Even though it's taken a lot out of me, I have stayed fairly silent on how I thought this election season was going these past few months. Well, at least online - my friends and family have heard their fair share of just what I think about our newly inaugurated President. But even the quietest of voices reach their limits, and I reached mine this past Friday.
Like most of the world, I found out about the executive order while scrolling through my Facebook. I wasn't necessarily shocked (definitely angry, but not shocked) about President Trump signing this into action - he did promise something like this during the campaign trail - what shocked me was something I read later that day. The executive order promises to "ban the admission of citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for at least 90 days, and bans the entry of those fleeing war-torn Syria indefinitely" (CNN). While I was angry after discovering Trump had signed this into action a mere 7 days after being inaugurated (don’t get me started on the way his term is going a mere 7 days - let me repeat that 7 days - after he was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States), I was infuriated when I came across an interview he conducted with the Christian Broadcast Network later that afternoon.
In the interview with David Brody, Trump says he will give priority to persecuted Christians fleeing war-torn Syria over people of other religions. In his words, "They’ve been horribly treated. Do you know if you were a Christian in Syria it was impossible, at least very tough to get into the United States? If you were a Muslim you could come in, but if you were a Christian, it was almost impossible...”
However, according to a research conducted by PEW Research Center, the U.S. admitted an almost equal number of Christian and Muslim refugees - 37,521 Christians and 38,901 Muslims - in 2016. While historically, Christian refugees have had the higher admittance rate than their Muslim counterparts, these new numbers simply reflect the state of the world today. Plus the fact that a good number of these refugees are fleeing war-torn Syria where the religion composition is 95% Muslim and 5% Christian (TIME).
As someone who tries to use logic every once in awhile, seeing these statistics next to Trump’s claim that Christian refugees were treated “unfairly” compared to Muslim refugees confused me. Of course, it’s going to look like we’re admitting more Muslim refugees over Christian refugees. The war-torn countries they’re fleeing are predominantly Muslim, so the numbers will naturally reflect this notion. But as a Christian, reading Mr. Trump’s statement and knowing that he claims to be a Christ-like follower, both saddened and angered me.
As followers of Christ, we are called to love and accept one another no matter our skin tone, gender, religion, political ideals, sexuality, etc. Christ didn’t come down to save other Christians. He came down to save everyone. While He walked this earth He didn’t hang out with people of one color or background or social class. He immersed Himself with everyone.
Jesus talked to the hated tax collector (Luke 19:1-10); He spent time with and healed the man with leprosy, a disease that had essentially outcasted him since contracting it (Matthew 8:1-4); Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman, an action that as a Jewish man of His time would’ve caused others to look down upon Him (John 4:1-26); and yet He didn’t care. In His eyes, they were all the same (Galatians 3:28), people who were thirsty for hope, fulfillment, joy, and peace - things the world will never be able to fully give them, and they will only ever truly find through Him.
The world hasn’t changed much since Jesus walked the earth. Our issues are vastly different, but at the core we’re all still people who thirst for reassurance, hope, acceptance, forgiveness, peace, and love throughout our day-to-day lives. Followers of Christ know that the only way to ever truly receive these feelings is to accept Him as our savior and live out His teachings in our everyday lives. However, if Christian-Americans allow the government to slam our doors to those who look and believe differently than us simply because of fear then we lose any credibility to share the gospel with not only our Muslim friends, but our other non-believing brothers and sisters as well.
I - as junior in college with no political background whatsoever - obviously have no solution and I’m not here to try and give one, I’m simply here to caution my fellow Christians to think before they act. Before supporting this executive order, think about what Jesus would say. Would He give His approval to indefinitely banning all people - His people - who just so happen to come from a country that predominantly believes differently than us even though they desperately need our help? Or would He challenge us - the people of the United States who boast about being a people of acceptance and freedom no matter your background - to welcome and love and accept them no matter the cost? Think about whether or not your actions are stemming from fear, and if they are do you truly think the action you are choosing is the correct one?
I don’t know about you, but the God I follow - the God I love and who loves me no matter my flaws - would challenge to me to always choose the second option no matter how scared or confused I am because that is what He calls us to do.
