RNC Chair, North Carolina senate candidate, and Episcopalian Michael Whatley has said it is his mission to get more people of faith involved in politics and has called the GOP the party of faith. His senate bid is endorsed by Donald Trump himself.
But Whatley’s church, the Episcopal church, is often at odds with the Trump agenda. The denomination’s presiding bishop, Sean Rowe, recently said in an interview that the church is experiencing a reckoning on its proximity to political power.
Whatley’s own parish, St. Mark’s in Gastonia, is self-described as progressive and caring about social issues such as hunger, homelessness, and racism. St. Mark’s website notes that people of all genders and sexual orientations serve as clergy in the Episcopal Church.
Robert Orr, a former North Carolina Supreme Court judge and former gubernatorial candidate, is also Episcopalian. He recently said in an interview that “All the basic tenets of Christianity are completely at odds with the policies being imposed by the Trump administration.” Cutting funding for school lunches and ending humanitarian aid to poor countries are among the examples Orr gives of Trumpian politics conflicting with the gospel. He said, “Those who are in lockstep with Mr. Trump have an obligation to explain how [such] policies are not inconsistent with the teachings that you hear on Sunday in your [pulpits].”
Following the January 6 attack on the Capitol, Orr left the Republican Party. He has been quoted as saying that voters who supported Trump in response to appeals to their faith were used in a cynical way to exploit their beliefs on social issues and conservative flashpoints.
We remember with admiration the Episcopal bishop of DC, Marian Edgar Budde, pleading with Trump in person the day after the 2024 inauguration to have mercy on Queer and Trans* children who are afraid for their lives. She also advocated for undocumented residents, saying, “Some may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, [but] the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.” Her pleas seem to have fallen on unreceptive ears and a heart of stone, but her courage, grace, and compassion should be applauded all the same.
Another defector from the GOP for Christian reasons is the former Lt. Governor of Georgia, Geoff Duncan. He has been disillusioned with the GOP since Trump attempted to hijack the 2020 election. He says he has been struggling as a person of faith in the Republican Party because, as a Christian, he is compelled to love his neighbor, and he was finding that difficult to accomplish while supporting GOP policies. Duncan says the best way to love our neighbor is through public policy, and he finds the GOP’s handling of gun safety issues, health care reform, Medicaid, and immigration to be unloving. In the end, he chose his faith over his political party.
Perhaps the teachings of Jesus can change hearts and minds, but how many churches in the U.S. are preaching love of neighbor and practicing what they preach?
