Religious community HAS condemned family separations at border
This is in response to the paid advertisement from Lawrence Dutch saying that he’s heard “nothing from the religious community” regarding the separation of children from their families and keeping them in detention centers
Huh? All you need to do is Google “religious leaders’ statements on detention of children at the border,” and there you’ll find the outcries from an array of religious leaders from the pope to William Barber to Joan Chittester to Franklin Graham, including voices from most all of the Protestant denominations, the Council of Catholic Bishops, Jewish and Muslim communities.
I’ve just returned from a regional meeting of the United Church of Christ where these issues were addressed, a statement drafted, sent, and signed, and planning done for actions to dissuade the government from continuing these horrific practices. And we’ve been praying and talking about all this at church. I’m not sure where you’ve been doing your listening, Mr. Dutch, but there’s a whole lot being said. I commend you for your concern.
Rev. Dr. Mary Susan Gast;
Conference Minister Emerita,
Northern California Nevada Conference,
United Church of Christ
Families should not be separated
Regarding the paid ad by Lawrence Dutch in Wednesday’s Benicia Herald, please note that only a few minutes spent with Google will uncover countless statements and actions by a wide variety of faith communities on the abomination of the Trump administration’s recent policy of family separation.
National leaders of my own faith community, the United Church of Christ, wrote, “The UCC condemns the dismantling of families, the criminalization of the quest for freedom, and the caging of those whose only crime is to seek shelter from harm.” (From “Keep Families Together!” ucc.org/news_ucc_leaders_keep_families_together_06152018).
Twenty-seven national Jewish organizations and institutions came together in a letter to Attorney General Sessions and Secretary Nielsen.
“We write to express our strong opposition to the recently expanded ‘zero-tolerance’ policy that…undermines the values of our nation and jeopardizes the safety and well-being of thousands of people. As Jews, we understand the plight of being an immigrant fleeing violence and oppression. We believe that the United States is a nation of immigrants and how we treat the stranger reflects on the moral values and ideals of this nation.” (From ou.org/community/notices/jewish-communal-letter-condemning-family-separation-policy/)
On hearing the news that the Trump administration was temporarily “reversing the unholy practice of family separation,” the California Council of Churches IMPACT wrote in an email, “Never doubt for a second that your voices were loud and strong and that it made a difference in changing the policy by 180 degrees!” The letter went on to encourage us all to phone our representatives with several concrete asks, detailed here: churchimpact.org/impact-blog. “You may call the Congressional switchboard at 201-224=3121, or contact them through our link here: votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/fvpvGz1Bghv9Cc2hLgsQfQ.”
Sometimes an outrageous injustice can – and should – draw us all together. Keep families together!
Rev. Roger Straw,
Benicia
Sharing is caring!
Indeed, I published a column examining the question in my column, “A Vibrant Faith for the 21st Century” on that very Wednesday: http://beniciaheraldonline.com/a-vibrant-faith-for-the-21st-century-the-treatment-of-immigrants-in-the-bible/
I have to wonder why the members of the religious community remained silent on these actions which were also occurring prior to Donald Trump being elected.
The Reverend Straw signed his LTTE as a Reverend.. But when , I call him the Reverend he does not like it. Sorry Reverend Straw you are not even sure what you are. Is it ok in the future to call you the Reverend Straw being that is how you signed your LTTE?
What does that have to do with the letters?
Only that he chooses to use Reverend when it makes him look good. Got it. The other reverend LTTE was his wife. That should make it very clear.
Religious leaders are just people. And like people in general they are able to be hypocritical and sometimes foster inhumane treatment of fellow men. Crusades, Jihad, Inquisition…“There were a lot of gods. Gods always come in handy, they justify almost anything.”
― Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin
Family separations are very sad indeed. However, the timing of this controversy is purely political.
Fact: the law that causes detainees to be separated was passed in the mid 1990’s and signed and enacted by Bill Clinton
Fact: Barack Obama supported and enforced the law and separations until he instituted Catch and Release.
Fact: 20% of the Catch and Release persons have criminal or arrest backgrounds. 80% simply disappear into our country and never show up for court dates.
Conclusion: the supposed controversy created by liberals and media has nothing to do with children. It has everything to do with politics. Trump did not create this law. Democrats did. The created controversy is all about open borders and illegally importing Democrat voters through reinstituting Catch and Release.
This effort by liberals is so transparent that it insults any intelligent mind. Disgusting
Matter,
Your comments are spot on.
I do believe that those voters who find themselves in the middle (politically speaking) are beginning to wake up and realize how off the charts the Anti-Trump crowd has gone: The restaurant demonstrations in DC and Virginia, now an incident in Florida. The F-You to Trump in the Capitol building. DeNiro, Peter Fonda.
All of these and more are going to create a backlash against the Democrats come election day.
All the while, too few reasonable Democrats are speaking out and asking people to ‘simmer down now’
Correct again Dennis. There are still very reasonable folks left.
Very good Matter.