Trump Walks to Church for a Photo Op. Liberal Clerics Are Outraged. They Much Prefer Arsonists.
Remnant Review
On June 2, Donald Trump pulled off one of the great photo ops in American political history.
Somehow, he understood the power of walking across the street, holding up the Bible in front of what is known as the Presidents' church, and announcing that he was going to bring law and order back to America's cities, which are being torn by violent thugs, revolutionaries, and thieves.
Crucial to the scenario was his walk to the church. I don't remember anything like this in American history. It is a time of crisis. Thugs, looters, and arsonists have taken over parts of American cities on a scale never before seen. This dwarfs the riots after Martin Luther King's assassination. Therefore, what Trump did is exactly the right positioning for the President of the United States to take.
He was standing on a sidewalk. Sidewalks are public places. He held up the Bible. He understands the power of that symbol. So do liberals.
He did not say much. He used the event as a photo opportunity. The media fully understand what he did. So do the liberals whose church became the backdrop for his symbolism. That church had been attacked the night before by terrorists. He took a public stand against the terrorists, and he did so visually in the name of the Bible and in the name of churches. He identified himself as the defender of the faith.
This can be dismissed as hypocrisy. He has not previously positioned himself as a defender of the faith. But, with respect to the Bible's doctrine of civil rulers as ministers of God, he made the right decision. The Bible clearly teaches this doctrine. There is no way around it. The Bible mandates obedience to lawful authorities (plural). The Apostle Paul wrote this to the church at Rome:
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour (Romans 13:1-7).
St. John's church is across the street from the White House. It has long been known as the Presidents' church. It has basked in that reflected glory.
If that congregation held forthrightly to the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the 39 Articles of the Episcopal Church, then it would not need any reflective glory. But, for at least two generations, the leadership of the Episcopal Church has denied all three of these confessional standards.
On June 1 and June 2, we saw theological hypocrisy revealed in full public view. Let me review what happened.
JUNE 1
On Sunday morning, the church posted the following statement on its website. It dealt with the protests against the death of George Floyd. By Sunday morning, the protests across America had turned into window-smashing, looting, and arson. But you would never know this from the following statement, which was posted on the church's website.
Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart and especially the hearts of the people of this land, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.A Collect for Social Justice
The Book of Common Prayer, p. 823
Dear Parishioners,
We write to you with heavy, but hopeful hearts. Our community and our country are in anguish and unrest. And yet, we can see that thousands of people are lifting their voices and organizations are engaging in peaceful, meaningful action to ensure the life of George Floyd and countless others are not lost in vain. As Bishop Curry wrote this morning , in the upcoming days and weeks, we will unite as a church community to follow the path of love and to channel this anguish into concrete, productive and powerful action.
Given the recent media coverage of the protests, you may be concerned about our beloved church and parish house. We are fortunate that the damage to the buildings is limited. There is some exterior graffiti, and the protective glass over one of the more modern stained-glass windows on the north side of the narthex has been broken (the stained glass itself is unharmed). Thankfully, there is no damage inside either of the buildings. This morning we secured, as best we could, our most valuable items.
As you know, today is Pentecost, one of the church’s primary feasts. If we had been in church, we would surely have sung Sweet, Sweet Spirit , a St. John’s favorite. You know the words: “There’s a sweet, sweet spirit in this place, and I know it’s the spirit of the Lord. Sweet holy spirit, sweet heavenly dove, stay right here with us, filling us with your love.” Hymn 120, Lift Every Voice and Sing, II . It’s hard to imagine a more appropriate prayer for the place in which we as a nation find ourselves.
We promise to keep you up to date on any developments over the coming days. When it is possible, we will repair the physical damage to our church. Please pray that our country can heal the wounds laid bare by the tragic and unnecessary death of George Floyd.
We are proud to be a church that welcomes all and champions the path of love.
In peace,
The Rev. Rob Fisher, Rector
Paul Barkett, Senior Warden
Jeff Hanston, Junior Warden
That evening, a group of "people are lifting their voices and organizations are engaging in peaceful, meaningful action to ensure the life of George Floyd and countless others are not lost in vain" set a bonfire in front of the church, set fire to the nursery, tossed rocks at the windows, and defaced the outer wall with graffiti.
That has been the problem for well over 50 years with peace-loving demonstrations organized by seekers of justice who hold dear the liberal causes. The arsonists take over really fast.
This posed a problem for the hierarchy of the local congregation. What were they to say? How are they to respond? This way:
Dear St. John’s Community,It has been a difficult night. If you have not seen it yet in the national news, a fire was set to St. John’s nursery tonight, but I am happy to report that the fire is completely out. I have just returned home from the church, and it is 1:58am as I begin writing this note.
My family and I had in fact left town on Friday for what we hoped would be a long weekend of R&R. We were essentially camping, almost totally off the grid. This morning our plan was to drive to where there was cell reception and watch the Pentecost service together. However, word got to me that the protest activity was intense and growing, so we quickly changed plans and drove back here as fast as we could.
In the car I was in touch with the wardens and also Bishop Mariann, with whom we have begun plans for making St. John’s a place for offering a ministry of presence—against racism and for God’s healing and compassion in the days ahead. I hope that many of you will join in this. (Please contact help@stjohns-dc.org to join this effort!)
The protests that began peacefully grew to something more, and eventually a fire was lit in the nursery, in the basement of Ashburton House. Like many of you perhaps, I had little access to information about how bad the fire was while it was happening. It felt horrible to see glimpses of smoke rising by the stairs to our entrance on national TV, and then to have it confirmed with an up-close video showing the flames in the basement.
Fortunately, it was in fact completely extinguished. I just assessed the damage as best I could, in the semi-dark and with a flashing, bleating alarm system that I could not figure out how to shut off. My ears are still ringing, and I am still coughing a bit from various fumes I inhaled. But I am happy to share with you that I could see no other real damage besides that one room, and quite a bit of graffiti and debris around the exterior of the church. Protestors easily could have done a lot worse to our buildings, but they chose not to do that. (The damage I saw to other nearby buildings illustrated this point.)
None of this changes our purpose to be an instrument for God’s work through all of this, and in fact now more than ever. I pray for our collective wisdom, grace, courage and compassion as we move forward into what God is calling us to do and be next.
To the many of you who have reached out in various ways—thank you!
Shalom,
Rob+
Here is some of the graffiti.
Note: Matthew 19:24 reads: "And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
JUNE 2
The next evening, Trump gave a brief presentation at about 7 PM on the White House lawn. He announced very clearly that if the rioting didn't stop, he was going to send in the troops. He was not going to tolerate violence. He made it explicitly clear that he is the President of law and order.
Then he did something that was completely unexpected. He left the press conference and walked across the street to stand in front of the church. He held up a Bible. He brought senior members of his administration to stand beside him. The symbolism was unmistakable. He was acting in the name of God. He was acting on behalf of a society based on the Bible. As with every President, he had sworn allegiance to the Constitution by placing his hand on a Bible. Now, he was holding up the Bible for everybody to see.
The symbolism of this act was probably the most explicit public Christian symbolism that any President has offered over the last hundred years. I cannot think of any action taken by any President that was more self-consciously symbolic of the lawful authority of the President to act in the name of God. It could not have been clearer.
That Donald Trump would do this is mind-boggling. If he figured this out on his own, it is even more mind-boggling.
One person who understood the symbolism clearly was the female Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Washington, D. C. She told the media this:
"Let me be clear: The president just used a Bible, the most sacred text of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and one of the churches of my diocese without permission as a backdrop for a message antithetical to the teachings of Jesus and everything that our churches stand for," Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde told CNN."And to do so... he sanctioned the use of tear gas by police officers in riot gear to clear the church yard. I am outraged,"
So, the bishop believes that the President of the United States does not have the right to stand in front of an Episcopal Church on a public sidewalk and hold up a Bible.
She did not complain about the rioters who, the night before, set a fire in front of the church, painted graffiti on its walls, and threw rocks through windows. No, no, no. That was just a group of liberal Democrats getting together to sing "kumbayah" and "Michael, row the boat ashore." Somehow, things got out of hand. Arson happens.
HYPOCRISY ON DISPLAY
The hypocrisy of theological liberals has always been a delight to me. They spend their entire careers calling into question the authority of the Bible, but when it suits their purposes, they quote it, usually out of context.
This impresses the atheists who staff the nation's media outlets. It doesn't impress people who believe in the Bible.
Liberals are so transparent in their hypocrisy that they become living symbols of muddled thinking.
Notice what the church's message board says: "ALL ARE WELCOME."
It means this: "Rioters are welcome. President Trump isn't. Rioters do not need permission to deface our building. Trump is not allowed to hold up a Bible in front of it."
THE IMPORTANCE OF LITURGY
The spiritual leaders in charge of the church are on the side of the rioters and they are clearly opposed to Donald Trump.
They did not condemn the arsonists and rock-throwers who assaulted their church on Sunday evening. That was not sacrilege in their eyes. What was sacrilege took place the next day, when President Trump used their defaced church as a way to convey to the American people his commitment as commander-in-chief of the armed forces to ending this revolution.
He held up a Bible to make his point clear. The local Episcopal clerics don't like Christian theology, but they like liturgy. They understood that what Trump did was a liturgical act. It was an act at their expense in the name of social order. Their theology undermines social order, and they deeply resented what Trump did. They were outraged. I hate to say it, but this is what he had done: he trumped them.
What matters is not Donald Trump's confession of faith. What matters is his office. He is the President of the United States. He holds this office legitimately. He was elected according to the Constitution. He is a defender of the nation against lawlessness, and he holds this position by the decree of God. That is what the Bible teaches. I am not sure how much he understands of this, but I am sure of this: the Bishop of Washington DC doesn't understand it, or if she does, she despises it.
WINNERS AND LOSERS
The looters who are tearing up American cities gave Trump the photo opportunity of a lifetime. If he backs up this opportunity with troops, who will easily put down the rioters, he will have called into question the spinelessness of the Democrats who run the cities of America, and those governors who, in an election year, did not have the backbone to call up the National Guard on their own authority when the mayors wimped out. They could have done this. They didn't. He told them in his speech before his photo op they had better do it, or he would act unilaterally.
The governors have acted unilaterally in shutting down the nation for the COVID-19. Now it's their turn to be told what to do. There is justice here.
Trump publicly called them weak in his brief presentation on the White House lawn. They are weak. He is going to rub their noses in it when he sends in the troops. If they don't see this coming, they are as blind as the leadership of the St. John's Episcopal Church.
Immediately, some Democratic governors said that the President doesn't have the authority to send in the troops. The Governor of Illinois said this.
I remember when another group of Democratic governors said this. That was the position of Gov. Orval Faubus in 1957 when he said that Eisenhower didn't have the right to send in the National Guard to integrate the public schools in Little Rock. Kennedy sent in the newly federalized National Guard on October 1, 1962, to stop the riots launched against the integration of the University of Mississippi . That integrated the University of Mississippi. This took less than 24 hours. A year and a half later, Gov. George Wallace said the same thing about President Kennedy. Kennedy wasn't going to be allowed to send in troops to integrate the University of Alabama. Wallace talked tough, but he meekly stood aside when he faced the federal marshals and the federalized National Guard. This took place on June 11, 1963. The symbolism of his meek retreat was not lost on the Democratic governors of the Deep South. It was broadcast on national TV. They all talked tough. They all stood aside.
It does not matter what the governors say. If they refuse to call in the National Guard, Trump will.
TRUMP UNDERSTANDS THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA
In the context of the rioting over the last week, as well as over the last 55 years, the media somehow think they are going to impress the American population by means of their waffling in the face of ghetto violence, looting, arson, and what would in any other context be labeled acts of terrorism. The public ignores them or dismisses them as apologists of racial violence.
Trump in his White House speech on the evening of June 2 identified these acts as acts of terrorism. He promised to stop them by sending in the troops if the governors do not call up the National Guard to put down the terrorists. Then he walked across the street for a photo op in front of an Episcopal church associated with the presidency.
The country is divided down the middle on the issue of Democrats versus Republicans. But the country is not divided down the middle on what to do with black thugs who riot in our cities. They may not have heard of Napoleon's phrase, "a whiff of grapeshot," but if they had, they would agree with it.
The bishop can issue all of the press releases she wants. The deal is done. The President of the United States took advantage of a photo opportunity, and there is nothing that the bishop can do about it. She can insist that he didn't have the right to do it, standing on a public sidewalk. He had to ask permission to do it. She doesn't perceive how ludicrous she sounds.
He didn't her ask permission to do it. He just did it. It's over. The photos went out. There is nothing that the bishop can do to overcome their effects on the people who saw them. Only a handful of people are going to read her statements to the media. Millions of people have seen those photos.
All of this is to say that Donald Trump is better at producing media images than the media are. He knows they cannot resist his media events. Like moths drawn to a flame, they give him the audience he has targeted.
CONCLUSION
Trump has already won the symbolic battle. It was a brilliant display of media manipulation.
He has won the battle with the theological liberals who run the church across the street from the White House. His act was deeply religious. It was liturgical.
He is going to win the battle with the inner-city terrorists. That is the easy part.
He may even win in November. If he does, the Democratic Party will have been the victim of arsonists.