Clergy denounce Trump for using Bible as prop

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This article was published 04/06/2020 (2305 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s use of a Bible and church as props in a photo-op failed to convert Canadian church leaders to his cause.

On Monday, riot police forcibly cleared peaceful protestors, upset over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, from in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church, adjacent to the White House, so Trump and his entourage could pose for photos.

Elton da Silva, executive director of the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, headquartered in Winnipeg, said, “The Bible is very clear on how to judge a good leader. It is certainly not by photo-ops or vain words. Instead, the Bible instructs us to judge people by the fruit in their lives.”

As a Christian, he went on to say, “I oppose the misuse of the word of God as a prop for political gain. Today I choose not to focus on one man’s actions but to weep and pray for the state of the world, and particularly the need for reconciliation and peace in our country and the U.S.”

John Stackhouse, a professor of religious studies at New Brunswick’s Crandall University, who once taught at the University of Manitoba, said there was nothing subtle about Trump’s appearance in front of the historic church in Washington, D.C.

“These two appearances were clearly nothing other than propaganda meant to signal to his Christian bases that he was still their champion,” said Stackhouse, who regularly speaks on behalf of evangelicals in Canada.

“He didn’t say anything substantial, he didn’t do anything other than pose, and he didn’t engage any clergy or fellow worshippers. It was nakedly symbolic.”

The key thing for Canadian evangelicals to take away from that experience, he stated, is to “assure our fellow Canadians that we are generally not Trumpists, that we are in fact ranged right across the Canadian political spectrum, that we hate racism, that we are in fact multiethnic ourselves, that we can be counted on to be progressive, positive neighbours.”

Regarding racism generally, “we’d better be practising what we preach,” Stackhouse said, adding this is about more than personal spirituality, ethics and salvation.

It is also “about systemic and structural evils in Canadian life. We must then seriously oppose these evils in our practices, politics, businesses, professions, purchases, families, volunteering and our charitable giving,”

Churches in Canada “should be shining examples of mutual respect, even affection, among people across all the lines that improperly divide us,” he said.

For Jason Zinko, bishop of the Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, “most of president Trump’s actions and policies are contrary to the Christian message and directly contradict the beliefs, values, and actions of the Christian church. His use of the Bible and church as backdrops to appeal to a specific voter base is shameful and reprehensible.”

As well, the president’s promises of violence and retaliation against protestors “can only lead to escalation of the situation,” he said, adding “they are designed to distract from the legitimate calls for systemic change that are much needed in both the U.S.”

Doug Klassen, executive director of Mennonite Church Canada, which is headquartered in Winnipeg, said churches in his denomination are being called to “boldly stand against racism that rips apart the social fabric of both of our countries. As a church, we speak for a God who made all persons in the image of the creator’s likeness.”

All churches in the denomination are being asked to join Mennonite churches in the U.S. in prayer on Sunday to “lament the injustice and violence suffered by people of colour in the U.S.”

Peter Noteboom, general secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches, said “it is hard to see what the president did as an expression of faith, in keeping with the message of the Bible, or in keeping with its message of a just and peaceful society.”

He went on to say that “racism is also alive and well in Canadian society and churches. We need to recognize and address it and live more into Jesus’ message of peace with justice.”

The Anglican Church of Canada, the United Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada issued a statement saying “the murder of George Floyd have given all of us a stark reminder of the ongoing sin of racism in our communities.”

The letter, signed by the leaders of the three denominations, including Winnipegger Susan Johnson, national bishop of the ELCIC, acknowledges “the pain, frustrations and anger of our black communities, and recognize that systemic anti-black racism is prevalent in our context in Canada as well.”

The Diocese of Rupert’s Land is planning an online vigil on June 6 at 7 p.m. For information, email janebartermoulaison@me.com 

faith@freepress.mb.ca

 

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