National Cathedral likens Trump to Joseph McCarthy

Washington National Cathedral.

Far too often those  I refer to as "good Christians" remain silent and allow the hate and misogyny of evangelicals and far right Catholics define Christianity.  The result is the exodus of many from religion, especially those under age 30 where 40% want no more of organized religion.  Thus, it was a pleasant surprise to see the leadership of the National Cathedral sharply rebuke Donald Trump and condemn his racism and the hatred he sows on a daily basis.  Indeed, they likened him to Joseph McCarty and the manufacturer "red scare" of the 1950's.  If Christianity is to retain any legitimacy in the minds of many, we need more "good Christians" speaking out and condemning evil and countering the poison peddled daily by evangelicals and their toxic leadership.  NBC News looks at this much needed condemnation of Trump.  Here are highlights:

In unusually forceful language, the leadership of the Washington National Cathedral condemned what it called the "racialized rhetoric" of President Donald Trump and directly compared him to 1950s anti-communist demagogue Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

The statement, released Tuesday, isn't so much an appeal for Trump to retract or soften his statements as it is a call for the nation as a whole to reject them.

It asks: "After two years of President Trump's words and actions, when will Americans have enough?"

The criticism comes after a particularly inflammatory month for Trump. He has publicly told four outspoken congresswomen of color — three of whom were born in the U.S. — to "go back" where they came from. He also feuded with Rev. Al Sharpton, Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland and called the city of Baltimore a "rodent-infested mess."

The statement, issued in the name of three of the cathedral's top leaders — Revs. Mariann Budde, Randolph Hollerith and Kelly Douglas — makes multiple direct references to the communist witch-hunts of the 1950s led by McCarthy.

It accuses Trump of deliberately fanning racial divisions for political gain in the same way that McCarthy used fears of communist infiltration.

"When such violent dehumanizing words come from the President of the United States, they are a clarion call and give cover to white supremacists," it states. "We have come to accept a level of insult and abuse in political discourse that violates each person's sacred identity as a child of God."

It [belongs to the Episcopal Church] has a history of liberal political stances and has condemned Trump's ban on transgender members of the U.S. military and the policy of separating immigrant families at America's southern border.

National Cathedral Opens To Same-Sex Weddings

I can already hear the Christofascist heads exploding and envision spittle flecked professional Christians hyperventilating at the news that Washington, D.C.'s National Cathedral is going to begin performing same sex weddings.  Indeed, Maggie Gallagher and Tony Perkins will likely go into convulsions and wet themselves.  Oh the horror!!   The move by the National Cathedral should be applauded and it is further evidence that in the longer term the Christofascist forces of hate and bigotry are losing the so-called culture wars.  Unfortunately, as with interracial marriage, Virginia will be among the rear guard fighting against modernity.  Think Progress looks at this welcomed change in policy.  Here are some excerpts:

Washington, DC’s historic National Cathedral has announced that it will now host same-sex weddings, making it one of the first Episcopal congregations to implement a new rite for same-gender blessings. The Cathedral’s dean, the Very Rev. Gary Hall, explained that the change is an “important symbolic moment” for fulfilling Christian faith:

HALL: I read the Bible as seriously as fundamentalists do. And my reading of the Bible leads me to want to do this because I think it’s being faithful to the kind of community that Jesus would have us be. As a kind of tall-steeple, public church in the nation’s capital, by saying we’re going to bless same-sex marriages, conduct same-sex marriages, we are really trying to take the next step for marriage equality in the nation and in the culture.

For us to be able to say we embrace same-sex marriage as a tool for faithful people to live their lives as Christian people, for us to be able to say that at a moment when so many other barriers toward full equality and full inclusion for gay and lesbian people are falling, I think it is an important symbolic moment.

Same-sex marriage is legal in both DC and now in neighboring Maryland, as well as eight other states. Such weddings will likely not take place in the National Cathedral anytime soon due to its busy schedule. In addition, for couples to wed there, one member of the couple must be baptized into the Church. Still, same-sex weddings might take place before the end of the year. All couples wed in the Cathedral commit to a Christian marriage of “lifelong faithfulness, love, forbearance, and mutual comfort.”