matters protesters cleared out before doing this. The bishop is entitled to her opinion, although I wish the New York Times would also publish hundreds of opinions I have written on my blogs similarly, many of which are objectively based. Anyhow, I provided the link in the references, but it is possible that they removed the piece she wrote. The bishop’s message didn’t have to be given to the president on his seconds day in office, and appeared opportunistic to have given it during a sermon while she was the only one who had access to the pulpit.

Bishop Budde used the pulpit and seemingly assumed that Trump needed to show mercy because she believed he was/is divisive. Her comments assume, which also in a way make her guilty of prejudice and divisiveness in doing so. Of course, I often wonder how much compassion people really have for those who don't agree with their views entirely, although they may agree on many other matters. It's wrong and hypocritical to politicize from the pulpit without allowing rebuttal. If she really believes she has the truth, she also should speak it at any venue instead of picking and choosing as she did afterwards. For example, she had no problem appearing on The View, but she did not appear on Newsmax when invited by Rob Schmidt. I am pretty sure Jesus would have spoken truth at any venue, if invited, instead of being divisive. Does Bishop Budde really want diversity and inclusiveness? This is really the bigger question that has already been answered, but seems to go unnoticed for many years, perhaps centuries.

I've heard some say the National Cathedral is a national forum but is this true? It’s not representative of the nation’s diversity of religions. I will explain. Although, the cathedral claims to be the house of prayer for all people as conceived by the founding fathers, it is the Cathedral of Episcopal Archdiocese of Washington. The liturgy and services practiced are of the Episcopal denomination, which is part of the Anglican Communion. Of course, it is true that all are welcome, and I really mean all. The presiding bishop for Episcopalians is currently, The Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe, and he is the 28th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. He took office on November 1, 2024, for a nine-year term. Call it what you will, but the National Cathedral is an Episcopal forum. It's not 100 percent ecumenical, regardless of claims. If Americans really want diversity, then they should have a national cathedral that is operated by more than just one denomination. If Americans want to be inclusive and ecumenical, perhaps other denominations should be able to operate and run a national cathedral, which doesn’t necessarily have to be the current, unless it's all about power with relevance to the current one. 

Believe me, I love all the history associated with the building and I am also Episcopalian, as previously stated, but I wanted to also share my opinion equally. Moreover, I know the New York Times might not publish me, but it is here for them to view whenever. I will also share this with Bishop Rowe sooner or later. Sadly, a friend who is atheist and extremely reasonable told me the other day that he thinks Bishop Budde is evil. I don’t know if I share the opinion, but he sounded convincing. My personal plea with Bishop Budde is to please do a little self-analysis, and also, I think Trump only wants an apology. Blessings everyone!  

 

 

References:

https://cathedral.org/

https://www.anglicancommunion.org/

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/opinion/trump-st-johns-church-protests.html.

https://youtu.be/xwwaEuDeqM8?si=xKXNj5SrvqHHWO5i