The
bishops of the
seven New
England
Episcopal
dioceses today
issued the
following joint
statement in
response to
President
Trump's photo op
at St. John's
Episcopal Church
in Lafayette
Square,
Washington,
D.C.,
characterizing
it as "cynical"
and calling out
"the abomination
of continued
oppression of
and violence
against people
of color in this
nation."
The text of the
statement
appears below.
June
2, 2020
What
President
Trump did in
front of St.
John's
Episcopal
Church,
Lafayette Square
on the evening
of June 1 was
disgraceful
and morally
repugnant.
Displaying a
Bible from
which he did
not quote,
using as a
mere backdrop
an Episcopal
church where
he did not
pray, and -
more callously
- ordering law
enforcement to
clear, with
force and tear
gas, a path
through
demonstrators
who had
gathered in
peace,
President
Trump
distorted for
his own
purposes the
cherished
symbols of our
faith to
condone and
stoke yet more
violence.
His
tactic was
obvious.
Simply by
holding aloft
an unopened
Bible he
presumed to
claim
Christian
endorsement
and imply that
of The
Episcopal
Church.
Far more
disturbingly,
he seemed to
be affecting
the authority
of the God and
Savior we
worship and
serve, in
order to
support his
own authority
and to wield
enhanced use
of military
force in a
perverted
attempt to
restore peace
to our nation.
His
actions did
nothing to
mend the torn
social fabric
of our nation.
Instead, they
were a blatant
attempt to
drive a wedge
between the
people of this
nation, and
even between
people of
faith.
No matter
where we may
stand on the
partisan
spectrum, we,
as Christian
leaders called
to proclaim a
God of love,
find his
actions
repugnant.
Jesus taught
us to love our
enemies, to
seek healing
over division,
and make peace
in the midst
of violence.
Our
church may
rightly feel
outraged and
insulted by
having the
symbols of our
faith used as
a set prop in
a cynical
political
drama.
The real
abomination
before us,
however, is
the continued
oppression of
and violence
against people
of color in
this
nation.
Let us reserve
and focus the
energies of
our
indignation to
serve our Lord
Jesus Christ's
higher
purpose: to
extend love
and mercy and
justice for
all, and
especially for
those whose
life, liberty,
and very
humanity is
threatened by
the persistent
sin of
systemic
racism and the
contagion of
white
supremacy.
The Rt.
Rev. Laura J.
Ahrens,
Bishop Suffragan,
Connecticut
The Rt.
Rev. Ian T.
Douglas,
Bishop
Diocesan,
Connecticut
The Rt.
Rev. Thomas
James Brown,
Bishop
Diocesan,
Maine
The Rt.
Rev. Alan M.
Gates, Bishop
Diocesan,
Massachusetts
The Rt.
Rev. Gayle E.
Harris,
Bishop Suffragan,
Massachusetts
The Rt.
Rev. A. Robert
Hirschfeld,
Bishop
Diocesan, New
Hampshire
The Rt.
Rev. W.
Nicholas Knisely,
Bishop
Diocesan,
Rhode Island
The Rt.
Rev.
Shannon MacVean-Brown,
Bishop
Diocesan,
Vermont
The Rt.
Rev. Douglas
J. Fisher,
Bishop
Diocesan,
Western
Massachusetts
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