On its face, the idea of a national cathedral is anathema to our constitutional republic—"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."
Yet the Washington National Cathedral, an active member of the Episcopal Church, gives the appearance of a state-sponsored religion—a liberal, non-orthodox religion. From the church's website:
The idea for a sacred home for all Americans in the nation’s capital is as old as the country itself. Pierre L’Enfant’s original design for the new capital city included a “great church for national purposes,” an idea that sat idle until a congressional charter authorized a cathedral dedicated to religion, education and charity, in 1893. Construction began in 1907, when President Theodore Roosevelt helped lay the foundation stone. Through world wars, the Great Depression and immense social change, construction ended exactly 83 years after it began, when President George H.W. Bush oversaw the laying of the final stone atop the towers, in 1990.
It's an architectural masterpiece, but it has been doctrinally hollowed out and has no business claiming the banner of a national place of worship. It's in no way representative of the American people; only 1% of Americans even identify as Episcopalian, compared to 15% identifying as Baptists and 22% as Catholics.
In (small-o) orthodox circles, the Episcopal Church is apostate, straying from biblical teachings on female pastors, the LGBTQ array, and interfaith worship services.
Donald Trump and JD Vance lent their credibility to the National Prayer Service with their presence (as their predecessors have done since the 1930s). That set them up for a political lecture by the liberal bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.
My esteemed colleague Lincoln Brown wrote on Monday:
A certain amount of ecumenicism is to be expected and appreciated at such a service. Jesse J. Swann, Jr., chief of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe, gave the invocation. Rabbi Susan N. Shankman read from Deuteronomy 10:17-21, and cantor Susan Bortnick offered the Jewish call to prayer. There were the requisite high-ranking members of the Episcopal Church and leaders from other Christian faiths, which is fine since the nation is not a homogenous entity.
Curiously, there was a reading from the Koran by Dr. Muhammad Fraser-Rahim, the associate Imam at Masjid Muhammad (The Nation’s Mosque), and the Muslim call to prayer led by Cantor Shayhk Akbar Sharrief, chief mu'adhin of the same mosque. One can understand the desire for inclusivity, but at the same time, Islam makes no bones about its disregard and contempt for other religions, especially Judaism and Christianity. But the formalities must be observed, I suppose.
Yet the Apostle Paul warned in 1 Corinthians 6 not to be "unequally yoked" with unbelievers. "For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols?"
Ignoring the warning in scripture, the National Cathedral hosts everything from Muslim prayer gatherings to pagan "Cosmic Mass" services.
No Christian should take part in such services. We serve a jealous God who wrote in stone on Mount Sinai that “You shall have no other gods before me" and "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." Muslims worship Allah, who is not the triune God of the Bible, and pagans worship nature and various gods and goddesses. There should be no Kumbayah-style mixed worship between Christians and Belial.
It's time to change the name of the National Cathedral (how about the "The Apostate Cathedral") and stop holding "national" religious services there. If a president would like to have a time of prayer upon his inauguration, let him attend his own church and allow his fellow congregants to appeal to God on his behalf—and make it clear that it's in no way a unified "national" event.
As Lincoln pointed out, we are not a homogenous nation regarding religion. We need to stop pretending that we are with these staged show-church services devoid of doctrinal distinction.
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