How One Photo Showcases the Worst of American Christianity
As an American and a Christian, this photo does not represent me or my faith in the slightest.
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Senator Marco Rubio (R) of Florida defended Trump’s photoshoot in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church by claiming that the protesters on the scene were “professional agitators”. He also stated that they violated the 7:00 pm curfew. However, that is not the case. The Associated Press reported that police officers began using tear gas and flashbangs against the protesters at 6:30 pm, half an hour before the curfew. Apparently, tensions started Gini Gerbasi, a protester and a former St. John’s Church minister, wrote that violent escalations started in between 6:15 and 6:30 pm in a Facebook post.
And why did all of this happen? So that US President Donald Trump could hold a Bible incorrectly in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church. Apparently, protesting racism and police brutality isn’t a good look for a church photo shoot. Bishop Marianne Edgar Budde, the bishop overseeing the church, was “outraged” that Trump used the church as a backdrop without praying, reflecting, or giving any sort of advance notice that a photoshoot that needed a protest-free background would take place. Budde also noted that Trump did not show any acknowledgment of the suffering that people of color have endured under the racism that has been deeply entrenched in American culture and politics.
No reasonable individual opposes the photoshoot for simply featuring a church or a Bible. Even if said Bible was held incorrectly, that would be far from the worst aspect of any resulting image. Instead, this photoshoot reflects the worst aspects of American Christianity: a shallow, blatantly hypocritical “show” put on to appease those who abuse power. Peaceful protesters were brutalized to clear the area for this photo op, which makes the right to peaceably assemble look like a joke.
Condoning and dismissing injustice while posing with a Bible is like using the motto “America First” and then publicly violating others’ First Amendment rights. This sort of behavior is the exact sort of thing that Jesus addressed in Matthew 6:5.
And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and…
