By now, most of us have seen how right-wing evangelical heads exploded at how Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde lectured Trump on the need to show compassion and mercy. By far the most unhinged reaction I’ve seen comes from Rep. Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, who actually introduced a resolution rebuking the sermon. It already has 20 cosponsors—including some of the usual list of suspects.
To most of us, including radical-lefty Christians like yours truly, it was initially hard to understand why Budde—the same woman who gave Matthew Shepard a proper internment 20 years after his murder—has fundies in a tizzy. But a likely explanation is found in a tweet from Ben Garrett, a deacon at Refuge Church in Ogden, Utah—the church pastored by notorious theobro Brian Sauve. As he sees it, Budde is guilty of—horrors!—the sin of empathy. No, this isn't snark.
As you can see, Garrett has been brutally Community Noted.
This is out to lunch from a Christian perspective as well as a secular one. One of my friends, a charismatic Methodist pastor, thinks Garrett—and presumably, Sauve—would do well to read Hebrews 4:14-16 (reproduced here from the Amplified Bible).
14 Inasmuch then as we [believers] have a great High Priest who has [already ascended and] passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith and cling tenaciously to our absolute trust in Him as Savior]. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin. 16 Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].
Then again, it’s not all that surprising that Garrett and others have missed this. After all, the most common spiritual kick in the groin used against the LGBT community, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, doesn’t really refer to homosexuality at all. Rather, it was a parable about inhospitality to strangers. And of course, a number of evangelicals have inadvertently dismissed the Sermon on the Mount as woke librul propaganda.
I’m reminded of how hardline conservative Erick Erickson said that Trump could potentially do great damage to the church. Even as often as Erickson has reconsidered his views on Trump, this statement appears even more prescient by the day.
