The President of the United States, before the nation and the whole world, committed blasphemy at the Feb. 6 National Prayer Breakfast.
The National Prayer Breakfast keynote speaker had spoken on the words of Jesus. “Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.”
The President arose and said [contradicting Jesus] “I do not agree with that!” He then unleashed a torrent of invective against his political opponents, challenging the religious integrity of Senator Mitt Romney (Re-Utah) [who said his faith compelled him to vote to convict the president on a charge of abusing his power] and accusing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi of lying when she says that, as a practicing Catholic, she prays for him.
I recognize that pastors and religious leaders must be very careful in making political statements. We are pastors to all the people. But like all other citizens, we have freedom of speech. I can imagine a conversation between Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer when the Confessing Church was organizing in the days of the Third Reich in Germany. “We recognize that religious leaders must be careful. But in this we cannot remain silent.”
The self-styled evangelical church has been domesticated by the president as was the majority church in Germany under Hitler. And my church, the United Methodist Church, is so preoccupied with our own internal struggles that that we may not be paying attention. But in my view, our situation in the USA is parallel to the situation in Germany in the early days of the Third Reich.
When the President of the United States contradicts Jesus, we need to pay attention.
Retired Bishop William Boyd Grove lives in Johnson City, Tenn. This post is republished with permission from his Facebook page.