After former President Donald Trump was shot in the ear during a campaign rally on Saturday, faith leaders expressed their disavowal of political violence, reflections on how to reduce polarization, and a desire for other forms of violence to be taken seriously.
“The way of love—not the way of violence—is the way we bind up our nation’s wounds,” Rev. Michael B. Curry, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, said in a statement. “We decry political violence in any form, and our call as followers of Jesus of Nazareth is always to love. We pray for the families of those who were killed. We pray for former President Trump and his family and for all who were harmed or impacted by this incident. I pray that we as a nation and a world may see each other as the beloved children of God.”
Virtually all Christian leaders, theologians, and activists expressed strong disavowals of political violence. The shooter killed a 50-year-old man and critically wounded two other people, along with grazing Trump’s ear. Trump, who is the presumptive Republican nominee for President, left the hospital on Saturday, according to Bloomberg. Law enforcement shot and killed the 20-year-old man who shot at the former president.
Prayers poured in from a variety of leaders.
“I am praying for Mr. Trump, his family and his staff,” Michael Wear, president and CEO of the Center for Christianity and Public Life, wrote in a statement. “I am glad Mr. Trump is safe … I mourn the tragic loss of life and injuries sustained by individuals who were participating in our democracy by attending a campaign event.”
“Even as we learn more details, this is a time to lift up our prayers for former President Trump and everyone in the audience, particularly those who were injured or killed,” Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, president of Sojourners, wrote on X. “There is absolutely no place for political violence in our nation.” [Editor’s note: Sojourners’ editors retain all control of editorial decisions.]
Many emphasized the anti-democratic impulse of political violence.
“We pray for all the victims and their families, including former President Trump. Violence is never justified. Political violence is abhorrent and anti-democratic,” Amanda Tyler, executive director of BJC, a religious freedom organization, wrote on social media.
“Let’s pray healing for our fractured nation and for leaders in the 2024 elections in every office who will unite, and not further divide us,” Barbara Williams-Skinner, a political strategist and community leader, wrote on X.
“Every life is precious and violence is never the answer in our democracy and the world we seek,” Bridget Moix, general secretary for the Quaker lobbying group FCNL, wrote on X. “We are holding all those affected by today’s shooting at the PA rally in the Light, including Donald Trump, the shooter and attender killed, and all those who have been traumatized.”
Others wrote that violence was in opposition to the Christian faith.
“Violence, in any form, is antithetical to the Christian faith,” Rev. Lanette Plambeck, residing bishop of the Dakotas-Minnesota Area in the United Methodist Church, said in a letter. Political violence, in particular, not only tears at the fabric of our democracy but also wounds the very soul of our nation.”
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Some progressive Christian leaders, such as writer and minister Danté Stewart, sought to juxtapose the outpouring of prayers for Trump with the lack of prayer and action in other areas of violence.
“You are part of the problem if you are loud in telling people to ‘pray for Donald Trump’ but you are silent when hundreds of Palestinians are killed,” Stewart wrote on Instagram, also comparing open prayer for Trump to people’s silence on Supreme Court decisions, Trump’s rhetoric, and his base’s support for violence in other instances.
“As a Christian, let me say something clearly: I refuse to pray for Donald Trump. I will pray for this country, yes. I will pray for the families, yes. I will pray for those traumatized, yes. I will pray for the chaos to stop. I will pray that equality and justice rules,” Stewart wrote. “But I refuse to pray for those who oppress and harm in the name of power.”
Many progressive faith leaders, wary of lionizing Trump, sought to contextualize the shooting and emphasized that political violence is not the only type of violence worth opposing. Rev. William Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that violence is “wrong, no matter what the justification.”
“Debates over ideas are one thing, but violence, assassination attempts, and killing innocent bystanders is something else,” Barber wrote. He encouraged people to “keep the person who died front and center and not minimize the death and lift up a candidate.” He said the rally attendee’s death revealed that “we never have controls over who [violence] might destroy.”
“We must pray and work for the day when we lay down our sword and spear, guns and violent language, and live as brothers and sisters,” he wrote.
Reuters reporting contributed to this article.
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