From: The Revs. Felipe N. Martinez, Mary Moore, Clement T. Davis, Howard Boles, Tonja M. Gerardy and Lawrence Jackman
Columbus
In light of our faiths, and the biblical and other religious teachings that urge us to welcome the stranger and to love our neighbor as ourselves, we condemn in the strongest possible terms the substance and motivation of the executive order that the president issued on Jan. 27, temporarily or permanently banning refugees from several majority-Muslim countries.
For decades, some of our congregations right here in Columbus have sponsored refugees who were fleeing repressive regimes, including a Syrian family just this past year. We call on people of faith to stand together to reject codified and systematic Islamophobia.
We call on the president and Congress not to use the legitimate need for safety in our country as cover to promote ethnic and religious discrimination. We call on everybody in the United States, whether one has lived here for generations or just a few days, to see the image of God in one another, for we are all children of God called to live together in peace.
