I honestly thought I’d have a slam-dunk for this week’s Bad Theology post.
All I’d have to do is Google “Christian response to immigration ban” and BOOM! Bad Theology right and left! My only question would be, what hate-filled hogwash should I choose?
But dang it all! As it turns out, sometimes we Christians get it right.
Honestly, I was surprised. Wherever I looked, the response was the same: outrage, indignation, a call for compassion & mercy. Wow!
I mean, I actually had to do serious digging to find a Christian organization or leader in favor of the immigration ban. (Please note, I did not check Westboro Baptist, as they do not qualify as Christian.)
We shouldn’t be surprised to hear Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, is fine with the ban, as he’s made statements in favor of it before. And some of the very conservative, fundamentalist churches were mostly okay with it.
But by and large, the reaction against the ban came fast and strong and showed amazing unification across all faiths.
Here’s the letter that was sent to Trump, signed by oodles of religious leaders and pastors (including Husband!). The link includes the number for Congress, in case you want to voice your opinion on matters.
And here are several denominational responses to the immigration order, for your reading pleasure:
Of course, the question is, will this leader response coincide with voices from the pews? Time will tell. In the meantime, I have reason to hope.
And so I find I must add a new rating system for the times we actually GET IT RIGHT!
To the religious leaders who chose to come together and stay true to their faith, they earn:
FIVE High Fives!
Until next week,
Vaya con Dios
Feeding on Folly 
Amen! I’ve been getting a steady flow of emails from my church’s local bishop and church members denouncing the ban. Anyone claiming Christians are for this, haven’t been doing their research.
Agreed! I think the Christian response is obvious in this case, but I was still surprised nonetheless. Happily so!
I am in favor of the ban … and I’m a Christian and maybe I haven’t done enough research. I don’t believe the ban is to eliminate all immigration or refugees from every country on the globe but only a short term limit of immigration and refugees from countries that sponsor terrorism. Which, seems like a good idea.
You’re correct, it is not for every country. It is only for a select few, and ignores the ones that Trump has business ties with (even though they also harbor terrorists).
The issue is, a refugee is a person seeking asylum from persecution or war, and this ban prevents all people from those select countries, even the ones who have legitimate reason to fear for their lives. So yes, as Christians we are deeply concerned.
The current vetting process of refugees is explained here: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/01/29/us/refugee-vetting-process.html?_r=0
It is an extensive process, taking up to two years.
Listen to any podcast from a refugee camp (such as here: http://www.npr.org/tags/175577492/syrian-refugees) and it is difficult not to be moved by their stories.
So sorry, I still think it’s a bad move.