Much has been said and much has been written about the schoolmarm lecture that the lady preacher gave to President Trump and Vice President Vance last week following the inauguration.
Progressives who loathe all things MAGA have heralded her courage, and praised her for (here we go with this phrase again), "speaking truth to power."
A majority of those on the Right who support the new administration say it was some combination of tacky, boring, and a typical bastardization of Scripture.
Obviously, Mariann Edgar Budde has a well-worn reputation of left-wing politicking from inside and outside of the pulpit, so I'm not entirely sure why anyone is surprised or startled that she would use moments that could have been used to glorify God and make His name famous to glorify a political agenda and make a name for herself. But the fact that she has drawn so much attention - fawning from the Left, frowning from the Right - leads me to wonder if perhaps now is the moment when I might get an answer to a question I've been earnestly asking my friends on the left for years without success.
Here it is:
Why is it acceptable (even laudable) on the Left to use the tax-exempt church pulpit to make political statements, lobby for legislative change, and seek to impose biblical morality on the masses ... while also condemning anyone on the Right who does the same?
I want to understand:
I am told that it is acceptable to demand government policies that reflect Christian compassion towards the stranger, refugee, and sojourner.
I am told that it is unacceptable to demand policies that reflect Christian compassion towards the innocent, defenseless image bearers that God is knitting together in their mother's wombs.
Why do leftists consider the latter a frightening illustration of the domestic threat of Christian nationalism, but consider the former a commendable campaign for justice?
The answer can't be because the Bible doesn't explicitly lay out a proper code for regulating abortion in a 21st-century pagan republic like ours, because the Bible doesn't do that for the complexities of migration and immigration either. So, what is the answer? Why the inconsistency?
There isn't reciprocity in my question. It's certainly true that you will find plenty of conservatives who disagree with Mariann Budde. But they will do so theologically and politically, arguing that she is misapplying Scripture and isn't accurately representing its truth. You will not find them saying that we "shouldn't legislate morality" or that biblical ethics have no place in the public square.
That is an argument that emanates consistently, and almost exclusively, from the Left ... except when the Left sees an opportunity to use the language of faith to advance their agenda.
If I'm wrong, someone please explain by answering the above question.
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