An activist displays a sign on day five of the #NoBanNoWall protest in Chicago, Illinois, on February 1, 2017. (Photo: Sarah-Ji)
Thousands of faith leaders are activating and rising to the moment around the idea of sanctuary for those targeted by Trump’s regime. From airport protests to local organizing around elected officials, we are bringing our prayers, hands and communities into the fight against the massive attacks we are living through.
It is crucial for religious groups to consider community defense strategies that align with our deepest spiritual values. But we must also do this work inside a context of how we got to this moment, and what responsibility in this moment looks like for those of us in faith communities that are not being targeted, as well as those of us in faith communities that Trump claims he represents. In my work with Unitarian Universalists nationally, I see everyday how much these communities are working to engage in progressive social change.
Trump has claimed that his new ban on Muslims is about protecting the US from terrorists, but we know better. Moreover those of us who are part of faith communities know we have to ask ourselves what our role will be in the resistance to Trump’s attempts to employ conservative Christian leaders (in particular) as generals and ground troops in his army against Muslims, against immigrants and against LGBTQ communities.
This week, former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said, in response to the Muslim ban: “People in America want to be safe.” Like so many of Trump’s cronies, she echoes the zero-sum game message: in order for white, straight Christians and conservatives to be safe, some people will have to be banned, some deported, others silenced, and some dead.
We already know that Trump’s vision of “making America great again” is a project that requires those who have been painted as foreign, as dark, as queer, or as non-Christian to be removed. Removed physically, removed as priorities, as people with voices and bodies…