When We Want to Be Courageous, a Bishop Stands Up

The nation watched with surprised shock back on January 21 st at the sight of a national religious leader actually standing up for those she understands her Bible says to treat with mercy in a public rebuke to Donald Trump while he sat in a front row pew. Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, D.C. in a 15 minute sermon at a national prayer service at Washington’s National Cathedral showed a seldom seen courage by looking toward the new President while saying: "Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you. And 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 gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives…." "The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in poultry farms and m...