You don’t know me, and I won’t pretend to know you, but we are at a critical juncture in our country and in our respective faiths and it’s important that we act and act quickly.
On Friday, the Republican president signed an ethically, legally, and morally questionable executive order that restricted immigration from seven nations — none of which have given birth to terrorists who have killed Americans, and you can read that in no less a source than The Daily Caller, which may be the only time I ever link to that woe-begotten publication.
The worldwide reaction has been predictably to the negative, and we, as believers, can do no less than to work our hardest against this man. If you voted for this man, you can no longer shrug that you voted for a racist. If you continue to support him, you are a racist, yourself, and racism has precisely no place in your Book. No amount of tweaking will change this — particularly when Pres. Bannon just last night fired the acting attorney general who refused to enforce his benighted ban.
WWJD? Stand up. Fight back. Swords up.
Dating Jesus 
Another “woe-begotten” conservative publication, Hot Air, denounced the Trump immigration EO as illegal.
Traditional conservative opposition to Trump has not been absent during the campaign, or since the inaugural. It’s just getting more notice now that the hope Trump was just “foolin’ ’round” dissipates. Even the Koch Bros. are circling the wagons facing a stampede of autocracy.
Whether racism “has precisely no place in” The Bible is debatable. In Deuteronomy 7 for example, when God informs His Chosen People other ethnic groups are populating The Promised Land, does he tell them to enter, befriend and peacefully coexist with those groups, respecting their rights? Nope.
Even Paul’s admonition in Galatians appears limited to “all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
And while the newfound opposition to the Trumptini’s bigotry among some Christian clerics might be comforting, I think we need to remember that most folks in the pews, especially White folk, rarely pay any heed to what comes from the folks in the pulpit unless they’re getting told what they want to hear.
…that last part is one of the things that pisses me off so very much.
I don’t know if this thread will continue, but I’ll add something just in case.
DJ, what you said. I find it enraging to hear people say, I’m not a bigot, and then show tolerance to Trump’s bigoted executive orders. Tolerance means the person accepts it as ok. Well, it’s not ok. And if that person uses their religion as proof of being a good person? They need to look at the core of their religion. WWJD? I’m certain he wouldn’t tolerate bigotry, too. He would surely speak up and stand with the most vulnerable – he did that.
To leftover: Looking back, I noticed God’s preference for groups in the Old Testament, too. I haven’t yet gotten through all of the New Testament in my recent reading, but from past readings, Jesus’ behavior said something else.
Re: you last statement (& maybe I misunderstood it) For whatever it’s worth, from my vantage point as a church-goer, I see a wide range of views across churches and church-goers. And the people I’ve talked with in my (UCC) church, often go not out of obligation, but to get what they need to feed their spirit. I don’t mean that as a purely selfish thing. Some are searching for a way to be connected to something bigger. Some are looking to learn, think differently, be exposed to and become a more compassionate member of the community beyond the church. We are imperfect humans and when there are attempts to grow and become a better soul (within or outside of a church), I applaud them. Personally, at this point in my life, I am struggling to try to figure out a lot of things. So much makes no sense, and it can be paralyzing for me to not know what to do to make things better.
Granted, some churches and church goers are very conservative and judgy, and don’t look like good Jesus followers. If a person uses their religion as justification for their (bad) behavior, I’m all for holding them accountable for being a hypocrit.
I do want to say, it is not entirely accurate or complete to refer to Christians (or any group) as a single story entity, even if some truth exists within it. The single story/stereotype based on religion, ethnicity, race, gender etc is a dangerous thing and can dehumanize, regardless of who tells that story.
Swords up, DJ!
Thank you, DJ & leftover, for all you have taught me and done to bring me along this life path. Thank you for keeping this blog up for this long, DJ.
Peace Out and Onward!