Katie Adams, Policy Advocate for Domestic Issues at the United Church of Christ and Co-Chair of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition, said:
The casual cruelty on display by this President, inside and outside the White House, is heartbreaking. It is also the type of sentiment that leads to the deprivation of human life, as it did in the El Paso massacre and inside our nation’s detention centers, where innocent children died for lack of medical care.
The President is gaslighting the nation. Our religious and moral convictions help us see the truth in bright light, and demand that we do everything in our power to stop this inhumanity.
In 2017, Stephen Mattson wrote: “If you’re diminishing the humanity and worth of others because you think ‘it’s good for the country’ — you’re losing your soul,” in Sojourners Magazine.
These words are as true today as they were then—as they were when Jesus first taught them to his followers. The President is speaking from a place of fear and corrosive hatred; but as people of faith we know we don’t have to. Scripture reminds us, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
From “Shoot Them in the Legs, Trump Suggested: Inside His Border War” by Michael D. Shear and Julie Hirschfeld Davis:
Privately, the president had often talked about fortifying a border wall with a water-filled trench, stocked with snakes or alligators, prompting aides to seek a cost estimate. He wanted the wall electrified, with spikes on top that could pierce human flesh. After publicly suggesting that soldiers shoot migrants if they threw rocks, the president backed off when his staff told him that was illegal. But later in a meeting, aides recalled, he suggested that they shoot migrants in the legs to slow them down. That’s not allowed either, they told him.
Discussing Trump’s displeasure with former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen:
The happiest [Trump] had been with Ms. Nielsen was a few months earlier, when American border agents had fired tear gas into Mexico to try to stop migrants from crossing into the United States. Human rights organizations condemned the move, but Mr. Trump loved it.
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is made up of 53 national, faith-based organizations brought together across many theological traditions with a common call to seek just policies that lift up the God-given dignity of every individual. In partnership, we work to protect the rights, dignity, and safety of all refugees and migrants.
Follow us on Twitter @interfaithimm
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