Woke bishop confronting Trump? Wokeness is a faith in Jesus in action.

USA Today

30-01-2025

Woke bishop confronting Trump? Wokeness is a faith in Jesus in action. | Opinion Jesus' words were crystal clear about what it means to extend mercy, grace, and lovingkindness to others.
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Bisop Mariann Budde makes plea to Trump to have mercy on immigrants
Bishop Mariann E. Budde, of the Episcopal Church, pleaded to Donald Trump to have "mercy" on immigrants and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Reuters
Darrius D'wayne Hills is an associate professor of religious studies at Grinnell College.
Among the litany of screeds levied on Bishop Mariann Budde regarding her pulpit confrontation of President Donald Trump during the Jan. 21 inaugural prayer service, one terminology that made the rounds online among conservative pundits was the assessment that Budde's sermon was 'woke.'
'Wokeness' has as of late, driven by sensationalist conservative media, become the latest talking point proffering culture wedge red meat for the base. While it would be quite easy for me to provide a popular culture overview, with literary reference points, to correct my sincere but misguided far-right peers regarding what 'woke' actually means, that is not what I tarry with here. I prefer instead to draw upon my training in religious studies — and more personally, my own faith convictions as a United Methodist — to offer an alternative space to grapple with what it means to be woke as a religious ethic modeled in the person of Jesus Christ.
In the context of Budde's sermon, and in concert with the New Testament account of Jesus' ministry, wokeness is really just demonstrable faith. It is a faith that picks sides — namely, the side of materialized justice, concern for neighbor, and amplifying the needs of the most vulnerable. This is ultimately a faith in action that is committed to uplifting and protecting the 'Other' — whoever they may be.
Jesus' words were crystal clear about what it means to extend mercy, grace, and lovingkindness to others. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), Jesus clarifies that neighborliness is intertwined with mercy and that one necessitates the other. What makes this feature of Christ's ethic powerful: He is no respecter of arbitrary social distinction. Jesus doesn't instruct the critics in the passage to extend mercy to only to persons of the same political party, or only the same race, or only the same tax bracket, or only with the same citizenship status. We extend mercy and goodness, like the Samaritan, without qualification.
Regardless of references to LGBTQ, refugee, and immigrant communities, the underscoring theology from Budde's pleas to Trump can be traced to the desire for love and mercy as the catalyst of true Christian faith. For Christians, I submit that wokeness means extending the love of God, modeled in the ethic of Christ, toward the constant, ineradicable awareness of the need for soul- and body-saving work in a world that is broken and in need of healing. Working for justice on behalf of those who find themselves on the undersides of our society, and committing ourselves to their well-being, is something that transcends the partisan provinciality of our current moment.
Toni Morrison's novel "Home" recounts the trials and redemptive healing of African American siblings Frank and Cee in the aftermath of racialized trauma. Cee, who survives sexual assault, is sent to small commune of Black women who are her caregivers. One of the women, makes this prescient declaration: 'Misery don't call ahead. That's why you have to stay awake — otherwise it just walks on in your door.' This wisdom is useful for us now as we navigate the many social conflicts in the years to come. Being woke alerts us to the misery and pain and brutalization of people we often cannot (or refuse to) see. Wokeness is communal vigilance that seeks after the fulfillment of others, the very same caliber of neighborliness modeled in the life of Christ as authentic Christian witness. We can all embrace wokeness, but for Christian communities specifically, being woke has a long biblical and theological precedent that we'd do well to braid into faithful praxis.
This hope animated Budde's prayer. It is also this hope toward the future of America's domestic and global relationships that the president should embrace.
Darrius D'wayne Hills is an associate professor of religious studies at Grinnell College. Contact: [e-mail].