When worship becomes an act of cruelty

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The cruelty of the right has been on full display over the past few days as they defend Trump’s policies and January 6th pardons and as they mock Bishop Mariann Budde’s words to Trump at the Washington National Cathedral.

So where is this cruelty coming from? While there are a number of theological and sociological factors at play, I focus my piece today on the role that white evangelical worship played during the inaugural events, including a disturbing new alliance between worship leader Sean Feucht and defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth.

Working together across religious differences

One of the bright spots of the week, however, has been the courage of Bishop Budde to speak the truth in love to Trump. It’s a reminder for many of us who have left the church that we have important allies still within it.

When I was at the 2024 Election Postmortem hosted by Notre Dame’s Center for Philosophy of Religion last month, one of the quotes that impacted me that I didn’t share in my piece was from David Campbell, professor of American Democracy and director of the Notre Dame Democracy Initiative.

Campbell said, “The key to success, the one who figures it out, will be whoever can combine those two wings of the Democratic party, somehow figure out how to get the secularists and those other religious folks to work together. If they can do that, then I suspect you will see dramatic change in American politics.”

This moment with Bishop Budde is one example of how this happens. I’m not likely to join an Episcopal church. But I can ally with Budde by sharing and amplifying her voice as we both care for the vulnerable from our own spaces.

Safe Church: Addressing Sexism & Abuse in Christian Community

Another example of working with people across a variety of religious experiences and perspectives for the vulnerable that I’ll be participating in is the upcoming Safe Church Conference, which is being hosted at the First United Methodist Church in Brevard, NC on March 7 and 8.

The conference is an opportunity to address sexism and abuse within the Christian community with guidance from leading experts and speakers. Others who will be speaking at the event will include Dr. Andrew J. Bauman, Sarah McDugal, and Jay Stringer, Dr. Christy Bauman, Dr. Camden Morgante, and Dr. Pamela Holder. I’ll be leading two breakout sessions as well as participating in a panel discussion.

You can register here!

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Here’s the link to my piece, When worship becomes an act of cruelty, which was published by Baptist News Global on January 22, 2025.

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