Church vandalism exposes divisions over faith, politics
WASHINGTON » Vandalism at four downtown Washington churches after rallies in support of President Donald Trump is exposing rifts among people of faith as the nation confronts bitter post- election political divisions.
Among the damaged houses of worship were two historically Black churches where people ripped down Black Lives Matter banners, with video posted to social media showing one banner being burned. Those defacements — which are being investigated as possible hate crimes, according to the police — raised questions among some clergy and churchgoers about why more fellow Christians were not speaking out against the incidents.
The Rev. Dr. Ianther Mills, senior pastor at Asbury United Methodist Church, issued a statement Sunday likening the torched banner to a cross burning and said Monday that she hopes more evangelical Christians condemn the destruction.
Mills also underscored that she didn’t “want to make this into a political statement” and said her intention was to “move us all to greater healing and to more of a commitment to building a beloved community where all are welcome.” The church plans a Thursday prayer service to help foster unity and healing, she said.
The nearby Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church reported that vandals slashed a banner printed with colors supporting LGBTQ rights and rejecting “acts of hate or violence” against others, pastor Donna Claycomb Sokol said.
She added that the episode at her church was “incredibly minor compared with what happened to our neighbors” and urged that attention be paid to the damage at Asbury and Metropolitan A. M.E. Church, both historically Black institutions.
The tearing down of Black Lives Matter signs came after pro-Trump demonstrations in the capital that attracted a sizable number of Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group prone to violent encounters. The protests were planned to bolster the president’s claims of election irregularities, although the absence of widespread election fraud has been confirmed by a range of officials nationwide, including Attorney General William Barr.
Police in Washington are seeking public help in identifying suspects in the defacements, with the FBI’s Washington field office also offering a reward for those who aid the investigation.
The Rev. William H. Lamar IV, pastor at Metropolitan A.M.E., said in an interview that he saw not division but two separate faiths, contrasting his own beliefs with that of conservative evangelicals whose faith “clearly buttresses the status quo.”
“Their faith is not my faith and is not the faith of my ancestors,” Lamar said in an interview.
Some pro-Trump conservative evangelicals criticized the church vandalism, while describing it as part of a broader trend that has marked a year of heightened political tensions.
Johnnie Moore, president of The Congress of Christian Leaders and an evangelical adviser to the administration, said that “we must put extremists on the far right and the far left on notice that these acts stop now.”