The message Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde gave at the National Cathedral Prayer Service was not only inappropriate, it was not Biblical.
Jesus was compassionate when He was faced with sinners. When He faced the woman caught in adultery, He spared her life, but He also told her, “Go and sin no more.”
Jesus’ Christianity as revealed in Paul’s letters calls for an obedience to government–stating that governments are put in place by God. Paul also refers to the sin of homosexuality. The Bible also states that God made man and woman. Last time I checked, God doesn’t make mistakes. In the context of Christianity, sin can be forgiven if there is repentance and change, but it is still sin.
The comments of Bishop Budde regarding people in fear are interesting. Is it possible that much of the fear is due to the misreporting of our mainstream media? What about the fears of the people who now have people in their cities who are here illegally that routinely break the law by stealing, driving without a license, drunk driving, murder, etc.? Are their fears valid? The comments about the hard-working illegals seem to overlook the fact that they broke the law to get here. There are legal ways to come and work in America. Should we simply eliminate the consequences for breaking the law?
We need to reform our immigration system, but that is not an excuse to ignore the current laws. Painting a picture of people who broke the law fearing enforcement of the law as a bad thing does not reinforce the rules of a stable society.
I don’t expect an apology, although an apology would be a positive reflection of the Christianity Bishop Budde claims to espouse. I just think that what she did was highly inappropriate. People go to church to grow in their faith–not to be lectured.