Christians offer mixed reactions to Carrie Underwood performing at Trump's inauguration

Carrie Underwood’s Christian followers are sharing combined reactions to her plans to carry out at President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Trump is scheduled to take workplace Monday because the forty seventh president of the US, 4 years after shedding his re-election bid to President Joe Biden. The previous president stays a divisive determine within the leisure trade, with most influential performers staunchly opposing him. 

As rumors swirled about Underwood’s participation within the inaugural ceremony, she addressed her plans for Inauguration Day in a press release to Leisure Weekly launched Monday. “I really like our nation and am honored to have been requested to sing on the inauguration and to be a small a part of this historic occasion,” she mentioned. 

Underwood added, “I’m humbled to reply the decision at a time after we should all come collectively within the spirit of unity and trying to the longer term.”

The Trump Vance Inaugural Committee launched the checklist of performers for the inauguration and inauguration-related occasions on Wednesday. Underwood is slated to carry out “America the Lovely” on the swearing-in ceremony the place Trump will take the oath of workplace. 

Underwood, the 2005 winner of the fact TV singing competitors “American Idol,” has regularly spoken about her Christian religion lately. In a 2019 interview with Folks journal, Underwood declared, “the most effective moments in my life are once I say, ‘Hey, I can’t management the whole lot, and that’s OK. God is in management.’” 

In 2021, Underwood launched a gospel album. She has additionally spoken out in favor of same-sex marriage regardless of biblical opposition to homosexuality. 

Gabriel Hughes, the pastor of Windfall Baptist Church in Arizona, wrote a put up on X suggesting that Underwood’s help for same-sex marriage calls into query her Christian witness. “Carrie Underwood is for homosexual marriage and helps the homosexual and lesbian alliance,” he acknowledged, responding to an X put up concerning the common nation singer’s upcoming efficiency at Trump’s swearing-in, including: “As soon as claiming to be a conservative Christian, she offered her soul for the celebrity.”

Hughes will not be the one Christian public determine to boost questions on Underwood’s Christian witness forward of her forthcoming efficiency on the inauguration.

Progressive Christian creator John Pavlovitz, a former pastor, printed an open letter to Underwood on his Substack account referred to as “The Lovely Mess.” Pavlovitz started by noting how Underwood has spoken “eloquently” about her Christian religion prior to now along with performing “a track concerning the stunning thriller of baptism” and has urged Jesus to “take the wheel” in her life.

“Given this stuff, as a former pastor and the daddy of a woman myself, I ponder the way you reconcile your private religion with a efficiency on the Inauguration of Donald Trump,” he wrote. Pavlovitz listed what he characterised as Trump’s shortcomings, together with the accusations of “assault, harassment, and misconduct” towards him in addition to his purported failure to “reside a love and compassion that bear any resemblance to Jesus.” 

Pavlovitz lamented that Underwood, “an extremely influential, gifted girl who has chosen to put on her religion proudly on her sleeve,” had elected to “use her presents for an occasion dedicated to maybe essentially the most predatory, most divisive, and least Christlike human being on the planet.” He urged the singer to elucidate to him how she felt Jesus was “steering” her to carry out on the inauguration. 

Conversely, John Wealthy, a rustic musician and working towards Christian, had a distinct view of Underwood’s participation within the inauguration. In a single X put up, he referred to as her a “patriot” whereas in one other, he requested his followers to “Repost this for those who’re PROUD of @carrieunderwood for agreeing to sing on the Trump inauguration,” insisting that “She wants to listen to from the plenty.”

Wealthy additionally asserted in a separate social media put up that “There are a number of prime tier nation artists who help Trump, and I want they’d lastly have the balls to return ahead and be counted.”

Referring to the widespread opposition to Trump within the leisure trade, he careworn that there “Ain’t nothing outlaw about holding your mouth shut to appease the file label” earlier than admonishing Trump-supporting nation artists who’ve refused to publicly present their help that “Carrie Underwood is making you appear like a bunch of sissy boys.” 

Underwood will not be the one distinguished Christian to have a job in Monday’s inaugural occasions. The Rev. Franklin Graham, CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Affiliation, confirmed in an X put up Thursday that he’ll give an invocation on the ceremony. 

Extra performers on the inauguration and inauguration-related occasions going down over the following few days embody: Billy Ray Cyrus, outspoken Trump supporter Lee Greenwood, Jason Aldean, Gavin DeGraw and the bands Rascal Flatts and the Village Folks. The latter group’s track “YMCA” has change into a frequent fixture at Trump marketing campaign rallies and occasions.