WASHINGTON (AP) – Vandalism in four churches in central Washington after rallies in support of President Donald Trump exposes cracks between people of faith as the nation faces bitter post-election political divisions.
Among the damaged houses of worship were two historically black churches where people ripped Black Lives Matter banners, with a video posted on social media showing a burnt banner. These deteriorations, which are being investigated according to possible hate crimes, according to police, questions were raised among some clergy and clergy about why more fellow Christians were not protesting against the incidents.
The Rev. Dr. Ianther Mills, a senior pastor at Asbury United Methodist Church, issued a statement Sunday comparing the lit banner to a lighted cross and said Monday he expects more evangelical Christians to condemn the destruction.
Mills also stressed that he did not “want to turn it into a political statement” and said his intention was to “move us all towards greater healing and a commitment to building a loving community where everyone is welcome.” The church is planning a Thursday prayer service to help promote unity and healing, he said.
The nearby Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church reported that the vandals cut a banner printed in colors that supported LGBTQ rights and rejected “acts of hatred or violence” against others, Pastor Donna Claycomb Sokol said.
He added that the episode of his church was “incredibly minor compared to what happened to our neighbors” and urged attention to the damage done to Asbury and Metropolitan AME Church, both historically black institutions.
“People should denounce it and call it an act of racial violence,” Claycomb Sokol said. “People who have been very quick to shut up have to struggle with what really happened on our streets on Saturday and how silence can really be a sign of support, of complicity.”
The overthrow of Black Lives Matter signs came after pro-Trump demonstrations in the capital attracted a considerable number of Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group prone to violent encounters. Protests were planned to bolster the president’s claims of electoral irregularities, although the absence of widespread electoral fraud has been confirmed by several officials across the country, including Attorney General William Barr.
Washington police are asking for public help when it comes to identifying suspects in the deficiencies, with the local FBI office in Washington also offering a reward to those who help with the investigation.
Some members of the affected churches noted the contrast between the vocal Christian response to the destruction of property during protests against racial injustice this summer and the relatively quieter setback now.
“When evangelicals can speak on behalf of unborn babies, they can speak on behalf of law and order when it comes to white people and white property, but they are silent when it comes to banners proclaiming“ Black lives are important, “moral silence is stunned,” said Cornell William Brooks, former NAACP president and member of Metropolitan AME
“We’ve gone from having to say‘ Black lives are important ’to now saying‘ Black churches are important, ’” added Brooks, a professor in the graduate program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School.
The Episcopal Bishop of Washington, who criticized Trump during summer racial inequality protests after protesters were forced to pay a visit to a church damaged by the fire, he issued a statement Monday with the dean of Washington National Cathedral denouncing the church’s recent vandalism, as well as “racist and religious touches surrounding the effort to discredit the presidential election.” A pro-Trump rally on Saturday counted several religious conservatives as headliners.
Some pro-Trump conservative evangelicals criticized church vandalism, describing it as part of a broader trend that has marked a year of intensified political tensions.
Johnnie Moore, president of the Congress of Christian Leaders and evangelical adviser to the administration, said “we must put extremists on the far right and far left warning that these acts are stopping now.”
Whether it’s synagogues in Portland, Los Angeles or Kenosha, a Catholic shrine in Southern California, or historic (mostly historically black) churches in Washington, DC, American places of worship should never be the subject of any kind of ‘extreme violent,’ Moore said in an email.
The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, an evangelical leader who has advised Trump, said in a statement that “there is a big difference between a movement driven by justice and fairness, truth and love, and a movement driven by chaos, which describes attacks on houses of worship as “a clear and unbridled description of the true agenda behind many of these so-called ‘movements’.”
Despite failing to fully acknowledge Trump’s electoral loss, several first-rate evangelical conservatives have abstained. echoing the harsh rhetoric the president directed toward President-elect Joe Biden during the tough campaign.
White House spokeswoman Judd Deere said in an email that “President Trump condemns violence in all its forms and any group that exposes hatred and intolerance.”
Cameron French, a Biden-Harris transition official, said in a statement that places of worship are sacred spaces and are protected by law and that “acts directed at these places by their views are unacceptable and undermine our work. to build a more perfect union. ”
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