How Your Religious Leaders Responded to Saturday's Shooting

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. In our last few minutes this morning, we want to check in on how your religious guides, let's say priests, pastors, rabbis, imams, or anyone of a religious nature who you look to for guidance, responded to the shooting of President Trump and three rally goers on Saturday. 212-433-WNYC. Especially for those of you who attend Sunday services, we do this from time to time on one topic or another. What did you hear in church, or in synagogue, or in mosque over the weekend? In this case, only church applies because the shooting was on Saturday night so we only have the Sunday services, although some of you go every day.

It doesn't have to be your religion Sabbath, but what did you hear in your church pews primarily? Was it addressed? Were there messages of coming together, of toning down the temperature of political discourse, even on your own side, whatever side that is? Was it ignored? Call us. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. Maybe one of you listening right now or more are among those who gave whatever message on Sunday.

If you are a Christian religious leader, if you said anything from the pulpit on Sunday about the assassination attempt, of course, and contextualized it in any way as a priest, as a pastor, or for that matter, those of you who might be rabbis, or imams, or other religious leaders, even if you didn't have official organized services yesterday or since the shooting, what have you been saying to your flock? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. We only have a few minutes for this at the end of the show, so call right up. You'll basically get right on. The Washington Post looked nationally at how some church leaders reacted and found various messages.

A minister at a Conservative Evangelical Church in Central California likened the shooting to a trumpet blare and called it a, "Clear and quite obvious warning to our country that it was time to quit hating and demonizing our opponents." Another minister in Oklahoma, while saying he wanted to avoid Civil War said, "We are in a war that is between good and evil period. There is no neutrality and we must choose aside." What was your religious leader's message, or if you are a religious leader of any kind, priest, minister, rabbi, imam, any kind, what has been your message to your flock since Saturday night? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. We'll take your calls right after this.

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Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now to your calls in our remaining time on what you heard or if you're a member of the ministry, what you said in church on Sunday after Saturday night's shooting at the Trump rally, or if you're in any other religious context that happened to meet on Sunday. Martha in Mount Kisco, you're on WNYC. Hello.

Martha: Thanks, Brian. First call, longtime listener. I go to St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Armonk, and we had a very different service. The priest there said it was not a day to celebrate, and it was a very toned down, thoughtful service. Instead of a sermon, he had us all share our thoughts about what we were feeling, what was going on. It was a pretty much of a healing service.

Brian Lehrer: What'd you hear? What did people say? Any dominant message?

Martha: The dominant message was toning it down, that we need to come together more, and that as Christians, we need to be living those values and being kinder to people.

Brian Lehrer: Martha, thank you very much. Dilbert in the Bronx, you're on WNYC. Hi, Dilbert.

Dilbert: Hi. I'm a Catholic priest and I celebrate mass in Mount Vernon. For my homily, my sermon, I started talking a story about former President Jimmy Carter and the way he is a Christian, has been an exemplary Christian all these years. Because of that and also because I just had to say something about the attempt on former President Trump's life, I just said at the beginning of my homily and my sermon, that it was despicable as is any form of violence, especially against political figures. Also, what we've been hearing from President Biden that the political rhetoric has been way over the top, and very violent really, and overly aggressive.

Then again, I think, we have during our masses what's called the Prayer of the Faithful. During the prayer, we pray for peace in the world, people who are sick, et cetera. I added one that was not in the written text. I prayed for the safety of former President Trump, and also the safety of President Biden, and an end to violence, and all those things. I really wanted to make sure that we weren't just sitting there and praying with an elephant in the room and not mentioning this event that had occurred.

Brian Lehrer: Some people would say the elephant in the room is that the violent rhetoric has been coming from one side more than the other. I'm curious if you address that in any way or if members of your congregation did.

Dilbert: I do believe that, even though I've heard ultraconservatives say that this kind of event was an example of the hate speech of the left. It seems to me that this is a bit extreme, but I said, to me, Trump is an example of that horrible rhetoric, that violent rhetoric, that overly aggressive rhetoric. I used to teach anger management group to homeless people and we always said, never passive, never aggressive, always assertive, virtue [unintelligible 00:07:09] medial.

Brian Lehrer: Very nice.

Dilbert: Virtue stands in the middle.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you, father. Thank you for calling in. Catherine in Montclair, you're on WNYC. Hi, Catherine.

Catherine: Hi. I'm from Montclair. I go to Immaculate Conception Church and our priest asked us all, he didn't mention it in the homily or the sermon, but he did ask us all after mass to pray together, the St. Francis Prayer of Peace, "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love, et cetera." I thought that was very appropriate. It wasn't political, but sometimes prayer maybe is the best response.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you, Catherine. Louise in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hello, Louise.

Louise: Hello, Brian. Good morning. I was very surprised, I attend a Pentecostal Church in Brooklyn. The overall feeling in the church tends to lean far right and conservative, and I am very much in the middle. I do not usually discuss political things, but I heard nothing yesterday. I was very surprised that our pastor didn't even make a reference to it. I did get there a few minutes late and when he opens with prayer, which is brief, it's a very brief opening, maybe he mentioned it then, but there's a lot of extensive prayer during the service and his sermon didn't address it. That really surprised me because--

Brian Lehrer: What do you make of it?

Louise: I don't know what to make of it because he doesn't shy away usually from issues like that or making a comment politically. I'm baffled. When I came home, my husband was working. When I came home, I told him, "Gee, nothing was said." I was relieved because I often tend to think differently so it made it for a peaceful service for me, but I was surprised even during the prayer time, his wife prayed during prayer time and there was no reference. That baffled me.

Brian Lehrer: Louise, thank you very much. That's all the time we have for calls from those of you who attended church services or gave church services yesterday on the day after the first assassination attempt of a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan in 1981, obviously, intense times in America. We will continue to cover them tomorrow. Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Thank you for all your calls churchgoers and the priest who called in. Thanks to all of you for listening and participating today.

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