Recently, I posted on Facebook a cartoon called Bishop Takes King, drawn by David Cohen, “an Asheville-based artist/musician and resident of over forty years. He primarily draws editorial and commissioned cartoons for various outlets and companies.”
It commemorated the Service of Prayer for the Nation on January 21 and the sermon by the Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde.
Most people enjoyed it, but one commenter wrote, “Roger, she’s mentally ill. ” OMG! I must read the transcript.
“The first foundation for unity is honoring the inherent dignity of every human being, which is, as all faiths represented here affirm, the birthright of all people as children of the One God…”
Isaiah 1:17: Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.
Direct message
“Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you. 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 transgender children in both Republican and Democratic families who fear for their lives.”
Isaiah 58:6-7: “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”
“And the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in our poultry farms and meat-packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shift 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, mosques and synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.”
Mercy
Proverbs 31:8-9: Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.
“Have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. Help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land.”
I’ve read that the ancestors of most folks in America, including those of the person she spoke to, came from somewhere else.
“May God grant us all the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, speak the truth in love, and walk humbly with one another and our God, for the good of all the people of this nation and the world.”
I’m still looking for the insanity of her words.
The Speaker
As satirist Borowitz noted: “Outraged by Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s eloquent plea for kindness at the National Prayer Service, House Speaker Mike Johnson posted a furious rant on X.
“‘Bishop Budde hijacked the National Prayer Service to promote her radical ideology,’ he charged.” Compassion is radical?
“This was an opportunity to unify the country in prayer, but she used it to sow division. Even worse, she’s continued her political crusade in media interviews. Shameful.” I’m all for thoughts and prayers, but Jesus was also into action.
He was so distraught that House Resolution 59 was submitted, “Expressing the sense of the House… that the sermon.., was a display of political activism and condemning its distorted message.”
“It’s hard to imagine who besides Mike Johnson would consider Budde’s pro-mercy stance ‘radical ideology,’ except maybe the late, great Hannibal Lecter and his number one fan.”
Despite FOX News freaking out her “woke” ideology, it’s consistent with the Biblical teachings I’ve learned.
Instead
I was also admonished on Facebook: “You don’t like putting America first, do you?” I was at a loss. “The administration’s order to freeze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans prompted confusion across state capitols and local government offices… leaving them at a loss on how even to calculate its impact.”
The policy was withdrawn after a federal judge in the District of Columbia blocked the order just as it was set to go into effect, and it was subsequently withdrawn. Was it because Republican Congressional members complained? I never understood how this move made America great.
An NYT opinion piece [paywall] is titled If All This Sounds Delusional, That’s Because It Is. “The American system of government is not one in which the people imbue the president with their sovereign authority. He is a servant of the Constitution, bound by its demands. Most presidents in our history have understood this, even as they inevitably pushed for more and greater authority.”
[FOTUS] “sees no distinction between him and the office, and he sees the office as a grant of unlimited power, or as he once said, ‘I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.’
“He wants to usurp the power of the purse for himself. He wants to make the Constitution a grant of absolute and unchecked authority. He wants to remake the government in his image. He wants to be king.”
The Hollywood Reporter asks who will stand up to the broligarchs? “The lack of legal guardrails… is becoming an existential crisis.”