Culture on My Mind
When Compassion Becomes Resistance
January 27, 2025
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 meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals, they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.
I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love, and walk humbly with each other and our God, for the good of all people, the good of all people in this nation and the world. Amen.
—The Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Bishop of Washington; January 21, 2025
That eloquent plea for mercy and compassion resulted in people “wishing” for her death. For asking others to love their neighbors as written in scripture. A Georgia congressman even suggested that she should be removed from the country (despite being an American citizen) for her words.
Bishop Budde is the first woman to be the Bishop of Washington. She has dedicated her life in service of her faith, the very same faith as (one assumes) most of her detractors. She stands by the philosophy of justice, peace, and respect for human dignity.
She exemplified this in the case of Matthew Shepard.
Matthew Shepard was a student at the University of Wyoming. Because he was gay, he was beaten, tortured, and left in the elements tied to a split-rail fence. He died from his injuries six days later. His murderers are serving two consecutive life sentences each.
The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was signed into law by President Obama in his honor, expanding hate crime legislation to include crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
Bishop Budde came into the story when the Shepard family was looking for a place to memorialize their son. The family considered spreading Matthew’s ashes in Wyoming, but also wanted a place to visit and reflect upon his memory. Unfortunately, they also feared desecration of his final resting place after seeing protestors from the Westboro Baptist Church at his funeral.
Twenty years after Matthew’s death, they were offered a space at the National Cathedral, and the interment service was presided by Bishop Budde. His resting place acts as a monument to sanctuary and healing through compassion. As Bishop Budde told the New York Times, “We are doing our part to bring light out of that darkness and healing to those who have been so often hurt, and sometimes hurt in the name of the church.”
Her views on compassion and mercy continue to this day. To Time, she said: “The real people who are in danger are those who are fearful of being deported. The real people who are in danger are the young people who feel they cannot be themselves and be safe and who are prone to all kinds of both external attacks and suicidal responses to them. So I think we should keep our eyes on the people who are really vulnerable in our society.”
Love they neighbor as thyself. A directive for compassion and mercy and respect. One of the two commandments upon which should hang all law and prophets according to the New Testament, from the words of Jesus.
It is sad that, in this day and age, such compassion is needed as resistance against tyranny.
Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.
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