Christians Called To Resist Donald Trump’s Bigotry

A group of high-profile Christian leaders has published a
lengthy statement passionately condemning Republican presidential frontrunner
Donald Trump, calling his campaign message “contrary to our Christian values”
and condemning his bombastic rhetoric as “racist, bigoted, and hateful.”

The statement, which is housed on the website
calledtoresist.org, dedicates more than 2,000 words to decrying Trump’s
candidacy. Among other things, it heavily criticizes his proclivity for
language and polices that demean immigrants, Muslims, women, people of color,
and the disabled.

“The ascendancy of a demagogic candidate and his message,
with the angry constituency he is fueling, is a threat to both the values of
our faith and the health of our democracy,” the statement reads in part.
“Donald Trump directly promotes racial and religious bigotry, disrespects the
dignity of women, harms civil public discourse, offends moral decency, and
seeks to manipulate religion. This is no longer politics as usual, but rather a
moral and theological crisis, and thus we are compelled to speak out as faith
leaders.”

The ascendancy of a demagogic candidate and his message,
with the angry constituency he is fueling, is a threat to both the values of
our faith and the health of our democracy.

The length and tone of the letter is unusual, as American
faith leaders typically avoid publicly commenting on candidates for fear of
violating the tax-exempt status of their churches, which are legally barred
from endorsing those running for office. But signers took pains to insist that
the letter was not a “tacit endorsement of other candidates,” but simply a
reaction to Trump’s successful use of exclusionary rhetoric to win votes — a
phenomenon religious leaders say presents them with “a moral and theological
crisis.”

“Trump is shamelessly using racial resentment, fear, and
hatred – always dangerously present in our society – to fuel a movement against
‘the other,’ targeting other races, women, cultures, ethnicities, nations,
creeds, and a whole global religion,” it reads. “That stands in stark and
chilling opposition to the reconciling love of God confessed by those who claim
Jesus as Lord. So we, as faith leaders, hereby confess our resistance against
the message and actions of Donald Trump.”

The letter concludes with a bulleted list of “offenses
committed by Donald Trump,” such as his proposal to ban Muslim immigration into
the country, threatening to “open up” libel laws to punish journalists who
criticize him, and promoting violence at his own rallies.

“Instead of learning from his mistakes, the list of Donald
Trump’s moral offenses keeps growing,” the letter reads. “It’s time to say
enough.”

Signers of the statement include a diverse array of
influential faith leaders, such as Rev. Jim Winkler, President and General
Secretary of the National Council of Churches; Steve Schneck, Director of the
Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies at Catholic University of
America; Rev. Joshua Dubois, former head of the White House office on Faith
Based Initiatives; Rev. Dr. Peter Borgdorff, Executive Director Emeritus of the
Christian Reformed Church in North America; Dr. Robert M. Franklin, President
Emeritus of Morehouse College; Shane Claiborne, Director of Red Letter
Christians; and author, speaker, and activist Rev. Brian McLaren.

Trump’s meteoric rise to GOP frontrunner has triggered a
number of negative reactions among progressive and conservative faith leaders,
many of whom dismiss his rhetoric and policy proposals as immoral or
unbiblical.

The Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA) — one of
the key leaders of the denomination Trump claims — publicly chastised the
businessman in October, deriding his anti-immigrant rhetoric and noting
“Presbyterians through decades of policy have demanded humane treatment of
people of all nationalities and faiths who find themselves within our borders.”
Similarly, when he visited a Presbyterian church while on the campaign trail in
Iowa, he unintentionally sat through a sermon that called for Christians to
welcome Mexican immigrants and Syrian refugees — things Trump openly rejects.
Some members of a Presbyterian in Trump’s home presbytery even called for the
GOP frontrunner to have his membership in the church revoked, but were foiled
when it was revealed that he is not, in fact, an active member of any
Presbyterian church in the United States.

Trump has elicited an even stronger backlash from those
outside his claimed tradition. Russell Moore, head of the Southern Baptist
Convention’s political arm, has written three different op-eds condemning Trump
as unbiblical and admonishing evangelicals who support him as Christians who
have “lost their values.” When it was announced that Trump was scheduled to
speak at a conference hosted by major Israel lobbying group AIPAC, the Union
for Reform Judaism — the largest Jewish group in the United States — issued a
statement blasting his comments about Muslims and other groups, saying they are
required by their faith to “speak up against such hate speech.” And when Pope
Francis was asked how he felt about Trump’s proposal to erect a wall between
the United States and Mexico, the deeply pro-immigrant pontiff responded by
saying that any man who holds such beliefs “is not Christian.”

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