Contrasts Along A Timeline

     When I was growing up, if you went to a Protestant church on a Sunday, you knew you were going to get a sermon along one of two lines: Hellfire and damnation, warning of dire Divine retribution against sinners and the necessity of being saved or the Sermon on the Mount, emphasizing compassion and forgiveness and reminding everyone that the Almighty's love was raining down salvation like soup and the church was giving away bowls.  There might be the occasional digression on some point of theology or a Bible verse the preacher had found especially apt, but you knew you were going to be yelled at or gently chided, and either way, they wanted you to eschew sin and follow the Lord.

     With that out of the way, I'll move to the secular.  In his second Inaugural address on January 20, President Trump said: "After years and years of illegal and unconstitutional federal efforts to restrict free expression, I will also sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America."  What decent American would fail to applaud such a firm commitment to free speech?  It is one of our proudest traditions and most valued rights.

     On January 21, the new President, Vice President and their families were at the National Cathedral for an interfaith prayer service, an event organized long in advance, with all of the speakers carefully vetted.  The sermon was delivered by an Episcopal bishop serving the Washington, D.C. area, who concluded, "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 meat packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals, they – 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 [religious congregations]. I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that 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."

     This is pretty standard stuff, of the Sermon on the Mount variety.  It may not be your cup of tea; it may not be a particular politician's cup of tea.  But it's not an attack; it's not hateful.  And it is most certainly free speech; it is most certainly representative of our nation's cherished freedom of religion.

     Mr. Trump didn't like it -- and he, along with every other person covered by the Bill of Rights, is not obliged to.  He posted to his social media site, "The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater. She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart. [...]."

     He is entitled to his opinion; I don't think he's a very perceptive critic when it comes to tone or graciousness, but that's merely my opinion.  It is a matter of plain fact that the speaker is a Bishop of her faith -- and no President gets a say in that.

     Another member of the President's party had something to say.  Republican U.S. Representative Mike Collins from Georgia posted a video clip of the sermon to social media with the comment, "The person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list."

     And that, too, is an opinion -- but it is also a call to action from a member of the national legislature, and as such it is, in the legal sense, chilling.  On the other hand, if he gets his wish, the Bishop will be sent packing, back to where she came from: New Jersey.

     Last time I checked, it was still a state of the Union.

     Last time I checked, speech was still free of government censorship and threats of punishment.  Congressperson Collins might want to do some checking, too.