\n<\/p>\n
Using<\/span> religion<\/span> to<\/span> justify the cruel treatment of marginalized people is a disgusting global tradition, but the Trump administration has been in overdrive lately <\/strong><\/span>when it comes to Christianity and the vilification of undocumented people. <\/span><\/p>\n News flash: We\u2019re pretty sure Jesus \u2014 who famously hung out with sex workers and other social outcasts \u2014 would definitely probably not have approved of <\/span>any of this<\/span>.<\/p>\n The cognitive dissonance is right in front of our faces, with some self-proclaimed Christian politicians calling for the <\/span>ruthless punishment of migrants fleeing persecution<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n Refreshingly, though, a church outside Boston has been brave enough to take an unambiguous stance. The St. Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, recently set up a Nativity scene that includes all the usual elements, including shepherds, hay and sheep. But in the place of Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus, who are conspicuously absent from the display, is a large sign that reads <\/span>\u201cICE WAS HERE<\/span>\u201d in all caps. <\/span><\/p>\n A smaller sign in the display explains that \u201cThe Holy Family is safe in The Sanctuary of our church\u201d and instructs people to call a number if they see ICE. <\/p>\n This undeniably bold and clever move naturally drew the saltiest of backlash from conservative Christians, including some members of the Catholic Church. The Archdiocese of Boston <\/span>reportedly<\/span> ordered the parish to take down the sign, claiming that the display amounted to \u201cdivisive political messaging.\u201d And the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts\u2019 executive director, C.J. Doyle, called it \u201csacrilegious.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Todd Lyons, the current director of ICE, told <\/span>the Boston Herald<\/span> that the Nativity scene was \u201cabsolutely abhorrent\u201d and \u201cdangerous,\u201d and blamed it for contributing to assaults against ICE personnel. <\/span><\/p>\n Despite the criticism, St. Susanna Parish has not backed down. Rev. Stephen Josoma insisted that the sign was meant to spark dialogue, not cause outrage. <\/span><\/p>\n According to the Gospel of Matthew, Mary and Joseph were <\/span>refugees who fled persecution<\/span> to Egypt to protect their newborn from King Herod\u2019s order to kill all male infants in Bethlehem. Jesus\u2019 birth was inherently political, and his family was technically breaking the law by hiding him. <\/span><\/p>\n Recently, some Christian scholars <\/span>have even been defending the ICE sign and Nativity scene<\/span>, pointing out that Jesus\u2019 own citizenship status was threatened as he sought asylum in a foreign land. <\/span><\/p>\n And so, the disgruntled conservatives who are trashing the Nativity scene online are, once again, cherry-picking which parts of Christianity fit their values, and which are a little too \u201cwoke.\u201d They conveniently ignore the fact that many modern-day immigrants are fleeing life-or-death situations, too. <\/span><\/p>\n The sign accurately likens modern-day ICE to the authorities that were searching for Jesus back then. If you examine <\/span>what<\/span> we\u2019ve<\/span> been<\/span> seeing<\/span> during the past few months, this concept really isn\u2019t much of a reach. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n We love seeing a church taking a strong stance and actually sticking to the morals and ethics that the Bible teaches \u2014 instead of a version that is convenient for white nationalists and consumer culture. We live in a country that is <\/span>taking pleasure in the suffering of migrants<\/span> while claiming to follow the example of Jesus.<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s hoping that more religious institutions have the courage to take stances similar to this one, even when it\u2019s not comfortable or convenient.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Using religion to justify the cruel treatment of marginalized people is a disgusting global tradition, but the Trump administration has been in overdrive lately when it comes to Christianity and the vilification of undocumented people. News flash: We\u2019re pretty sure Jesus \u2014 who famously hung out with sex workers and other social outcasts \u2014 would<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[6476,2466,4014,20596,494,2664],"class_list":{"0":"post-37138","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-social-issues","8":"tag-church","9":"tag-ice","10":"tag-maga","11":"tag-nativity","12":"tag-protests","13":"tag-scene"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}