Author: Bruce Ray

Sent to Hell

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

“Don’t you see what they’re doing, God? You’re not going to let them get by with it, are you? Not going to walk off without doing something, are you? Please get up—wake up! Tend to my case. My God, my Lord—my life is on the line.” (Psalm 35:22-23 – The Message)

This morning, My heart was breaking as I read about the plight of Haitians in Haiti and the plight of Haitians in the United States who have lost their Temporary Protected Status.

The most recent reports coming out of the country of Haiti reveal a nation without a functioning government, cities controlled by violent gangs, decaying infrastructure, abject poverty, internal displacement and little outside support. According to the UN International Organization for Migration, there are almost 1.5 million Haitians who have been internally displaced since 2022, and 16,000 people have been killed. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 6.4 million Haitians need urgent humanitarian aid. Thousands of Haitians have sought refuge in the nearby countries to escape the violence, only to be forcibly returned.

Pierre Espérance, a resident of Port-Au-Prince, says, “There is no life at night.” Night is when the gangs roam freely and terrorize entire neighborhoods, burning down homes and massacring residents. And when the electric power grid shuts down (as it does frequently), night becomes even more stressful. Dr. Greg Beckett, author of the book, “There Is No More Haiti,” writes: “Living in a blackout [isn’t] just living with the lights off—it [is] living with the constant possibility of your own death.” 

Life in Haiti is life in Hell.

In 2010, a massive earthquake struck Haiti, killing more than 100,000 people. In response to the devastation, the United States offered Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to almost 300,000 Haitians. TPS gave them permission to work for American companies and send funds back to family still living in Haiti. In 2017, the first Trump administration proposed ending TPS for Haitians effective July 2019. However, there was strong opposition to the termination since the political stability of Haiti had begun to deteriorate and a federal court ruled that TPS for Haitians would be maintained. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) extended TPS until January 4, 2021.

Then COVID-19 entered the picture, Haiti’s political and social conditions deteriorated even further, and a new president was elected. However, under the Biden Administration, Haitians remained in limbo. Some Haitians lost their status and were deported while many were allowed to remain in the US and apply for asylum.

But hopes for asylum ended on February 3, 2026, when the second Trump administration announced that TPS for Haitians would be terminated immediately. A federal court temporarily barred revocation on the basis of possible “racial animus” perpetuated by the claims that Haitians in Springfield, OH, were eating their neighbors’ dogs and cats. Then, in June, the Supreme Court ruled that possible “racial animus” was insufficient reasoning for preventing the government from terminating TPS for Haitians. USCIS announced TPS would expire on July 1. It was later extended to July 26, 2026. On July 27, 2026, almost 350,000 Haitians lost their status, their job permits, their drivers licenses and any sense of safety and security–including the 12,000+ Haitian nationals living in Springfield, OH.

In the two weeks since TPS termination, Haitians living in Springfield have begun receiving emails or letters from the Department of Homeland Security ordering them to appear at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Blue Ash, OH, a suburb of Cincinnati about 70 miles southwest of Springfield. The letter, confirmed by the Guardian, did not include the reason for the appearance though everyone suspected it was about their TPS designation. What they didn’t expect was that they would leave the facility wearing an ankle monitor — limiting their movement as the first step toward ending their lives in the United States and being sent back to Haiti — back to Hell.

The Psalmist’s lament (Psalm 35) came to mind as I thought of Monsanto Maler, collapsing to the ground in tears outside the Blue Ash ICE facility on August 9, terrified by the thought of being sent back to the very place he had almost lost his life at the hands of gangs. And I thought of the citizen children who had been born and raised in the safety of Springfield, OH, terrified of what will happen to them when their parents receive “the letter.” I heard them all crying out to God to do something — anything — to spare their lives that are on the line.

I cried out with them: “Wake up, God! Please!”. And then I remembered what God had said in the Great Assembly: “You’re here to defend the defenseless, to make sure that underdogs get a fair break; Your job is to stand up for the powerless, and prosecute all those who exploit them.” (Psalm 82:3-4 — The Message). No innocent people should be condemned to life in Hell.

Reflect on THIS

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Yesterday, ABC News reported that the Department of Justice sought to drop the charges against David Hearn who had been accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool at the base of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. At the time of his arrest on June 19, 2026, Hearn claimed he had seen parts of the newly installed membrane floating on the surface and had placed his hand in the water to confirm what it was. But Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, accused him of “forcefully and violently” ripping up parts of the pool floor that was part of the President’s pet project to repair and beautify the reflecting pool and address algae growth that had plagued the pool for decades. The project had been rushed to ensure that the reflecting pool would be finished in time for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026.

For weeks after Hearns’s arrest, the President repeatedly blamed vandals for intentionally destroying the project. “It’s a shame that the Radical Left Lunatics, most likely Dumocats, who have spent their lives trying to ruin our Country are free to do it [ie destroy the pool],” he posted on Truth Social. Jeanine Pirro got a Grand Jury to indict David Hearn for destruction of federal property — a felony. Five other people were also arrested for putting their hands in the pool water.

Ooops! Never mind. On Friday, Pirro’s office said it was seeking to drop the case against Hearn after it received documents from the Department of Interior that pointed to evidence that the lining had failed due to “a rushed and flawed installation process.”

So it wasn’t “malicious vandalism”; it was shoddy work on a project that was going to cost only $1.5 million dollars. The final cost of fixing the fix is now $15 million and counting. That’s our tax dollars going down the drain, literally.

You would hope that the administration would come clean, but our President has never been one to let facts get in the way of his Truth Social posts. Today, he acknowledged that while there may have been some contractor difficulties, he disagreed “100%” with Jeanini Pirro’s assessment of the pool lining’s installation and her decision to drop the case, insisting that “the major damage was caused by VANDALS!” Yes, “VANDALS!” in capital letters so everyone reading it would be shaking in their boots.

In my humble opinion, the only VANDAL! is the one that continues to rip up the Constitution, chip away at the infrastructure of democratic governance, and plaster his face and name on anything he can.

Meanwhile, the algae returned — bigger and badder than ever — requiring the swamp…I mean, the pool…to be drained again. There is a metaphor there. Be algae.

Your Faith May Not Save You

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On July 23, Assemblies of God pastors, Nepthali Zozaya and his wife, Cinthia Sarai Cardona, placed their children (a 7-year-old and 3-year-old twins) in the care of friends and left Edinburg, TX, for a retreat sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. They never arrived. Instead of the retreat center, the couple spent the next 2 days in a Texas detention center after ICE agents arrested them at the airport. According to a statement by the Department of Homeland Security, Pastor Zozaya and his wife were in the US on expired visas. (Church leaders disputed the DHS statement, claiming that the couple was living in the US with valid religious workers visas.) They were released unexpectedly on July 25.

While they and their congregation are grateful for their release, their time in detention was traumatizing. They were “pressured” again and again (including in a 2:00 am interrogation of his wife by ICE agents) to sign voluntary departure papers under threats of lengthy incarceration without any contact with their children and deportation to different third countries — not their home country of Mexico. Even their faith was questioned and mocked. They finally signed the papers, unable to bear the thought of separation from their children. They later learned that they could “revoke” their signatures, which they have done.

The couple’s experience reveals how vulnerable migrants, asylum seekers are when targeted by ICE. Pastors Zozaya and Cardona were detained for 2 days. Thousands of others have been detained for weeks and months.

Detainees around the country have reported similar conditions and pressure to self-deport. Representative Delia Ramirez (D-IL) and two other Representatives visited the Campbell County Detention Center in Newport, KY, on July 27 to check on the condition of two of her constituents who are diabetic. She was appalled by what she saw and heard—lack of access to medical care and necessary medication — including insulin, carb-heavy food that was inappropriate for people with diabetes and food that had expired, and overcrowded cells. Everywhere she turned, detainees were pleading for her help.

At a press conference following his release, Pastor Zozaya pleaded that churches to unite in support of migrants and asylum seekers “who have been deprived of their liberty, those who are separated from their loved ones, those who are facing such difficult moments like we lived these past days.” Reiunted with his congregation on Sunday, July 26, he prayed that God would intervene for a just immigration policy and asked God to motivate all Christians to help make justice a reality.

Hopefully, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin — a member of an Assemblies of God congregation—was listening. Hopefully, all Christians have ears to hear the message: Faith—even Christian faith — will not protect you from ICE detention or the draconian policies of the current administration.

Let’s pray Pastor Zozaya’s prayer daily and then be the answer to our prayers.

Information for this story was taken from two reports by Aleja Hertzler-McCain a journalist with Religion News Service.

Who Won the 2020 Election?

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“A lie told once remains a lie, but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth.”

This quote has been attributed to Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. There is little evidence that he ever said it or wrote it, but it doesn’t really matter. The quote feels accurate — like it would be a practice any good propagandist would adhere to, but never admit. The quote also rings true to our experience — accurately describing the power of deception and lies when repeated. I know too many people who believe a lie even when there is no evidence of its veracity. Yes, there are still people who believe that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, eat dogs and cats. Lies repeated often enough DO replace the truth. It’s why conspiracy theories abound.

Two weeks ago, Donald J. Trump told us yet again how the 2020 presidential election was stolen. He claimed our elections are vulnerable to fraud and susceptible to error. The voting machines are unreliable. Mail-in ballots can be easily falsified. Results can be manipulated by unscrupulous poll workers or nefarious nations. Non-citizens vote in elections on a regular basis, skewing the results. Therefore, we must change election laws to prevent rampant election tampering. And all this was said without presenting a shred of evidence

We have heard the same lie about the insecurity of our elections for the past 6 plus years. It appears that the lie has become the truth for everyone in the ‘Trumposphere.” In his confirmation hearing as Director of National Intelligence on July 15, 2026, Jay Clayton was asked specifically under oath by Senator Jon Ossoff, “Did Joe Biden win the 2020 election?” Clayton refused to answer the question. Even after repeated attempts to get an “honest and forthright” answer, Clayton continued to refuse.

Others in the administration and those being considered for appointments have also refused to answer the question or have equivocated by saying that Biden was “certified” as president. What is more disturbing to me, however, is the number of regular people — including people of faith — who won’t (or can’t) answer the question definitively. The lie has been told often enough that there is uncertainty and a hesitancy to commit, and it has been told often enough to undermine confidence in election results in 2026 and beyond.

Liars and deceivers will tell lies and deceive. But as people of faith, we have an obligation to call them out and tell the truth. Scripture warns of false prophets and false teachers who lead people away from the truth. The Didache, one of the earliest Christian church instructional manuals also known as “The Teaching of the Twelve Disciples”, gave churches clear guidelines as to how to identify false teachers, and the letters from the apostle John, provided truth to counter their deceptions (see especially 2 John). The Psalmist prayed, “Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.” — Psalm 120:2 (NRSVUE) We cannot allow ourselves to be led astray by those seeking to control the narrative for their own agenda and benefit.

Who won the 2020 election? Each one of us needs to answer that question. And if your answer isn’t Joe Biden, I would ask you a second question: “Why do you believe he didn’t win?”

A Time for Introspection

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As we begin this Independence Day holiday weekend, I must confess that my mood has been far from celebratory. During the past two weeks, the Supreme Court of the United States has handed down decisions that strip Haitians and Syrians of their temporary protected status, permitted Customs and Border Patrol to turn away asylum seekers at the Mexico-US border, increased the power of the President to fire members of Independent Government Agencies for no cause and disregarded the rights of transgendered women. Even the decision to protect birthright citizenship was passed –but by the narrowest of margins — 5 to 4. 

In 1852, Frederick Douglass was invited to speak at a 4th of July gathering. The most famous part of his speech begins, “What to the American slave is your Fourth of July?”  He answered his own question with, “I answer: A day that reveals to him more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy – a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.” 

Frederick Douglass’s words resonate into our century.  Like him, I find little about this holiday that inspires me to celebrate or be proud to be a citizen of the United States.  In fact, I have grieved.  For every migrant detained by ICE, every detainee deported to a Central American prison, every protester arrested and charged with terrorism, every black and brown person gerrymandered out of voting power, every woman passed over for promotion, and every trans person discharged from military service, the words declaring American greatness and glory are hollow and empty.  What to them is this Fourth of July? 

As people of faith, we are called to truth, honest reflection, humble confession, repentance and repair. We are not the nation we claim to be. But we are not completely lost. When the kings of Israel strayed from God’s commands and led God’s people into idolatry, God — through the prophets — called out and preserved a remnant that sought God’s face and turned from the nation’s evil. May we be that remnant today.

Hymn-writer, Carolyn Winfrey Gillette was asked to write a song by Sojourner’s for this Fourth of July, entitled “In This Time of Great Reflection.” She has said that the hymn lifts up the theme of a sermon preached by Puritan John Winthrop in 1630— just prior to the Mayflower’s voyage across the Atlantic to the New World. In his sermon, “A Model of Christian Charity,” Winthrop referenced Matthew 5:14, reminding his fellow Puritans that they were the “city on a hill that could not be hidden.”  He was not suggesting that they or the Massachusetts Bay Colony they would establish was exceptional or destined to greatness. Instead, he was warning them that as a city on a hill, “the eyes of the world are upon [them]”. Would the world see a people committed to doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly with God? Would the world see love of God and love of neighbor? If not, Winthrop warned, “if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause [God] to withdraw [God’s] present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword through the world”.

Douglass’s honest assessment, Winthrop’s warning, and Gillette’s prayer hymn are sober reminders that on this 250th Anniversary of our independence, we, the people, have a choice to make about who we want to become and about the values and ideals that will guide us into the future. Let’s choose with sound judgment. Otherwise, we are destined — not to glory — but to be “a story or a byword” and a “cautionary tale.”

Relief (and Grief)

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Who belongs and who doesn’t? Who is a citizen and who is “alien”?

Steven Miller, advisor to the President and architect of the plan to deport millions of people out of the United States, and the Heritage Foundation (Project 2025) would have us believe that being born on US soil should NOT confer automatic citizenship. But today, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of birthright citizenship! Those born in the US are “US citizens” without regard to the status of the parents.

I’m breathing a sigh of relief! “Thank you, God!” Any other decision would have put millions of people (including scores of people in my circle) at risk of being stripped of their citizenship and potentially deported — which is Steven Miller’s ultimate goal.

At the same time that I’m relieved, I also am grieved. Last week, the same Supreme Court stripped Haitians and Syrians of their Temporary Protected Status despite dangerous conditions in their home countries, and it permitted the administration to continue the practice of turning away asylum seekers at the US – Mexico border before they set foot on US soil, thereby forcing them to remain in Mexico without a clear pathway to asylum.

As I recall, God’s instructions to the Israelites in the Torah were this: “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Leviticus 19:34 – NIV) and Jesus announced blessing on those who welcomed the stranger. (Matthew 25:35)

The question of belonging and who is an American citizen has only been partially answered. If you’re born on US soil, the answer is, “you are.” But if you came into the country without documentation, or you came seeking asylum, or you arrived in this country as a child, or you were given temporary permission to come, you are and will remain an alien, vulnerable to the whims of people like Steven Miller, J.D. Vance, Mike Johnson, and Supreme Court Justices Alito, Thomas and Gorsuch who voted to end birthright citizenship..

ATTENTION: ALL BIRTHRIGHT AND NATURALIZED CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES. There are only 125 days until November 3. Exercise your citizenship wisely.

Not Christian Enough for Protection

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On February 6, 2026, the President made a promise to those gathered for the National Prayer Breakfast. “While I’m in the White House, we will protect Christians in our schools, in our military, in our government, in our workplaces, hospitals and in our public squares.” The President repeated that commitment in a speech before the “Faith and Freedom Coalition” conference on June 26, 2026.

I guess some Christians just aren’t “Christian enough” to qualify for protection–specifically Iranian Christians.

Christianity is officially recognized by the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, it is against the law to conduct Christian worship in Farsi, and converting to Christianity from Islam or attempting to convert others is punishable by steep fines, lengthy prison sentences, interrogations and even execution. Because of the ongoing persecution of converts, many Iranian Christians have come to the United States, seeking asylum. One of them, Artemis Ghasemzadeh, was able escape on a multi-national journey that began in Dubai and ended at the US border in Tijuana, hoping to apply for asylum. Instead, she was detained at the border for entering the country illegally, and placed in a detention center despite her pleas for asylum. A DHS spokesperson insists that she never expressed fear of returning to her home country. Then she was put on a flight (supposedly to Texas) in March 2025, Upon disembarkation, she discovered that she was in Panama! She was placed in a detention center near the notorious Darian Gap in Panama. She was not alone. On the flight to Panama were other Iranian Christians — also converts from Islam — just like her. Fifteen months later, her condition and location are uncertain.

Since March 2025, more Iranians have been deported, some to Panama, and others to Costa Rica. Most recently, DHS sent 2 dozen people to the Central African Republic — including an Iranian woman who had converted to Christianity — on June 11, 2026. She should count herself lucky. Others have been sent back to Iran. Yes. BACK TO IRAN!

On September 29, 2025, 120 Iranians were flown from the US to Tehran, the capital of Iran, under a deal between the State Department and Iran. Included in the group were Christian converts, members of other minority religions and political dissidents. Evangelical pastor, Rev. Ara Torosian — an Iranian-born American — reported on his Facebook page that “when the plane landed in Tehran, Iranian state media was already waiting. Refugees were lined up, searched, and their belongings seized. Particularly alarming was the targeting of 10-15 Christian converts, who were forced to display their Bibles and crosses on camera while being interrogated.” The report continued, “They were then separated into individual rooms where they were coerced into making video confessions, statements discrediting their conversions, claiming they were misled by pastors, and admitting they had sought Christianity merely to gain asylum. These staged confessions are expected to be broadcast soon by Iranian state television as part of propaganda against both Christianity and the United States.”

A second flight in December 2025 returned 54 Iranians to Tehran, and a third flight on January 26, 2026, returned 14 more.

About 200 Iranians remain in detention awaiting deportation. Ironically, the only thing delaying their deportation to Iran is a war. But flights to other countries will likely continue and ICE will target more of our Iranian brothers and sisters in Christ. Obviously, they just aren’t Christian enough to protect.

Project 1956

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I was born in 1956. Yes, I turn 70 this fall. (According to age groupings, I’m ‘young-old,’ so don’t call me ‘old’ quite yet.) But this post isn’t about my age. It’s about my father’s relationship with the Republican Party that year.

My father, who served in the Pacific in World War II, was a staunch Republican. He believed in the principals of limited government, fiscal responsibility (ie balanced budget), and personal integrity. He held civil servants and political candidates to high moral and ethical standards. For him, the Republican Party embodied those principals, and he voted in every election–straight ticket for Republican candidates.

In 1956, the Republican Party officially turned 100 years old. The Grand Old Party of Abraham Lincoln had experienced a resurgence following the end of World War II. In 1952, General Dwight D. Eisenhower had been elected to the Presidency in a landslide victory, and, by 1956, the nation was in the midst of its post-war boom. Eisenhower had negotiated a truce with North Korea, had embarked on the “Atoms for Peace” initiative to prevent an arms race, continued the New Deal programs (including expansion of Social Security), raised the minimum wage, and ended racial segregation in the District of Columbia, the Federal government and the military. My father liked ‘Ike.’

Because he liked ‘Ike’, my father supported the Republican Party Platform of 1956–a document adopted at the Republican Convention that outlined the successes of Eisenhower’s first term and the proposals for a second term–think of it as Project 1956. In its “Opening Declaration,” the platform affirmed the very things my father believed in.

  On its Centennial, the Republican Party again calls to the minds of all Americans the great truth first spoken by Abraham Lincoln: “The legitimate object of Government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves in their separate and individual capacities. But in all that people can individually do as well for themselves, Government ought not to interfere.” Our great President Dwights D. Eisenhower has counseled us further: “In all those things which deal with people, be liberal, be human. In all those things which deal with people’s money, or their economy or their form of government, be conservative.  

 ….We believe that basic to governmental integrity are unimpeachable ethical standards and irreproachable personal conduct by all people in government. We shall continue to root out corruption whenever and wherever it appears. We are proud of and shall continue our far-reaching and sound advances in matters of basic human needs—expansion of social security—broadened coverage in unemployment insurance —improved housing—and better health protection for all our people. 

The document then went into detail on the party’s commitments to the following topics:

  • TAXES: The party committed to reducing taxes “with particular consideration for low and middle income families.” Under Eisenhower, the tax bracket for individuals making more than $200,000 [$2.45 million in today’s dollars] was 91%! Today’s top tax bracket is 37% with so many loopholes that millionaires and billionaires pay little in taxes.)
  • LABOR: President Eisenhower said: “Labor is the United States. The men and women, who with their minds, their hearts and hands, create the wealth that is shared in this country—they are America.” The platform went on to commit the party to 1) equal pay for equal work regardless of sex, 2) protections for the right of workers to organize and collective bargaining, 3) elimination of discrimination in employment because of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry or sex, 4) protection of benefit plans (such as pensions and healthcare) so that workers are assured access.
  • CIVIL SERVICE: The GOP committed to promote a non-political career service under the merit system which will attract and retain able servants of the people.
  • EQUAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL RIGHTS: “We recommend to Congress the submission of a constitutional amendment providing equal rights for men and women.” and “We concur in the conclusion of the Supreme Court that its decision directing school desegregation should be accomplished with “all deliberate speed” locally through Federal District Courts.” (In 1957, Eisenhower sent National Guard troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to ensure desegregation of its public schools per “Brown vs. Board of Education”.)
  • IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP: “All native-born and naturalized citizens not only [have] citizenship in the State where the individual resides but citizenship of the United States as well. This is an unqualified right, regardless of race, creed or color.” The document also affirmed support for “an immigration policy which is in keeping with the traditions of America in providing a haven for oppressed peoples, and which is based on equality of treatment, freedom from implications of discrimination between racial, nationality and religious groups.” and “extension of the Refugee Relief Act of 1953” which protected the right of migrants to seek asylum in the United States.
  • FOREIGN POLICY: “We shall continue vigorously to support the United Nations.” and “We reaffirm the principle of freedom for all peoples, and look forward to the eventual end of colonialism.”

Much of the 70-year-old platform sounds almost — almost, but not quite — progressive! The 1956 Republican Party that my father supported is NOT the same Republican Party we have today. Seventy years later, the Grand Old Party is unrecognizable, and it doesn’t even pretend to be “human” with respect to people or “considerate” of low-income families.

I don’t believe my father would support today’s Republican Party, nor do I do believe my father (who did not vote for John F. Kennedy because of his sexual promiscuity and ties to the mob or Bill Clinton because of his dalliances) would have voted for Donald Trump or his MAGA sycophants. I believe he would be horrified by the Religious Right’s unequivocal support of a serial liar, sexual predator and power-monger. If people roll over in their graves, I believe he would be face-down after the passage of the “One Big [Ugly] Bill”, the expansion of ICE detentions and deportations, the decisions of the Supreme Court that end Temporary Protective Status and deny migrants access to asylum, the erosion of voting rights and civil rights, and the systematic destruction of programs and policies that protect people and planet.

I wish he were here so I could “pick his brain.” If he were, I’m sure he would long for the ‘good old days’ of Project 1956 and reject Project 2025 and the “Christian Nationalism” and “White Supremacy” that resides at its heart. He might even say, “I’m a Democrat,” or at least, “I’m a 1956 Republican.” Maybe some current Republicans could consider that shift too.

I want to acknowledge Heather Cox Richardson’s inspiration for this post. She referenced the 1956 Republican Platform on her Substack. Without her, I wouldn’t have known how “liberal” Republicans were the year I was born.

Jesus Need Not Apply

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“When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.‘” Matthew 2:13

Today is World Refugee Day. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, 117.8 million people–1 in 70 people living on the planet!–are forcibly displaced from their homes “as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order.” Like, Mary, Joseph and Jesus, they fear for their lives and seek a place of refuge and safety–often in countries far from their countries of origin. Until 2025, the United States allowed 125,000 refugees to enter the country each year. By an Executive Order by the current administration, the number of refugees allowed to enter the country was drastically cut to a trickle of 7,500 in 2025, and refugee applications that had already been approved were frozen.

The Executive Order not only reduced the number of refugee slots, it also shifted who would be approved for resettlement in the U.S. Prior to 2025, the refugee admissions program prioritize those individuals who had fled their country of origin because of persecution due to their faith, political opinion or race. The new priority focuses on white South Africans who claim they are being persecuted because they are white.

On May 26, 2026, the White House issued an Emergency Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2026, that would allow an additional 10,000 refugees to enter the United.States bringing the total to 17,500 for 2026. However, the determination specifies that those additional slots will remain entirely closed to those who meet the traditional legal definition of a refugee. Only white South Africans will be considered for approval.

All others will be rejected. Period. Jesus, a refugee escaping political violence, need not apply.

Matthew Sorens, vice president for advocacy and policy at World Relief, issued the following statement in response to the Presidential Determination: “In his address to the UN in 2019, President Trump declared to those facing religious persecution that ‘no matter where you go, you have a place in the United States of America. We at World Relief still want that sentiment to be true, and we encourage the administration to make good on its repeated promises to offer safe haven, including to those fleeing persecution on account of their faith.” 

We Choose Welcome, a faith-based immigrant and refugee advocacy group, also responded: “The radical change in refugee admissions makes a mockery of what has been a successful humanitarian process and abandons the program’s core purpose: prioritizing those facing the most urgent threats to safety.”

Both organizations encourage us all to advocate for those who are seeking refuge by speaking up on their behalf. Here is a toolkit to help you take concrete action for refugees and asylum seekers.

Jesus said, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Let’s make sure he has a place of refuge in the United States.

A Disturbing Message (follow-up)

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There has been an unexpected twist in the burning cross incident that occurred 10 days ago in Chicago’s Grant Park. After surveillance photos of “a person of interest” were distributed, Merlin Lu — a 21-year-old college student from Naperville, IL — contacted NBC5 reporter Chuck Goudie and confessed. Lu admitting setting the cross on fire, but said that he had no idea of the history of cross-burning or the connection to racial intimidation. He claimed that he set the cross on fire to protest the Trump administration. As evidence, he pointed out that he had placed a MAGA hat at the top of the cross before setting it ablaze. Lu has since turned himself into the Chicago police. Lu has been charged with a felony hate crime.

If Lu is telling the truth that he didn’t have a clue, I’m still disturbed that he was so ignorant. He graduated in 2022 from Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville–a public high school that has been recognized for its academic excellence and is listed among the top 400 high schools in the nation with a graduation rate of 96%! In 2017, the school received the National Blue Ribbon Award from the US Department of Education in recognition of student achievement. So, I checked out the Social Studies curriculum at Neuqua Valley to get a sense of what Lu probably had been exposed to. According to the current course of study, he would have been required to take a course on US history in his Sophomore year. The curriculum lists Civil Rights as a focus in the second semester. Of course, that does not mean that the history of cross-burning by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is included in the instruction. But even if it was, Lu may not have been in class the day it was taught.

However, there was something else I learned while going down the rabbit hole. On the first day of the 2015-2016 academic year, a student came to Neuqua Valley High School wearing a Confederate Flag T-shirt, igniting a firestorm on social media and setting off a debate about freedom of speech.. While this occurred two years before Mr. Lu entered high school, controversies like the display of a Confederate Flag usually don’t die down quickly or without ramifications. One would think (or at least hope) that the Social Studies department would have been instructed to address Civil Rights more thoroughly so that students would understand the triggering nature and power of symbols.

Maybe the department did address hate symbols and racism. Maybe it didn’t. Either way, let’s be honest: we’ve never done a very good job teaching students US History generally or Civil Rights history specifically. And we are losing ground as we prepare to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the founding of the United States. Museums have been told to “adjust” their displays to reflect only the greatness of American history. The National Park Service has been ordered to remove plaques that portray the founders in a negative light (most of them were enslavers). Web sites have been scrubbed. DEI initiatives have been rolled back. Critical Race Theory has been vilified. New history curriculum has espoused new interpretations of the past–like slavery was beneficial for African-Americans. (That gem comes out of PraegerU, a curriculum that is being used in a growing number of schools across the nation–including elementary schools.)

Was Mr. Lu ignorant of the symbolism of a burning cross? If he was ignorant, there are probably thousands of 21-year-olds (or older) that are equally uninformed. But, in my opinion, even if he was ignorant of the symbolism, charging him with a felony hate crime does not teach him much. He has admitted his offense and recognized its impact.. It would be so much better to sentence him to community service hours with an organization like NAACP (or a similar group) that would help him to understand our national racist past and give him the opportunity to connect to those he triggered when he lit the match.

And let’s be honest: it’s not likely that you will see (or light) a burning cross , but there is plenty of racism all around us (and in too many of us). I find it very disturbing that many of the same people who condemned a burning cross have been silent after Josh Hoykit (age 28), praised Jesus in one breath and in the next declared, “Michelle Obama is a man,” following his victory at #47’s birthday UFC cage fight. He needs community service hours and a re-education too.

Come to think of it, maybe we all need to be re-educated–especially on this Juneteenth holiday. Community service would benefit us all too.