Category: Politics

Trump, America about to deny Jesus

Deuteronomy 10:18-19 – “For the Lord your God…loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”


Donald Trump is likely going to sign an executive order tomorrow banning child refugees from Syria from entering the United States. Unlike his bans on other nationd that will last 100 days, his ban on Syrians is indefinite, a.k.a. permanent.

This means the families that are in the process of adopting parent-less Syrian children will not be allowed to proceed with their adoption. This means that Christian organizations that relocate child refugees to families in the United States, like Samaritan’s Purse and World Relief, will no longer be able to do their work. These children will likely die.

There is a lot of ambiguity in the Bible. Even contradictions. But the Bible’s stance on welcoming immigrants is clear.  There are more than 50 references in the Bible regarding “aliens,” “immigrants,” “foreigners” or “strangers.”
Remember, baby Jesus himself was a Middle Eastern refugee. And throughout his life, he was very clear on how we should treat refugees. In every instance Jesus comes across the downtrodden, he welcomes them.

His expectations of us in dealing with refugees is clear in Matthew 25: 34-46. This is the well-known passage where Jesus tells us that the key to pleasing God is to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc. In verse 35 he tells us to “invite in the stranger.” Here, it’s important to note that Matthew was written in Greek, and the original word for stranger was “Xenos,” which can be translated to English as “immigrant,” “foreigner” or “stranger.”

Donald Trump is going to sign an executive order denying refugees tomorrow. And in the process, our nation will be denying Jesus.

Most Trump voters aren’t racist, but hopefully they can understand …

Three days after the election, my Facebook and Twitter feeds are still dominated by post-election chatter.

A well-written, insightful piece by college student Cassie Hewlett has popped up numerous times on my feed, shared by numerous friends who were Trump voters. Cassie states it perfectly:

With the results of the presidential election stirring up a vast amount of emotions, I think it is important to clarify something: just because I am Republican does not mean I am heartless.

She is right. I was heartbroken when a student of mine came to class feeling like she could not express her happiness with the election results in classrooms because academia is – let’s face it – dominated by liberals. And claims like “Trump voters are racist, sexist, homophobic” caused her to naturally become defensive, because she is not any of these.

Harsh rhetoric automatically shuts down any chance of conversation. It makes one automatically defensive.

Ironically, the frustration expressed by many Trump voters of being labeled “racist” comes from the same emotional place as the anxiety expressed by those disappointed in the election results. So many of my minority  (racially, religiously and sexuality) friends are posting messages of genuine fear and a sense that they don’t belong in America. These feelings stem from the harsh rhetoric Trump has used at one point in the campaign, for instance saying most Mexican immigrants are “rapists and murderers” or calling for a complete ban on Muslims.

Again, harsh rhetoric automatically shuts down any chance of conversation. It makes one automatically defensive.

For us to truly come together, those of us who dislike Trump need to stop applying blanket labels to his voters. And Trump voters need to understand that many minorities are scared, not because their candidate lost, but because of a genuine fear that has been instituted by the past rhetoric of our President-elect.

Please, tell someone who is genuinely afraid that you respect them, support them, love them and that you will be there for them.

I cried this morning, but not for me

I cried this morning, but not for me.

As an upper-middle class, gainfully employed, relatively healthy, Asian/white male, I will do great under a Trump presidency.

I cried for my Latino friends, like my 9-year-old son’s friend who last spring in 2nd grade was fearful he would have to go “back” to Mexico, a place he doesn’t ever remember being.

I cried for my black friends, who for the first time since before the Civil Rights movement, have a President who refused to strongly denounce the support of the Ku Klux Klan, and who believes stopping and frisking them for no reason is an excellent crime-fighting tool.

I cried for my sick friends — those with “pre-existing” conditions –who now face the prospect of losing their health insurance, again.

I cried for my gay friends, who now will have a vice president who truly believes their sexuality is an illness and supported conversion therapy as a legislature.

I cried for my Muslim friends, who will face the prospect of being deported simply for their religious beliefs.

I cried for my female friends, like my wife, who have worked so hard to break gender stereotypes, who now have a President who finds it totally appropriate to judge women solely on their looks and use them as sexual objects.

I cried for my children, who will grow up under a President who thinks its OK to bully others you disagree with, calling them names and using social media as a bullying tool.

I’ll be OK. It’s my friends I’m worried about.

It’s Time to Ban Semiautomatic Weapons

Originally published on Athens Patch on Dec. 17, 2012.

Like all parents of young children, I was shaken by the tragedy in Connecticut, especially as the events unfolded while my kids were at their own elementary school.

I cannot imagine the pain the parents of the victims must be feeling, and hope the outpouring of support from the nation lets them know they are not alone in their mourning.

Since the tragedy, much has been written and said trying to make sense of the events of Dec. 14, and the seemingly increasing senseless violence in our country. Over the past six years, the United States has seen some of its worst mass murders in history:

•April 16, 2007 – Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Va., 32 killed;

•Dec. 5, 2007 – Westroads Mall, Omaha, Neb., 8 killed;

•Feb. 14, 2008 – Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill., 5 killed;

•April 3, 2009 – American Civic Association in Binghamton, NY, 13 killed;

•Nov. 5, 2009 – Fort Hood, Texas, 13 killed;

•Aug. 3, 2010 – Harford Beer Distributor in Manchester, Conn., 8 killed;

•Jan. 8, 2011 – Rep. Gabriel Giffords appearance in Tuscon, Ariz., 6 killed;

•July 20, 2012 – Movie Theater in Aurora, Colo., 12 killed;

•Aug. 5, 2012 – Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wis., 6 killed;

•Dec. 14, 2012 – Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., 26 killed.

Each event featured one sole assailant, and these murderers of the 129 victims have one thing in common — they all used legally purchased semiautomatic weapons to conduct their killing sprees. In nine of the 10 cases, the semiautomatic guns were purchased by the perpetrator himself (the Westroads Mall shooter stole the gun from his stepfather). Assault weapons serve one main purpose — to kill multitudes in a short amount of time. It’s how 10 killers single-handedly murdered 129 people in the aforementioned tragedies.

In 1994, with overwhelming bipartisan support, the federal government passed an assault weapons ban. The ban expired in 2004. During the 10 years the law was in place, there were eight mass shootings resulting in 51 deaths. According to the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City, six of the eight massacres involved semiautomatic weapons purchased legally before the assault weapons ban took effect in 1994. The two mass shootings featuring illegally acquired weapons — Columbine in 1999 and Edgewater Technology in 2000 — resulted in 20 combined deaths.

Doing the math, over the past 18 years, mass shootings involving legally purchased assault weapons resulted in 160 innocent deaths, while mass shootings involving illegally purchased assault weapons resulted in 20 deaths.

Obviously, assault weapons and the ease of purchasing them is not the sole reason 160 people have lost their lives. However, one cannot deny the link between the spike in mass killings and the expiration of the assault weapons ban.

For the 20 children shot multiple times in a matter of minutes last Friday; for the 129 murdered over the past eight years by legally purchased semiautomatic weapons; and to reduce a legitimate threat to safety of all Americans, the government needs to restore a ban on semiautomatic weapons.