SO HELP ME GOD ~ I WOULD SAY THIS NO MATTER WHO WAS THE CURRENT OCCUPANT OF THE WHITE HOUSE OR THEIR PARTY AFFILIATION: To say that you support peaceful protesters and then have peaceful protesters teargassed to clear the way for you to walk to a church, and use the church and the Judeo-Christian holy scripture known as the Bible as props in a photo-op is deeply offensive. The Bishop of that historic church ~ that was firebombed recently, just as many churches and other houses of faith are firebombed throughout American history for coddling “sinners” and seekers after justice ~ immediately declared her outrage. If Trump were to open that Bible he would find many stories of slavery “Let my people go!”; oppression, injustice, protest as well as pleas for peace. He would see the dire results of tolerating or inflaming nation divided against nation. Within that Bible ~ if he were to have at least opened it and perhaps offered a passage from it ~ he might have read, “a nation divided against itself cannot stand.” That is why slaves were savagely beaten if caught with the Bible. It inspired hope, modeled resistance to systemic injustice, and promised change based upon changed hearts and minds. This photo-op is deeply shameful behavior and it is with a heavy heart that I feel no alternative but to write this. As always, I pray for you to have peace, healing and health. And today I add a prayer that God may have mercy on us. Rev. Dwight Lee Wolter