On Monday, Donald Trump directed federal police and National Guard forces to assault peaceful protesters, attack journalists, and drive away both worshipers and priests so he could stand in front of St. John’s church and hold a Bible overhead. That action has earned Trump reprimands from both the bishop of the Episcopal church and fiery replies from priests still trying to wash away the taste of tear gas.
On Tuesday, Trump decided to repeat this act of desecration by driving followers away from the Catholic shrine of St. John Paul II, earning him an amazing statement from Archbishop Wilton Gregory. “I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violence our religious principles...” wrote Gregory. “Saint Pope John Paul II was an ardent defender in the rights and dignity of human beings … he would certainly not condone the use of tear gas or other deterrents to silence, scatter, or intimidate for a photo opportunity in front of a place of worship and peace.”
And if all this isn’t bad enough, what’s next on Trump’s agenda drives the hypocrisy meter to 11.
On Monday, Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde berated Trump for “trespassing” on church property without permission and without good purpose. “Let me be clear,” said Budde, “The president just used a Bible, the most sacred text of the Judeo-Christian tradition, at one of the churches of my diocese, without permission, as the backdrop to a message antithetical to the teachings of Jesus and everything that our churches stand for.”
On Tuesday, Budde appeared on CNN to add to the disgust he showed for Trump’s actions. “I am outraged. The president did not pray when he came to St. John’s, nor did he acknowledge the agony of our country right now.”
It’s unclear what Trump means to do by driving people away from places of worship, claiming that space for himself and waving a Bible. It’s certainly not a Christian act, though it does appear to be Christianist: the appropriation of the trappings of Christianity for the purposes of holding power and justifying unjust actions by giving them a religious whitewash. William Barr has been a notable practitioner of Christianism, waving a Bible and religious justification over policies that are profoundly unjust, undemocratic, and absolutely antithetical to Christian beliefs and traditions.
Trump’s actions mimic those past leaders and current leaders who sought to abscond with the Christian label and apply it to hateful, racist policies that excuse violence and cement their position of power. That Trump is taking these actions at the same time as he is calling for “domination” of the streets is not coincidental. That, despite his long-time association with right-wing fundamentalism, he is not visiting some church of Jerry Falwell Jr. or Franklin Graham to do his Bible waving is not coincidental. Trump is blasting priests, lay associates, and worshipers away from Episcopal and Catholic sites to assert his ownership. His dominion.
This moment should be about finding a way toward racial justice, but Trump isn’t just uninterested in that goal, he’s actively opposed. So instead he is echoing Richard Nixon’s 1968 campaign over “law and order,” attempting to scapegoat organizations that don’t even exist, and now placing himself at the head of the one Church of Donald, God-King.
And when Trump returned to the White House on Tuesday afternoon, he has another item on his menu. He is slated to sign an executive order … “to Advance International Religious Freedom.”