What is the role of religion in President Donald Trump’s executive order, barring thousands of innocents from entering our country? Done in the name of Christianity, the responsibility America has to put America first was taken to a new level when Trump declared that we must also prioritize Christians first.
As a Christian, I want to speak to the question of what a true Christian would say, regarding the role of religion in this recent ban. I want to make it clear that while Trump heroically preaches of American safety and radical Islamic threats, preachers are praying for the lives Trump has just villainized.
This executive order, banning the inhabitants of seven Muslim countries from entering the United States, and prioritizing the Christian minority populations in other countries, logically has almost nothing to do with the safety of American citizens. According to immigration expert Alex Nowrasteh, in the past 30 years, not a single American life has been taken by a terrorist action at the hands of a national of one of the seven targeted countries. And refugees? In the past 40 years, exactly 20 out of 3.25 million refugees have ever attempted terrorist action in the United States. That’s less than 0.0007 percent.
These people we are now keeping out of our country are not terrorists; they are doctors and scientists and novelists, and families and children and human beings.
What would a true Christian say?
A true Christian might reference a favorite Bible verse of mine: Colossians 3:12-14 reads, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”
America has always been a place of safety, refuge and justice. America prides itself in being a place for all people, of being a melting pot of language and culture and faith. And while I recognize that in recent years racial and religious tensions have risen dangerously and heartbreakingly high, Trump has targeted the wrong people.
A true Christian would say that we need to love these people, the people whom we are implying our country should fear.
“Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured” (Hebrews 13:1-3).
In other words, love the people who believe what you believe, who think and look and speak as you do, but do not let that keep you from loving those who do not share your beliefs. Do not forget to love strangers as well as your brothers and sisters under God.
Jesus loved everyone; he loved the adulterers, the homosexuals, the lepers, the tax collectors, the thieves. If he could love the outcasts, the sinners, the criminals, you can bet he loves the Muslims, too. If Jesus loves them, and given that Christians believe that Jesus was a perfect human who walked on the Earth, then shouldn’t we all love them? It can be as simple as that, if you want it to be. That is what a true Christian would say.
Katie Koch is a junior at Deerfield Academy and lives in Hadley.