The world is truly scary right now. Gone are the days when people of differing views on political, social and economic issues could debate and discuss things. It seems as if, in today’s environment, power dictates everything. And that means that the many millions of us who wield neither political nor financial power are being silenced.
It’s for this reason that I want to highlight someone whom I think we should elevate to the status of a hero – she is certainly to my mind much more a hero than the sabre-rattling men of power like Trump and Musk, whose aggressive and impulsive comments seem to be pushing the world to the brink.
My new hero is the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, Marianne Budde. On the day of the inauguration of President Trump into the highest office of possibly the most powerful nation in the world, she spoke her truth. Guided by her conscience and moral views, Bishop Budde took the bold step to appeal publicly to the new President to show mercy to people who feel threatened by his views on things like immigration and the rights of LGBTQ+ people.
We should applaud her for speaking her truth to power, for being prepared to take a moral stance in the face of such huge power. But we should also take note of the sort of reactions to her comments that came her way. As one news report stated: “She had not anticipated the level of fury and personal attack that her words had unleashed. People were questioning everything from her character and qualifications to the state of her eternal soul, and ‘how soon I should get to my eternal soul, and whether I belong in this country’.” Extremely worrying responses!
In every age, in societies across the world, there have been people who have stood up to power because of their moral conscience, knowing only too well that they do so at significant risk to themselves and their office. And, over time, societies often acknowledge the value of the individual’s contribution – but only long after the events have passed. Surely we should take heed of this sort of moral conscience at the time it is expressed so that we can limit the potentially disastrous impact of leaders who abuse their power? So that more of us have the confidence to speak up and share our moral conscience?
So, join me in raising a glass to Bishop Budde!
Characterised by so many different sorts of emotions – from optimism about the possible ending of the war in Israel to the devastation of the return of the bodies of the youngest hostages and their mother – this past month has certainly not been an easy one. We at the Cape Jewish Chronicle, we in Cape Town, we in the wider South Africa, and all of us across the world, grieve for the loss of so many innocent victims. They did not deserve the fate metered out to them.
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