Jack Posobiec hosted Michael Knowles on Thursday's episode of Human Events Daily, during which they took aim at Episcopalian "Bishop" Mariann Edgar Budde for her sermon during the National Prayer Service following Donald Trump’s inauguration. The bishop’s politicized plea for compassion toward LGBTQ individuals and illegal immigrants sparked intense backlash and mockery, including from Trump himself, for its politicization of a traditionally unifying event.
Budde’s sermon called on Trump to “find compassion” for those fearing his presidency, namely children of illegal immigrants and supposedly trans children. Speaking directly to the president, she called for these things in a tone Posobiec described as "condescending." He accused her of using the pulpit as a platform to push partisan politics, a move he and Knowles said was inappropriate for a religious leader.
Knowles slammed Budde’s approach, adding that her sermon strayed far from Christian doctrine. “It’s not surprising that a lady who would mistake herself for a bishop would mistake foreign nationals for American citizens or even little boys for little girls,” he joked. He said that "Christianity does not have priestesses," and that priestesses are "usually part of pagan cults."
“What we are seeing increasingly with these leftist activist organizations that masquerade as Christian ecclesial communities is we're seeing, effectively, pagan cults,” Knowles said, accusing Budde of promoting harmful ideologies, specifically calling out “a particularly egregious form of child abuse" in the form of medical transitions for children. Knowles said that this stems from the ancient heresy of separating the self from the body, adding, “We’re seeing the old demons rear their ugly heads again," and that it's "quite bizarre to see it all dressed up in a facade of Christianity.”
Both Posobiec and Knowles reiterated their belief that the Washington National Cathedral—and Budde herself—should lose their tax-exempt status unless she issues a public apology. Posobiec said "we should really look at the tax-exempt status of said National Cathedral when you’re having people like that run the place."
Knowles also noted some other elements of the prayer service that he found troubling. “Her sermon was so egregious that no one even is talking about the other odd aspects of the ceremony,” he noted. Specifically, he pointed to the inclusion of a Muslim call to prayer and a reading from the Quran. “No knock on our Muslim friends—we love our Muslim friends—but it’s an odd thing to hear a Muslim call to prayer in a cathedral,” Knowles said. “A cathedral is supposed to be a Christian house of worship.”
Knowles argued that the attempt to be “totally inclusive” results in contradictions that undermine the purpose of the service. Citing Aristotle’s law of non-contradiction, he explained, “You cannot simultaneously hold opposing things to be true.”
“We just had a referendum on these kinds of crazy views, and Trump won,” Knowles said. "Trump didn’t just win in the electoral college, he won the popular vote,” Knowles said.
Watch the full episode below.
