In an Authoritarian World, Be an Esther

Dear Friends:

We have long admired civil rights leaders for their willingness to speak against unjust laws.  We have admired those who hid Jews from the Nazis, who marched with Rev. Dr. King, Jr. and John Lewis in dangerous situations.  We ached for the civil rights activists gunned down by racists. That admiration goes back in history to Wilberforce’s fight against the slave trade, to those who resisted massive injustice as did Esther speaking against a law that called for destruction of the Jewish people.  

We are being called once again.  This time it impacts us more directly. Churches are being invaded by ICE agents in search of “criminal” immigrants. That brings all of us directly into the experience.

First, it’s important to know the ICE roundups are no longer about someone’s criminal record. That was the carefully designated method of previous administrations.  Now it’s a hunt for people who “look illegal” meaning it’s about quotas and race.  Even American citizens are being dragged from work, school, and yes, churches.  It’s a vile stalking of human beings without respect to their deeds, only to how they look.  It cannot stand.

Let’s make one other thing really clear – being undocumented and in the US is not a CRIME.  It’s a CIVIL offense. Yes, punishable by deportation and fines, but not by incarceration.  

The administration, in its zealous desire to rid us of immigrants, has now authorized searches inside churches. This crosses a major line in American values of unimpeded freedom of worship and sanctity of the places where we do that.  This is also where we serve those in need, regardless of who they are. To use our compassion as a net where ICE can round up undocumented people with impunity is an absolute travesty.  However, the Department of Homeland Security said people’s fears of intrusion on religious freedom are based on “hypothetical” claims.  They are not.  It is happening.

This is intolerable. the Mennonite Church in the USA has joined with 26 other faiths and denominations to sue the Department of Homeland Security for the abuse of communal worship.  

The case is Mennonite Church of the USA et al. v United States Department of Homeland Security et al.   The plaintiffs include:

• Mennonite Church USA
• The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
• Central Atlantic Conference United Church of Christ
• The Central Conference of American Rabbis
• Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
• Church of the Brethren
• Convención Bautista Hispana de Texas
• The Episcopal Church
• Fellowship Southwest
• Friends General Conference
• General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
• General Commission on Religion and Race of the United Methodist Church
• Latino Christian National Network
• Massachusetts Council of Churches
• The New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
• New York State Council of Churches
• North Carolina Council of Churches
• The North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church
• The Rabbinical Assembly
• Reconstructing Judaism
• Rhode Island State Council of Churches
• Union for Reform Judaism
• Unitarian Universalist Association
• The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
• The Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church
• Wisconsin Council of Churches
• Wisdom, Inc.

It should be noted that the California Council of Churches was unaware of the suit or would have joined in. 

We offer this as information on our faith community’s activism for justice and compassion toward “the stranger”.  We are challenging pernicious laws, illegal orders once again – to get predatory agencies out of our sacred spaces and to protect those whom we serve in the process.  We face a rising tide of fascism in this nation.  We will not comply in advance by sacrificing either those at risk or our own rights.  

Please consult with your denominations to ask what you can do to help.  This will likely be only our first step in standing witness for our core values of human rights for all.  We have much work ahead we will be asked to do, but this is a powerful first step.

It is said that the statement, “May you live in interesting times” is actually a curse. That seems sadly accurate. From that curse, however, may we all bring hope and promise.  That’s our call.  Be an Esther.