Pastor: Trump’s MSG rally was a display of the destructive power of speech | Opinion
One of the most sacred moments in pastoral work is to stand before two people as they speak their wedding vows. They walk up the aisle two single individuals, and by the time they walk back down hand in hand, they share one married life. It’s not the flowers or the clothes or the prayers that makes the transformation happen. It’s promises spoken aloud that forever alter their lives. It’s an incredible privilege to bear witness as words create a new future. It’s a joyful example of the way our words re-make our worlds.
Last Saturday night, thousands of people gathered in Madison Square Garden for a political rally that lasted more than six hours. Six hours of words spoken before a cheering and jeering crowd. And the truth is, as shocking as some of the sound bites have been, the most remarkable thing about the rally is how unremarkable it’s become. Over the past ten years, it has become standard for our political dialogue to include racial slurs, ethnic stereotypes, and jokes about sexual assault and violence against women. It is no longer extraordinary to hear people described as garbage or whole communities as trash. It is normal to argue that some humans are inherently dangerous and criminal and that their presence, even their lawful presence, is “polluting the blood” of our nation. It has become mundane to describe some kinds of humans as non-human and to long for, and even promise, their violent destruction.
Some citizens are aroused by this kind of political speech and some are outraged, but there is a vast group who are neither because they believe that the words themselves and the discussion about them are a distraction. They believe speech is “only” words. I am not a historian or a political scientist, so I will not try to explain the connection between political speech and political violence. But as a pastor I will say, especially to fellow disciples of Jesus, a central tenet of the Christian faith is the extraordinary power of speech.
The first revelation of scripture is that the very reality we inhabit was created by the power of the spoken word. The Gospel of John identifies Jesus as that word of God which spoke the world into being. According to the Bible, words have the power to make the world and to transform it. And it’s not just God’s speech that is powerful; human words have the power of life and death as well. The Bible is full of warnings about the destructive power of speech, the danger of an unbridled tongue and the connection between a person’s words and the hidden plans of their heart. The life of faith begins with a spoken declaration of belief in Jesus as savior. So it’s remarkable to hear Christians argue that words spoken inside sanctuaries matter, but words spoken outside them don’t.
The truth is our political discourse is reshaping our country. No one is drawn to these rallies to hear economic policies or public safety strategies or geo-political theorem. These rallies are not declaring the sanctity of life. They are declaring the sanctity and superiority of some lives. The original sin of this country grew out of the original lie that some people are human and some people are not and these “lesser”or “unhumans” can be used, controlled or destroyed as the “real Americans” see fit.
Promises to love and cherish and be faithful to one another can create a common life of flourishing and abundance. Promises to destroy enemies and cleanse the blood of the nation can create a common life of violence and destruction. There is no political dialogue or policy position that requires the demonizing of humans made in the image of God. It’s not just God’s words that have power.
Even if we don’t condone them, especially if we ignore them, these words are shaping our common future. If words make worlds, what kind of world are we making?
This story was originally published November 1, 2024 at 8:01 AM with the headline "Pastor: Trump’s MSG rally was a display of the destructive power of speech | Opinion."