The Rev Dr. Rick SchlosserElizabeth Sholes, Public Policy Advocate, CCC/CCI
We in the mainline Protestant denominations and traditions are being called to step forward.
Our voices are often overshadowed by those on the far Right who speak of hate and fear as normative values for our nation. The message we support, the reason we call our newsletter “Justice Seekers” is a belief we share in making our nation and the world a better place to be.
I confess to being a Twitter addict and have created a lovely following of good hearted people, all devoted to justice and inclusivity regardless of their faith or beliefs. We collectively speak to the Common Good, and often extol the values from the Sermon on the Mount. Seems uncontroversial. It no longer is.
I had one man tell me the words from Jesus on peace, inclusion, justice were my “cherry picking” of the Bible. I was gobsmacked. Those are THE foundational principles of our faith. Now they’re irrelevant?
It has become clear to many of us that our voices need to ring out loudly about our principles, our values. We are being drowned out by the angry words from people justifying any form of discrimination as “Godly”.
Look no further than Springfield, OH. The attack on the lawfully-present Haitian community is becoming increasingly dangerous to those people. The arrived at the invitation of the town and through the US government program designed for them in 2018-19. Let those dates sink in. When people seeking office who know better but insist the Haitians are eating people’s pets and are “illegals”, we have tipped over the edge of rationality. Now a Congressman, under cover of his faith, has repeated the lies. The very safety of those Haitians is in peril.
These threats are what we call “stochastic terrorism” – deflected threats against a body of people through intimations that they are a danger. People have died from such allusions. One has only to remember the Holocaust and other events to understand how powerful this targeting can be.
Declaring that one’s vile behavior is justified by faith is perhaps the most rancid message Christianity could send. As many of you know, my husband and I have housed homeless people in our back yard. A woman over a block away hates us for that (she is alone in her view.). She calls the police on homeless people in her alley sometimes 10-12 times a day. When one asked her why she did it, she drew herself up and said, “Because I am a CHRISTIAN”. Seriously. She said that.
Well, I retaliated by putting a sign in our window that says, “Matthew 25:40 lives here.” I saw her looking at it puzzled. Guess she was not familiar with it, but apparently she looked it up – and then had us SWATTED. That’s when someone calls the police and pretends a dangerous situation is going down at a house. It’s dangerous in itself to the occupants. We got through it, I was left shaking, and the police bother us no more, but this is the “Christianity” that too many think we all believe: hateful, punitive, exclusive, and, at the core, racist and inimical to the poor.
That is NOT who we are. It is NOT WHO WE ARE!
We can stay silent no more. Our respect for others’ religious beliefs had to stop at condoning hate. It is very hard to get media coverage of the good that we try daily to do, the ways we try to nourish our democracy and society with love and compassion, but we must keep trying.
Letters to the editor, Op Eds, interviews, coverage of our outreach to immigrants, the poor, the homeless, the unwell. We are doing the work of justice as people of faith in alliance with our Constitutional directive to “promote the General Welfare”. When people are attacked, we need to be there for them. We need to make our work known. We need to reject those claiming to have THE word about what God wants – which oddly always seems to fit their own desires.
From Haitians to Muslims to Jews and immigrants everywhere, from all people of color, and women, the smears are loud and growing louder. This may be a good time to bring out our study guide from 2001, “Building Bridges of Understanding”. If ever there was a time for reconsidering our biases and striving for loving inclusion, this is it.
We are going to try to keep you informed of issues as they arise. For now be aware in your communities of situations similar to those in Ohio. Be ready to speak up for the ones under threat. Ask them to stand with you as well. We speak with and for those who need us.
This is who we are. This is who we need to be. Let’s give our best to our people and to our country. We may not get another chance.
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