Trump Inauguration And Mormons: Utah Tabernacle Choir Singer Resigns, Refuses To Perform For President-Elect

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has been hit with yet another wave of backlash as one if its performers resigned following the announcement that the group would sing at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration.

“Since the 'announcement,' I have spent several sleepless nights and days in turmoil and agony,” Jan Chamberlin wrote in a lengthy Facebook post Thursday. “I have reflected carefully on both sides of the issue, prayed a lot, talked with family and friends, and searched my soul.”

“But it’s no use. I simply cannot continue with the recent turn of events,” she wrote in the post, which has since been shared more than a thousand times. “I could never look myself in the mirror again with self-respect.”

Chamberlin said she felt “betrayed” by the choir and that its image and networking would be damaged by the performance. She went on to equate Trump with Hitler.

“I only know I could never ‘throw roses to Hitler,’” she wrote. “And I certainly could never sing for him.”

The choir announced they’d be performing at the inauguration in a release on their website Dec. 22. Since then, a man named Randall Thacker started a petition on Change.org asking the group to reverse its decision.

“We believe that an official LDS [Church of Latter-day Saints] organization performing at a presidential inauguration gives the perception that the LDS Church and its diverse 15+ million members worldwide support an incoming president’s agenda, values, and behaviors,” the petition, which has garnered 21,512 of the 25,000 it is asking for, reads. “As members and friends of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we strongly encourage the Church to stop this practice and especially for an incoming president who has demonstrated sexist, misogynistic and xenophobic behavior that does not align with the principles and teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, however, has a long history of performing at inaugural events. The choir has sung at the inaugurations of George H.W. Bush, Richard Nixon, and Lyndon Johnson, as well as at inaugural parades and additional performances for other presidents.

The church has stuck by the decision to perform.

“Response to the announcement has been mixed, with people expressing both opposition and support,” church spokesman Eric Hawkins said in a statement Thursday. “The choir’s participation continues its long tradition of performing for U.S. presidents of both parties at inaugurations and in other settings, and is not an implied support of party affiliations or politics. It is a demonstration of our support for freedom, civility and the peaceful transfer of power.”