Tag Archives: Trump

Economic Justice, Nonviolence, Politics, Spirituality

Make America Christian Again

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Since the early 1980s, with the rise of the Moral Majority Movement and the Religious Right, much of the American political and cultural landscape has been dominated by a very specific type of Christian, commonly known as conservative evangelicals (though I think this is a misnomer).

This wing of the Church has successfully taken over much of American media – including radio, television, and the Internet. They have successfully lobbied in politics at every level of government. They were a major force behind the elections of several presidents – Ronald Reagan, both George Bushes, and now Donald Trump. Their version of Christianity and its connections with power and money are all throughout American society. Even in the small town where I grew up, I was once active in a conservative evangelical church in which pamphlets were handed out instructing their congregants how to vote, and I recall another instance at another local church in which the local Republican Party came by for signatures after worship.

This partnership between American big business, politics, and conservative churches seems like it has always been the case. For many of us, the last 40 years feel like a lifetime (and as someone born in the early 90s, it has been a lifetime). However, we must remember that this has not always been this way.

Continue reading Make America Christian Again →
Nonviolence, Spirituality

Fools for Christ: How to Respond to Un-Christ-Like Leaders 

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The day after every U.S. Presidential Inauguration, Washington National Cathedral (of the Episcopal Church) hosts an interfaith National Prayer Service. Normally, this event does not get a lot of attention. It is a mundane tradition of American civic religion. This year was different, however. 

            Bishop Mariann Budde delivered the homily for the service. In her homily, she took a few moments to remind President Trump of the importance of showing mercy to others, especially the most vulnerable and marginalized in our communities. Trump and his supporters responded to this homily by claiming that Bishop Budde was “politicizing” the faith. Trump specifically called her a “so-called Bishop” and “Radical Left hard line Trump hater”. He also demanded an apology from the bishop and the Episcopal Church. 

Continue reading Fools for Christ: How to Respond to Un-Christ-Like Leaders  →
Spirituality

Speak Life: Immigration and the 2024 Election

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by Rev. Faith Totushek

Growing up in a Pentecostal and Charismatic church environment, I often heard the phrase—speak life. I was taught that our words mattered and in some sense created reality. This teaching was based on the scripture found in the first chapters of Genesis when God spoke, and life came into being. Others showed how Jesus himself was the full communication of God referenced in John 1. “In the beginning was the word, the word was with God and the word was God. So, words in some sense reveal the character of God.”

This teaching is so ingrained that when I hear words that dehumanize and degrade other human beings, I cringe recognizing that somehow these words did not represent the heart of God.

This election has been full of dehumanizing words especially spoken against immigrants, migrants and refugees. If words truly do in some sense create reality, I shutter to consider what kind of reality such words are creating.

Former President Trump has said these dehumanizing words.

• Immigrants are poisoning the blood of our people.
• Immigrants have bad DNA that makes them violent.
• Immigrants eat cats and dogs
• Immigrants are taking our jobs
• Immigrants are voting illegally
• Immigrants are criminals and the crime rate has risen
• Immigrants are taking our jobs
• Immigrants are the cause of our high home prices
• Immigrants are coming for welfare benefits
• Immigrants were given all the FEMA funds so there is none left for victims of hurricanes and floods.

Essentially, Trump claims that immigrants are the cause of all our problems. This is illogical.

Not since the Holocaust or Darfur (when people were called cockroaches) have I heard such demonizing and dehumanizing words said about human beings. It is easy to deport, lock up or even harm those whom we have already dehumanized. Trump continues to lie and dehumanize real people that God loves.

Words matter and we can choose to speak life or death.

Many of the above statements are false and have zero evidence to affirm their validity. Former President Trump just makes them up to create fear that people of color will replace Americans. He often says they are invading our country and one day, we won’t have a country.

Many in the GOP and those who support former President Trump say they want the 10 commandments back in the schools. Yet they fail to obey them. Bearing false witness against their brothers and sisters is the commandment being broken. The facts reveal that these dehumanizing words are false and real people are being harmed because of them.

In Springfield Ohio, there has been a recent migration of people from Haiti. During the debates Former President Trump repeated the falsehood that Haitians are eating pets—cats and dogs. He made the claim that Haitians were here illegally when in fact they were admitted legally through parole and temporary protected status. These words were all falsehoods. The net effect was tragic when bomb threats were made to schools and government offices and real people were harmed. Tragically many of these image bearers are fellow believers—Christians who love Jesus.

This lie was invalidated by the mayor of Springfield and even the Governor. Yet it was repeated and repeated and defended by politicos who continued to form the narrative that immigrants were somehow to be blamed for all of our problems.

Words matter and in some sense create reality.

Project 2025 is a plan for the Trump administration if he should get elected. Within that document is a plan to round up and deport massive numbers of immigrants. Some also want to change our constitution to withdraw citizenship from children born of undocumented immigrants. Imagine the human cost.

Jesus said, that whatever is done to the least of these is done to Christ. We are speaking these evil things of people, many of whom are fellow believers. Are we also doing this to Christ who comes in these precious human beings?

We have problems at the border, and we do need to tackle the variety of issues around immigration. But dehumanizing migrants, immigrants and refugees is not helping to solve those problems. It is creating a narrative that they are the root cause of all of our problems and if we just remove them, our problems will be solved. I contend that without meaningful reforms and measures to deal humanely with migrants, refugees, and immigrants, we will exacerbate our problems at the border.

Meaningful immigration reform would address criminals that slip through because we can screen them, do background checks and take biometric data to admit them legally.

We must address border security but also how we admit migrants, how many, and what to do with the 11 million people who are already in this country.

A massive deportation plan would break up families and tear communities apart. Citizen spouses would lose their marital partners and children would lose any parents here without documents. Additionally, siblings would be torn apart when some have citizenship and others do not.

I often ask people to consider what a massive round-up of 11-12 million people would look like in their own community. What would be the human cost? How much would it cost for our nation to do this? What would be the economic cost to our farms, construction companies and factories who hire them.

Instead of using dehumanizing words, it would be better to address our immigration system and take responsibility for our part in the issues.

I shutter to think of how our world would be affected by the dehumanizing words spoken by the former President and other politicos. Speak Life, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

References:

Immigrants and voting
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/mpi-noncitizen-voting-explainer-2024_final.pdf?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=35bb6101-43eb-48a0-a43b-ccfd0df40216
Immigrants and crime
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/publications/mpi-explainer-immigration-crime-2024_final.pdf?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=35bb6101-43eb-48a0-a43b-ccfd0df40216
Immigrants and public benefits
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/publications/mpi-immigrants-benefits-explainer-2024-final.pdf?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=35bb6101-43eb-48a0-a43b-ccfd0df40216
Immigrants and the economy
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/publications/mpi-immigrants-us-economy-explainer-2024_final.pdf?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=35bb6101-43eb-48a0-a43b-ccfd0df40216
Springfield Ohio and Haitians Immigrants
https://springfieldohio.gov/immigration-faqs/
Springfield, OH and churches
https://apnews.com/article/springfield-ohio-haitian-immigrants-sunday-church-aa7827f1236f207c9f64ae07096e3977
Immigrant Fact checking Madison Square Garden
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fact-checking-trumps-claims-at-madison-square-garden-rally
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-expected-highlight-murder-michigan-woman-immigration-speech-2024-04-02/
Immigrant poising our blood comments
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-repeats-poisoning-blood-anti-immigrant-remark-2023-12-16/
Immigrants have bad genes \https://www.vox.com/politics/376797/trump-immigrants-bad-genes-nationalism
Fema claims
https://www.npr.org/2024/10/07/nx-s1-5144159/fema-funding-migrants-disaster-relief-fund

Project 2025
https://immigrationimpact.com/2024/08/23/what-project-2025-says-about-immigration/

Politics, Spirituality

It’s not Evangelicalism Anymore

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300 years ago a movement of revival started within British and later American churches. This movement called the Church to return to the Gospel. It called the Church to share the message of Jesus with others and to follow Jesus more boldly. This movement was very diverse for its day. It affected most Christian denominations in the English-speaking world, and it touched many Christian communities. It was an international, interracial, intercultural, and interdenominational movement.

This movement promoted education, social reform, and inclusion in the Church. This movement was one of the main forces behind social justice movements for much of its history. Abolitionism, poverty-relief efforts, the Social Gospel, Labor Movement, Civil Rights Movement, and many other important causes were at least influenced by this movement.

The movement that I am talking about is Evangelicalism, but despite Evangelicalism having such a long and noble history, most don’t recognize it today – at least not in the United States. There are a number of factors that contributed to this:

First, Evangelicalism has always had a white supremacist wing. Even though Evangelicalism was indispensable in the abolitionist and civil rights movements, there was also always a segment that opposed those movements. On the one hand, you had John Wesley who argued strongly against slavery, but on the other you had Jonathan Edwards who owned slaves. There are still schisms in American churches over this exact issue. The Southern Baptist Convention is an example of an American Evangelical church founded on white supremacist principles. Continue reading It’s not Evangelicalism Anymore →

Politics

Our Politics Betrays the Gospel

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During the 2012 presidential elections in the United States, there was moment during the Republican primary debates that struck me. Ron Paul paraphrased the Golden Rule – do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Another way of stating it is, treat others as you would want to be treated. This statement is very important because it is the foundation of almost every moral system. It is something that is taught to most small children, in many cultures and by most religions and philosophies.

Most importantly, the Golden Rule was taught by Jesus. In Matthew 7:12, Jesus said, “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets”, and in Luke 6:31 He said, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

Ron Paul paraphrased Jesus Christ in the 2012 Republican primary debate. He specifically cited this teaching in reference to war, as Congressman Paul has been pretty consistently against war. What happen to Paul is remarkable. The entire audience booed him! A US congressman and presidential candidate was booed for quoting Jesus, and this was in the Republican Party, which is supposed to be the party of Christian values. This incident can be viewed in several places online. I suggest watching it:

Continue reading Our Politics Betrays the Gospel →

Politics

The Dangers of Baptizing Our Politics

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A couple of days ago, President Donald Trump met with a group of inner-city pastors to discuss policy (especially regarding the criminal justice system). Interestingly, most of the pastors present at this meeting were Pentecostal and Charismatic, and they praised the president during the meeting.

Here at PCPJ, we are deeply critical of President Trump’s policies. We have discussed many of them at length, and we even wrote (and I co-signed) a letter criticizing the president several months ago. In this article, I do not want to beat a dead horse and simply further criticize the Trump administration on policy. However, I do want to address a much larger issue — the baptizing of our partisan politics.  Continue reading The Dangers of Baptizing Our Politics →

Politics

The Bible on Immigration: Jeff Sessions Has It Wrong

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Immigration is often in the news, but over the last several weeks, it has been discussed at a higher frequency than usual when information about the Trump administration’s policies on immigration to the United States (especially from Mexico and Central America) came to light.

Many of the policies embraced by the Trump administration are not unique to current administration. The Obama administration deported many foreign nationals and migrants, and they were following precedents set by the Bush administration. In addition, the first significant jump in deportations took place under the administration of Bill Clinton, while Hillary Clinton went so far as to support a double-layered border fence (in addition to other increased border security measures). Over the last 20 years, they have progressively become standard US policy on illegal immigration from Latin American nations. However, a recent story shows that this can also affect people from Canada who cross the border outside of a legal port of entry.

What makes this issue particularly relevant for Christians — and those of us at Pentecostals & Charismatics for Peace & Justice — is that Attorney General Jeff Sessions invoked the Bible in defense of these sorts of policies. Sessions is correct that most Biblical scholars understand Romans 13:1-7 to be discussing submission to governing authorities. Christians, who are supposed to love our enemies (Romans 12:17-19, 13:8-10), are supposed to love the state that persecutes them (as would have been the case in Paul’s context). This passage is not about blind allegiance to governmental policies that may be unfair, unjust, or unholy.  Continue reading The Bible on Immigration: Jeff Sessions Has It Wrong →

Nonviolence, Politics

Conquering the World Through Love

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American foreign policy is always in the news. After all, the United States currently has the largest military in the world, and frequently serves as the globe’s police force through alliances such as the United Nations and NATO. The recent appointment of John Bolton as National Security Adviser for the Trump administration simply reinforces this as Bolton was very supportive of the US invasion of Iraq and supports further military aggression towards Iran and North Korea.

On that last point, the Korean War also happens to be in the news again in response to recent nuclear testing by the North and now peace talks in Korea between both Korean nations.

War is in the news. It usually is, and I don’t see any chance of that changing any time soon. It is very unfortunate, but those of us in Christian peace and nonviolence organizations also have to talk about war. This is a great sin in our world, and it expresses the spirit of the Wicked One rather than the spirit of the Anointed One.  Continue reading Conquering the World Through Love →