TIO Public Square

Mercy as a Public Good

by Robert P. Sellers

What is a public good? A “public, social or collective good” is a benefit that is “both non-excludable and non-rivalrous. Use by one person neither prevents access by other people, nor does it reduce availability to others.” Although often identified with economics, public goods include many assistances that are not associated with the economy, such as knowledge, national security, common languages, law enforcement, aids to navigation and other helps. Mercy is a benefit which all members of a democratic, free society should appropriately enjoy, and thus it is right to advocate for it in the public square. When mercy is shown to the most vulnerable in society, it too can be called a public good.

Mercy in the World Religions’ Sacred Texts

Mercy is identified as an attribute of God, understood as “a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion,” and it is referenced in the sacred texts of multiple religions. Both Judaism and Christianity recognize God as being merciful. Psalm 103:8, for example, declares “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” In Islam, Ar Rahman [‘The Most Merciful’] is one of the 99 names for God. Surah 7:156, in the Qur’an, quotes the words of Allah, who says, “My mercy encompasses everything. I will ordain mercy for those who shun evil, pay alms-tax, and believe in Our revelations.”

Karuna is the main word for mercy in Hindu scriptures, and it indicates “divine grace or favor, often seen as a merciful act from a deity towards a devotee.” The Bhagavad Gita, a part of the larger Mahabharata text, “extensively discusses the importance of compassion and righteous action, often attributing these qualities to Krishna,” while the Puranas “often narrate stories where the deities display acts of mercy towards devotees.”

This attribute should also be found in the behavior of human beings who claim to honor and reverence the Divine. Accordingly, mercy refers to “compassion or forbearance shown to an offender or to someone subject to one’s power.” In this understanding of mercy, scriptures also are clear. The Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, details the stories of King David and King Ahab. King David was recognized as merciful to Mephibosheth – the lame son of Jonathan, killed in battle, and the grandson of King Saul – to whom David restored his inheritance of land and whom he invited always to eat in the palace at the king’s table (2 Sam 9:1-13).

King Ahab, on the other hand, was known as cruel and lacking any remorse, especially in the story of his stealing the vineyard of Naboth, a poor farmer who was powerless and who was stoned to death – on the order of Ahab, as plotted by Queen Jezebel – because he would not surrender his family’s vineyard to the king (1 Kngs 21:1-16). In addition to these narrative examples of mercy or the lack of it, the Levitical law code also references how the Israelites can be holy, for example in Leviticus 19:18: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

Jesus, in the Gospels, admonishes his followers to show mercy, such as in Matthew 5:7: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy,” and Luke 6:36: “Be merciful, just as your father is merciful.” Similarly, according to a new journal article by philosophy professor Mohammad Manzoor Malik, Muslims are to be merciful:

Islam encourages its followers to cultivate merciful virtues. It emphasizes that the compassionate nature of the faith should always precede the understanding and interpretation of its teachings. As a result, Muslims are encouraged to nurture a compassionate self, foster a benevolent mindset and approach, and anchor their religious obedience in the spirit of mercy.

Mercy in Current American Political Discussion

The Bishop of the Diocese of Washington, D.C., the Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, has made international news because of her sermon at the Service of Prayer for the Nation at the Washington National Cathedral on January 21, 2025, the day after President Trump’s inauguration to his second term. President Trump, Vice President Vance, their spouses, family members, new administration officials, numerous government leaders and invited guests were seated facing the Bishop in the world’s sixth-largest Gothic cathedral.

Reverend Budde is an American prelate of the Episcopal Church and the Bishop of Washington, D.C. for the last 14 years. In a voice that many have subsequently judged to have been soft-spoken, gracious and kind, she began her sermon with these words:

Joined by many across the country, we have gathered this morning to pray for unity as a nation – not for agreement, political or otherwise, but for the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division, a unity that serves the common good.
Unity, in this sense, is the threshold requirement for people to live together in a free society. It is the solid rock, as Jesus said, in this case, upon which to build a nation. It is not conformity. It is not a victory of one over another. It is not weary politeness nor passivity born of exhaustion. Unity is not partisan.
Rather, unity is a way of being with one another that encompasses and respects differences, that teaches us to hold multiple perspectives and life experiences as valid and worthy of respect; that enables us, in our communities and in the halls of power, to genuinely care for one another even when we disagree. Those across our country who dedicate their lives, or who volunteer, to help others in times of natural disaster, often at great risk to themselves, never ask those they are helping for whom they voted in the past election or what positions they hold on a particular issue. We are at our best when we follow their example.
Unity at times is sacrificial, in the way that love is sacrificial, a giving of ourselves for the sake of another. Jesus of Nazareth, in his Sermon on the Mount, exhorts us to love not only our neighbors, but to love our enemies, and to pray for those who persecute us; to be merciful, as our God is merciful, and to forgive others, as God forgives us. Jesus went out of his way to welcome those whom his society deemed as outcasts.

Turning from the words and example of Jesus to contemporary politics, Bishop Budde continued:

Those of us gathered here in this Cathedral are not naive about the realities of politics. When power, wealth and competing interests are at stake; when views of what America should be are in conflict; when there are strong opinions across a spectrum of possibilities and starkly different understandings of what the right course of action is, there will be winners and losers when votes are cast or decisions made that set the course of public policy and the prioritization of resources.
It goes without saying that in a democracy, not everyone’s particular hopes and dreams will be realized in a given legislative session or a presidential term or even a generation. Not everyone’s specific prayers – for those of us who are people of prayer – will be answered as we would like. But for some, the loss of their hopes and dreams will be far more than political defeat, but instead a loss of equality, dignity, and livelihood… .
And we are right to pray for God’s help as we seek unity, for we need God’s help, but only if we ourselves are willing to tend to the foundations upon which unity depends. Like Jesus’ analogy of building a house of faith on the rock of his teachings, as opposed to building a house on sand, the foundations we need for unity must be sturdy enough to withstand the many storms that threaten it.

What are the foundations of unity? Drawing from our sacred traditions and texts, let me suggest that there are at least three.
The first foundation for unity is honoring the inherent dignity of every human being, which is, as all faiths represented here affirm, the birthright of all people as children of the One God… . A second foundation for unity is honesty in both private conversation and public discourse… . A third foundation for unity is humility, which we all need, because we are all fallible human beings… .
Unity is relatively easy to pray for on occasions of solemnity. It’s a lot harder to realize when we’re dealing with real differences in the public arena. But without unity, we are building our nation’s house on sand.
With a commitment to unity that incorporates diversity and transcends disagreement, and the solid foundations of dignity, honesty, and humility that such unity requires, we can do our part, in our time, to help realize the ideals and the dream of America…

Then Bishop Budde concluded her sermon with the direct plea to President Trump, as she asked him to give mercy to two vulnerable and frightened constituencies within America, now that he has been elected. She said:

In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families who fear for their lives.
And the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in our poultry farms and meat-packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shift in hospitals – they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes, and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches, mosques and synagogues, gurdwaras, and temples.
Have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. Help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land.

This sermon’s conclusion has been reported and quoted many times since the service was delivered. As she spoke, the Bishop’s eyes were focused upon the President, and his eyes upon her. What her face registered was compassion and hope. What his face reflected was disgust and anger.

The fallout from her message has been shocking but not surprising. The President has demanded an apology be given to him and the nation. Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) has said that the Bishop “should be added to the deportation list.” Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-OK) introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives censuring the Bishop’s “political activism and condemning its distorted message.” Ben Garrett, a deacon in the Refuge Church in Ogden, Utah, has called empathy “a sin” and identified the Bishop as a snake who “hates God and his people.” Moreover, this gentle woman, simply expressing a desire for mercy for others, is receiving no mercy from these politicians, or their sycophants. In fact, the Bishop herself reported that she has received numerous vitriolic messages and death threats.

**Rosie Dawson (left) and Dr. Mmapula Kebaneilwe (right) — Photo:** **The Shiloh Project**

Pope Francis, the global leader of 1.375 billion Catholics – approximately four times as many persons as President Trump governs in the United States – has said: “A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just.” An article written for the William Temple Foundation in the United Kingdom by associate research fellow Rosie Dawson admits that “mercy” is Pope Francis’s favorite word, citing his Jubilee Year of Mercy which “aims to focus the mind of the church on God’s mercy.” But the author asks, “what’s the value of the word beyond God-talk? Is it a useful concept in secular public discourse or is it hampered by its religious associations? Can it be broadened in such a way as to positively inform society’s attitudes to vulnerable groups and individuals”?

Dawson explains that based upon the Enlightenment’s ideas about democracy and rights, the role of mercy has declined in public discourse. “It’s all very well to speak of mercy in a society in which monarchy and hierarchy are part of the given order, but once everyone is equal, doesn’t the virtue of mercy itself become suspect – at least as a public value? Equality and Justice should surely suffice.” But then she argues that, just as the Pope says, “mercy is what you need to make justice truly just.” Dawson cites American professor of religion and philosophy, James E. Gilman, and his book Christian Faith, Justice and a Politics of Mercy. Gilman argues that what we need in public life is not mere justice but “egalitarian justice,” which requires “policies of mercy,” which the author explains “prioritize the most disadvantaged.”

One can debate whether Pope Francis, Rosie Dawson, James Gilman and Mariann Budde are correct in their view that mercy should be appropriated by the powerful when they are considering how best to apply justice. I agree with them. You may draw your own conclusions.

The 4th-century Early Church Father and Catholic saint, John Chrysostom, was the archbishop of Constantinople. Known for his preaching and his condemnation of the abuse of both ecclesiastical and political authority, St. John famously concluded: “Mercy imitates God and disappoints Satan.”

Might it also be said that not showing mercy to the most vulnerable imitates Satan and disappoints God?

Header Photo: Common Dreams, C-Span