The martyrdom
He has got to be kidding.
Or rather they have got to be kidding, since they wrote it and simply put his label on it. But still – he and they have got to be kidding.
Trump issued a ProclaMation flattering Thomas Becket and Religious Freedom and the right of religious bosses to tell the monarch to fuck off. Yes because Trump is so keen on being told to fuck off.
Today is the 850th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket on December 29, 1170. Thomas Becket was a statesman, a scholar, a chancellor, a priest, an archbishop, and a lion of religious liberty.
By “religious liberty” Trump means the liberty to agree with him and do what he says to do.
Before the Magna Carta was drafted, before the right to free exercise of religion was enshrined as America’s first freedom in our glorious Constitution, Thomas gave his life so that, as he said, “the Church will attain liberty and peace.”
Right because Trump is so good at paying attention to the Constitution.
When the crown attempted to encroach upon the affairs of the house of God through the Constitutions of Clarendon, Thomas refused to sign the offending document. When the furious King Henry II threatened to hold him in contempt of royal authority and questioned why this “poor and humble” priest would dare defy him, Archbishop Becket responded “God is the supreme ruler, above Kings” and “we ought to obey God rather than men.”
Unless the men are Donald Trump.
As Americans, we were first united by our belief that “rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God” and that defending liberty is more important than life itself. If we are to continue to be the land of the free, no government official, no governor, no bureaucrat, no judge, and no legislator must be allowed to decree what is orthodox in matters of religion or to require religious believers to violate their consciences.
Unless their consciences tell them to criticize Donald Trump or win elections that Donald Trump wants to win.
On this day, we celebrate and revere Thomas Becket’s courageous stand for religious liberty and we reaffirm our call to end religious persecution worldwide. In my historic address to the United Nations last year, I made clear that America stands with believers in every country who ask only for the freedom to live according to the faith that is within their own hearts. I also stated that global bureaucrats have absolutely no business attacking the sovereignty of nations that wish to protect innocent life, reflecting the belief held by the United States and many other countries that every child — born and unborn — is a sacred gift from God.
Unless it’s the child of asylum seekers from Central America.
To honor Thomas Becket’s memory, the crimes against people of faith must stop, prisoners of conscience must be released, laws restricting freedom of religion and belief must be repealed, and the vulnerable, the defenseless, and the oppressed must be protected.
The what? What was that again?
the vulnerable, the defenseless, and the oppressed must be protected.
According to Donald Trump???
Come on.
A society without religion cannot prosper. A nation without faith cannot endure — because justice, goodness, and peace cannot prevail without the grace of God.
So that’s an official insult to all atheists, handed down by the government. So much for religious freedom.
So who edited out all the references to election fraud and China Virus before pressing “post”? Didn’t Beckett have strong opinions about mail-in ballots and turn-coat Republican Governors?
Trump pay any heed to history? As if! Would Trump understand even half of what was written here for him? Not even “glorious Costitution” sounds like him. It would be “great” or “terrific”.
Thomas à Becket was unjustly murdered, but he was hardly fighting for freedom of religion. He was fighting for the primacy of the church over the state. He is the hero of theocrats everywhere.
Methinks some staffer’s kid’s homework assignment accidentally got sent out as an official White House document. Maybe a “reply to all” error. We’ve all done it.
Shit! Someone made him watch Beckett and then tried to explain it to him and told him how oppressed his religious base was and when Trump managed to take his thumb out of his mouth, he vomited back what he’d been told. Classic child rearing!
Which isn’t what Becket wanted; he wanted everyone to believe his way, of course. And so does Trump. Many of my religious friends (even the liberal ones) believe that there is religious freedom in this country, but that it means the freedom to choose which religion you belong to, not the freedom to choose to belong to none at all.
Not that I’m an expert by any means, but weren’t the Constitutions of Clarendon about making members of the clergy subject to civil law when they committed crimes, rather than ecclesiastical courts that often let them off with a quick Hail Mary or two?
pace Maroon @2, the mangling of mediaeval politics is, perhaps, forgivable.
But to call it the Magna Carta?
*faints*
I’m on team Henry II when it comes to Becket, who was doing the equivalent of a huge corporation dodging taxes and trying to make itself above the law. Also, he wasn’t a scholar – his Latin was quite poor and his appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury a political appointment – he was ordained into the priesthood the day before he took up his post.
It’s not 100% clear that the King really wanted him murdered — maybe the four knights over-interpreted a remark made in a moment of rage. Henry II was one of the better kings in some respects, though that is setting the bar rather low.
One of the churches (in Bovey Tracey) built in penance for the murder is not far from where I was born (Ashburton).
A minor point of order: Beckett did not ‘give’ his life for his religious ideals, he had his life taken. Saying he gave his life is to endow him with a reputation he did not earn. His death was not a knowing sacrifice for the glory of God or whatever, it was four knights creeping up behind him and stabbing him to death with swords while he was knelt in prayer and unaware of their presence.
Nobody ever claims that a burglary victim gave their property for the benefit of the burglar, do they?
Athel, wasn’t Henry supposed to have said something like ‘Will nobody rid me of this bothersome priest’ in a fit of frustration? A knight overheard and thought it might raise his standing with the king if he arranged exactly that. He probably had visions of a duchy floating before his eyes that blinded him to any other interpretation other than the king wants the bastard dead. Whoops!
AoS “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?” – a line still quoted in the UK eg “Who will rid us of this turbulent [some famous and annoying person.]”
@Enzyme,
I don’t expect politicians to know much about medieval politics, but if they’re going to cite Becket and the Constitutions of Clarendon they should have some basic knowledge.
@Athel,
Yeah, I was careful not to accuse Henry of complicity in the murder. He’s a fascinating king, and his wife perhaps more so. Too bad about their kids.
Sometimes I wish that Shakespeare at the height of his powers had written a play about him rather than that other, awful, Harry. But The Lion in Winter is a lot of fun.
KBPlayer – the turbulent priest thing has come up a lot during the Trump regime. I think I’ve used it a few times myself.
Screechy used it here:
http://www.butterfliesandwheels.org/2019/tainting-the-process-to-favor-his-family/#comment-2728764