“I had a feeling that there were people watching what was happening and wondering, Was anyone going to say anything?” she told the paper on January 21. “Was anyone going to say anything about the turn the country’s taking?”
In her remarks, Bishop Budde also explored the meaning of unity, and did more than pay lip service to the concept. She enumerated three key principles that underly true unity: honoring the inherent dignity of every human being; honesty in both private conversation and public discourse; and humility. She warned against feeding the “outrage industrial complex” that profits and capitalizes off of vitriolic disagreement, criticizing the current “culture of contempt.” But she did not downplay or gloss over the very real reasons Americans are divided, acknowledging that in democracy and in government, not everyone’s ideals will be upheld.
Which is all well and good in theory, you may be thinking. Sure, the religiously enlightened would insist we love our enemies, but if my enemy hates me, why should I be unified with them on any level? Fair enough. But in a practical sense, what’s the alternative? We work with people we disagree with. We have family members we disagree with. We share a country with people we disagree with. Have boundaries, yes, but also a sense of community as people. As Bishop Budde pointed out, first responders during a natural disaster “never ask those they are helping for whom they voted in a past election or what positions they hold on a particular issue.” You don’t have to live in the still-burning city of Los Angeles, as I do, to appreciate that.
Though Bishop Budde herself is an advocate for many liberal causes, she did not push an agenda, but, in her “plea,” asked simply for mercy. I doubt it will have much effect on Trump’s thinking (in fact, he’s already bashed her on social media), but that’s not really the point.
We have a tendency, in election years, to think that there’s only one person in the whole country with any power, and that’s just not true. We also have spiritual leaders and business leaders and people like the recently departed Cecile Richards, a leader in the fight for reproductive rights. And those people will have to deal, in some form or another, with Trump and Trumpism in the coming months and years. Justified rage is an option, and a fair one. Stoic dignity another. But as Bishop Budde demonstrated, earnest, respectful and intelligent discussion is possible, and staring down the barrel at another Trump term and all it entails, I’ll take it.
