Protests over Trump’s family separation policy, which he only temporarily ended with an executive order although families remain separated in detention centers today, are the latest response to the corrupt, cruel administration in the White House. On Tuesday, dean and rector of Monument Circle’s Christ Church Cathedral in Indianapolis, Rev. Stephen Carlsen, spoke about his congregation’s protest of the policy.
On our lawn tonight we placed The Holy Family…in #ICE detention. #Immigration pic.twitter.com/eSkTv89SEf
— CCC Indy (@CCCathedralIndy) July 3, 2018
Rev. Carlsen spoke to reporters from the Indy Star to explain that the issue is not political, but based on his Christian faith and beliefs.
‘I know what the Bible said. We’re supposed to love our neighbors as ourselves.’
Carlsen cited the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, the savior whose example a Christian is meant to follow, as the basis for his protest. According to the biblical account, Jesus’s parents were refugees who fled to Egypt in order to keep their child safe from a government leader bent on capturing them to protect his position of power.
A sexton from the church, Fred Andrews, says this is the common story that is lost in the debate over immigration.
‘It’s sad. Somewhere along the line, I guess, just hoping for a better life has been lost because it’s politics involved.’
As a member of a local immigrant advocacy organization known as Faith in Indiana, Rev. Carlsen said he’s experienced that common story among those he works with far too often to let it be lost on him amidst the wild rhetoric of immigrants as gang-members, rapists, and drug dealers bent on murdering and raping white Americans.
‘This is an easy one for us. It doesn’t feel like we’re out campaigning. This is about people I know and love, and I’m going to stand with them.’
The church received an outpouring of support on social media. See some of the comments on Twitter below:
Featured image via
