Be Polite to the Prophets, Even When They're Wrong

On Tuesday, his first full day in office, President Trump sat in the National Cathedral. During the traditional inaugural prayer service, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, Mariann Budde, pleaded with the president to consider those who are terrified of his policies.

“In the name of our God,” Budde said from the pulpit, “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.”

Trump responded today. “She (Bishop Budde) brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart.”

Representative Mike Collins went further.

(For the record, Bishop Budde was born in New Jersey.)

One of the things that comes with power? The requirement to listen as you are held to account.

King Saul is rebuked by the prophet Samuel, and King David by the prophet Nathan. David’s kingship is saved because he listens to some “very ungracious” reproaches from the prophet. Saul fails and falls because he listens too late.

When a Roman general was granted a triumph – the great parade through the streets of the capital after a victory – a slave was assigned to stand behind him, whispering over and over, “Memento Mori.” Remember you will die. This was a reminder both compelling and smart.

In Shakespeare’s King Lear, it is the Fool who reminds us that the traditional role of the jester is to speak uncomfortable truths to power, even if those truths are disguised in rhymes and games. He dares tell the hapless king “I had rather be any kind o' thing than a fool! And yet I would not be thee, nuncle. Thou hast pared thy wit o' both sides and left nothing i' th' middle.”

To be fair, most partisans only like it when a prophet with whom they agree calls out a public figure with whom they do not. Many of those defending Bishop Budde were enraged when Mark Driscoll, the controversial evangelical pastor of Mars Hills Church, tweeted on the occasion of Barack Obama’s second inauguration a dozen years ago: “Praying for our president, who today will place his hand on a Bible he does not believe to take an oath to a God he likely does not know.”

Many of Driscoll’s defenders that day? Furious with Bishop Budde this week.

A comparison of Saul and David suggests it’s a good idea to listen to prophets. Then again, Marian Budde probably isn’t a Samuel, nor Mark Driscoll a Nathan. Episcopal Bishops and evangelical pastors may be certain they know God’s will, and they may be under the impression that it is their role and responsibility to rebuke and warn presidents. (One would like it if the rebukes were less ideologically predictable; I should think it a good thing if we didn’t know automatically that an Episcopal bishop will lean left, and an evangelical pastor will lean right. Mix it up, kids, just for fun. )

Though presidents are neither kings nor generals, it is their responsibility to listen politely while prophets, jesters, and pastors call them to account. No leader worth his office wishes to hear nothing but flattery. This doesn’t mean that the prophet or pastor is always wise or right. But regardless of what they say to you, it behooves a president to understand that it’s in your job description to welcome admonitions and reprovals. Having been castigated or challenged, it is one’s task to smile and shake the hand warmly of the one who sincerely believes they spoke truth to power.

“Thank you so much,” you say, “You’ve given me a lot to think about.” And then, in private, you may turn to your aides or your spouse and say, “What in the everloving fuck was that noise?” And after a moment, you laugh, shrug and say, “Comes with the territory.” You do not call out the one who called you to public account. Ever.

Was Bishop Budde’s plea to President Trump on point? Perhaps. Perhaps not. The bishop may or may not have channeled the very word of God. That’s above my pay grade to know.

What concerns me is how the president and his proxies responded. The gracelessness was entirely theirs.