Religious leaders say it’s time to remind the nation of religion’s role in caring for the poor and strangers.
Protests erupt over street vendor arrest at immigration in New York City
Immigration agents detained nearly 40 people in a raid targeting street vendors in Lower Manhattan, sparking mass protests.
Recently, federal agents shot the Rev. Jorge Bautista at close range with a pepper ball, leaving him reeling with orange powder covering his face and clothes.
A month ago, Presbyterian pastor David Black was hit in the head with a pepper ball while praying outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Chicago. The video went viral around the world after being reported by religious news agencies, sparking protests.
Since early summer, pastors, chaplains, imams, rabbis and priests have stood between police and protesters in Los Angeles. They were arrested by ICE agents in Chicago and Portland and detained at the U.S. Capitol and in their congressional offices.
On October 18, leaders of all faiths spoke, prayed and marched in peaceful “No Kings” rallies in thousands of communities across the United States.
Conservative evangelical Christians have long been a dominant force in American politics and overwhelmingly support the Trump administration and its current actions.
But as some in the Republican Party in particular increasingly embrace Christian nationalism (the belief that secular governments should support or replace Christianity), moderate and progressive Christians and other faith communities are pushing back, arguing that it is time to remind the nation of religion’s role in caring for the poor and strangers.
And as the Trump administration focuses on deporting immigrants, stripping millions of Americans of health care and rolling back human and civil rights, now is the time for religious leaders to return to their historic role at the forefront of protests, leaders of various faiths told USA TODAY.
“We cannot be pastors in this moment and ignore what is happening,” Bishop William J. Barber II told USA TODAY. “If you don’t stand up now when we’re talking about the death of democracy, the death of humanity, and the denial of the least of these, you’re putting yourself and your religion and your faith in deep doubt.”
“Now is the time for the religious to emerge.”
Religion and media expert Diane Winston, a professor at the University of Southern California, said standing up to power is one of the “most important roles” of religious leaders.
“The Founding Fathers intentionally kept religion out of government because they believed that religion should not be part of the governing process. But they believed that religion was very important to the well-being of the nation, especially for keeping government in check,” Winston said. “In other words, the role of religion was to ensure that political leaders were virtuous, ethical, and moral.”
Religious leaders played an important role in every major social movement, including the War of Independence, abolition of slavery, workers’ rights, suffrage, equal rights and civil rights, and the symbolic value of their presence in the present cannot be underestimated, she said.
“Religion does not support sides in political struggles. Religion can be tailored to support both sides, or either side. But it is good to remember that since the beginning of this country, religious leaders have often stood up for social issues,” she said.
The Rev. Paul Rauschenbusch, president of the Interfaith Alliance, which works to counter the religious right, mobilized faith groups across the country to participate in the Movement Without a King protest, uniting local religious leaders with local activists. The protests were as much about religious freedom as they were about the rest of the First Amendment, he said.
“We’re not making anything up. In fact, we’re just recognizing how important faith leaders and moral commitments have played in every moment when countries have needed to push back against authoritarianism and the targeting of marginalized communities,” Rauschenbusch said. “Now is the time for religious people to show up.”
He said people are waiting for Christians to push back against ideas of Christian nationalism that have gained sway among Republican politicians since President Trump’s first term.
Rauschenbusch said the Trump administration’s actions during the first 10 months of this year alienated multiple denominations.
“What we saw really clearly is that they are determining religious freedom, and the way they understand religion is ‘totally with us or out,'” he said. “Unfortunately, the Republican Party has crystallized a very unruly Christian nationalist understanding of what it means to be a Christian or even to be religious at all.”
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said on October 20 that those who gathered at the “No Kings” protests can’t deal with the fact that the president and his administration are religious.
“The truth is the Marxists, radicals, and Islamists that the Democrats promoted this weekend. They can’t handle the truth. teeth There is a King, and that King is Jesus. And the president has been happy to say that, and the administration has been happy to say that,” Roy said.
Billy Murray, a civic engagement expert at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, said the presence of religious leaders of any religion can inspire and motivate others to take a moral stand.
“Progressive or not, in probably the majority of movements, the role of faith matters…because it’s part of our culture,” she said.
Promotion of immigration control
Religious leaders have been actively holding vigils, rallies and protests for months, but their defiant stance has become more visible in recent weeks as immigration enforcement continues to tighten.
In early October, Pope Leo directly questioned whether President Trump’s immigration enforcement actions were in line with the Catholic Church’s pro-life teachings.
“I say I’m against abortion, but I’m for the inhumane treatment of immigrants in the United States. I don’t know if that’s pro-life or not,” he told reporters.
On October 17, more than 200 Chicago-area clergy (Protestant, Catholic, and evangelical) signed a letter condemning ICE’s efforts and expressing their willingness to “put their bodies on the line” for immigrants.
“The actions of (Homeland Security Secretary) Kristi Noem and her ICE officers are immoral,” the letter reads.
On the same day, Hannah Kardon, a United Methodist minister at the United Church of Rogers Park, Illinois, was arrested and allegedly struck repeatedly with a baton while praying.
“If anyone saw[the video of her arrest]and was upset, if you’re going to do that to a clergyman in broad daylight, I want you to imagine what you’re doing to a detainee in the dark,” she told Baptist News Global.
On October 21, Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Blaise Cupich issued a statement declaring, “Chicago communities are shaken by the attacks and detentions of immigrants. These acts hurt the soul of our city. Let me be clear: The Church stands with immigrants.”
Hours before federal immigration enforcement agents were scheduled to arrive in California’s Bay Area, San Francisco Episcopal Bishop Austin K. Rios issued a statement saying, “When fear spreads throughout the city, the church must move with the stronger. We stand with the vulnerable not because it is popular, but because it is the way of Jesus, and when one part of us suffers, we all suffer.”
Put faith and morality at the forefront
Mr Barber said civil action by religious leaders would become more prominent in the coming weeks.
On October 30, a group of faith leaders plans to meet with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York to tell him that “at this point, we need to see this as a moral battle, not just a partisan battle,” Barber said.
He said he has also met with Louisiana House Speaker Mike Johnson and hopes to press Republicans to make similar arguments.
When asked by reporters about the Oct. 16 pepper-ball shooting of religious leaders in Chicago by federal agents and what he thought were the limits of acceptable conduct, Prime Minister Johnson said, “I have yet to see them cross the line.”
Barber started the so-called “Morality Monday” protests in North Carolina in 2013, which spread to other states in an effort by religious leaders of all faiths to block legislation that would cut social safety nets.
Barber said that on November 20, prominent progressive activists will be calling on people of faith to publicly engage in “moral action, moral resistance,” such as praying in large numbers in public spaces.
Barber said there shouldn’t even be a term for Christian nationalism because the Bible does not support the idea of loyalty to a nation or an individual.
“Your religion may be about tax cuts, but it’s not Christianity or Judaism or Islam,” he said. “If we don’t challenge it, we can’t be labeled as Christians. And if Christians don’t challenge it, we’re just as damned as Christians are.”
“We have to look out for our neighbors.”
Hannah Ellis Cornthwaite, a priest at Holy Innocents Episcopal Church in San Francisco, said religious leaders have an obligation to come forward when they see people’s dignity being flaunted or attacked.
That means praying at protests, supporting transgender people in their transition, standing guard outside immigration court hearings, and even accompanying them into hearings when asked.
“This is just part of the baptismal covenant that I have made and there is no real question for me as to what is right and what is wrong and what is required of me at this time,” Cornthwaite said.
Pastor Matt Landry of Castleton United Methodist Church also said he feels a responsibility to be proactive wherever people are being affected, including places that may not directly impact him or his congregation in Indianapolis.
“All of us as faith leaders in our communities have to pay attention to what’s happening to our neighbors,” Landry told USA TODAY.
Landry and others have begun lobbying lawmakers and the governor’s office to improve conditions at the Miami Correctional Facility, an immigrant detention center in Indiana. More than 100 leaders of various faiths gathered for a vigil held outside the facility. Landry said the event was intentionally non-denominational, including Mennonites, Lutherans, Catholics, Jews, Episcopalians, United Methodists and Disciples of Christ.
“This is a kind of prayer movement,” he said. “People want to do something, and we’re giving them an opportunity to come together and feel that inspiration and power in a group, sing together and pray together.”
On Oct. 27, he plans to return outside the facility and walk along Route 31, praying for attention.
“People are paying attention and that’s a good thing. We’re trying to shine a light on the darkness in this state,” he said.
Sarah D. Wire is a senior national political correspondent and can be reached at swire@usatoday.com.
