Take a seat. I’m not here to condemn you or pressure you to believe or do anything.
Let’s just take a look at Donald Trump’s campaign and first weeks in office compared with the beliefs of the majority group that voted him in: Evangelical Christians.
His supporters paraded around the country with signs that read, “Thank God for Trump.” This rhetoric, coming from the conservative Christian base, acts as if years of prayer were finally being answered in the beautiful form of Donald J. Trump.
I’m just here to make sure things line up, ideologically. Anyone, be they atheist or Christian, knows some of the most prevalent themes in Christianity: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Trump’s most notable decision since taking office is the Jan. 28 executive order to bar immigrants from majority Muslim countries from entering the U.S.
Now, I’m going to quote the Bible, because sometimes the choir needs a pastor. Matthew 25:42–44:
“‘For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ And they too will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’”
For those who say the Bible is vague or unspecific, it is most direct and boldly unambiguous with its message about how we treat those seeking refuge. Leviticus 19:33 states: “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself.”
As a Christian, how are you living up to the call of your beliefs and exiling people who are simply seeking a safer and more suitable environment?
The Bible says God created everyone equal (Romans 2:11: “For the Lord does not show favoritism”). At his inauguration, Trump said, “We will be protected by God,” that the United States would be No. 1, and would be strong and superior among other nations.
Trump’s populist and nationalist message is inherently anti-Christain, in its philosophy and ideology, racist and un-Godly, according to the Bible that Trump and his supporters say they affirm.
Let’s look at things that Trump has done, and ask ourselves: Would Jesus do that?
• Remove Spanish translations from the White House home page
• Remove contact information for filing complaints
• Ban immigrants access to the United States.
If anyone shuns people or supports exiling foreigners seeking refuge, closing off access for people of color to acquire a higher standard of living, don’t also claim to be Christian. That is not the spirit of Jesus.
Gui Jean-Paul Chevalier is a Seattle-based recording artist and author from rural Washington, living counter-small-town mind for the cause of humanity.