As the Trump administration uses the Bible to justify its policy of ripping children out of their parents’ arms, what do faith leaders have to say about the policy? Twitter user and Religion News Service reporter Jack Jenkins provides an answer: they’re not happy.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions was out front with the claim that family separation is biblical. He’s apparently a Methodist Sunday school teacher. Before he said that, the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church had already signed on to an interfaith letter on the Trump administration's family separation policy saying that “As religious leaders representing diverse faith perspectives, united in our concern for the well-being of vulnerable migrants who cross our borders fleeing from danger and threats to their lives, we are deeply disappointed and pained to hear” of the policy of family separation and criminal prosecution of parents seeking asylum. It goes on:
Tearing children away from parents who have made a dangerous journey to provide a safe and sufficient life for them is unnecessarily cruel and detrimental to the well-being of parents and children.
As we continue to serve and love our neighbor, we pray for the children and families that will suffer due to this policy and urge the Administration to stop their policy of separating families.
That letter was also signed by the leaders or presiding bodies of the Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ, the Armenian Church of America, the Islamic Society of North America, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Disciples of Christ, the Union for Reform Judaism, and others.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops separately rebuked the Trump administration policy, saying that “Our government has the discretion in our laws to ensure that young children are not separated from their parents and exposed to irreparable harm and trauma. Families are the foundational element of our society and they must be able to stay together.” The Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution calling for immigration reform “maintaining the priority of family unity.”
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, which was a signer of the interfaith letter quoted above, issued a scorching rejoinder specifically to the Trump administration claims of biblical backing for the child-stealing policy, saying that that claim “in addition to being sad and sinful, shows a deep misunderstanding of the transforming truth of scripture,” and that “The Bible does not justify discrimination masked as racism, sexism, economic inequality, oppression or the abuse of children.”
Many other faith leaders are highlighted in Jenkins’ Twitter thread: Religious leaders are making clear that the Trump administration cannot pin this policy on the Bible. But with an evil this enormous, no outcry can be too much.