1. United States
2. La.
3. Letter

I write you to ask you to stand up for Christian values and for Christ like values and stand against President Trump. The policies of the Trump adminiatration are driven by cruelty, exclusion, and retribution. I would urge you to act with love and kindness to all people. I am writing to implore you as a Christian to break from the unkindness and cruelty that drives President Trump's agenda. Jesus Christ turned over the temples and argued against the Pharisees. He was not a savior focused on the rich and he would not be reveling with billionaires and oligarchs. Instead, Christ focused on the poor and the vulnerable and he met them with love. True followers of Christ understand that Christ was committed to gentleness and love. He urged us to think of the poor and the vulnerable and center their needs with service. Feed the hungry, clothe the nakedness, heal the sick and love one another. This is the commandment of Christ. I fail to see how anything that President Trump and his administration has done serves Christ. Instead of caring for our neighbors internationally, President Trump threatens sanctions, tariffs, and annexation. Who threatens to annex Canada? Empire is not Christlike. Instead of ensuring that the most vulnerable can seek asylum and immigrate to the United States, we are deporting individuals who have legal status. We are deporting people who we have invited to stay here with special refugee status. And we are rounding up and disappearing documented graduate students for exercising their legally protected First Amendment rights in the school paper. What would Christ do? Christ was a refugee as a child fleeing the wrath of Harrod. President Trump would side with Harrod and deport the infant Christ child to his death. Instead of welcoming the stranger and accepting Jew and Gentile alike, we see someone passing exclusionary executive orders. Jesus Christ hung out with Mary Magdalene, a woman who had engaged in sex work. He was kind to Lydia the foreign woman engaged in adultery. He understood that Jew and Gentile were both children of God. Would Christ argue for gentleness and love and Inclusion for our transgender brothers and sisters? I think we know the answer. Instead of feeding the hungry and healing the sick, you yourself have signed on to a budget that reduces SNAP benefits and Medicaid benefits for the most economically vunerable people. I write this hoping to connect with you across our difference through the life and legacy of Christ. Thank you for considering my thoughts.