The first negative phone call I received as president and editor of Word&Way came early in 2017 just a couple months after I started. The individual expressed anger about an article we printed reporting on Puerto Rican Baptists criticizing Franklin Graham after the evangelist endorsed some of the anti-immigration policies of the new U.S. president, Donald Trump. Graham was set to hold an evangelistic rally on the island, but the local Baptist leaders decided to pull out of the event.
Educationally relevant to this post, I recommend that people read How to Hide an Empire, subtitle: a History of the Greater United States (Daniel Immerwahr) and America for Americans, subtitle: a History of Xenophobia in the United States (Erika Lee).
Regarding the issue of immigration, I'm working on an article about a Biblical response to immigration. We must learn to show compassion as Jesus taught us, while helping in a practical way that makes a difference.
As Christians, following the teachings of Jesus to care for the "least of these," we need to educate ourselves on the realities of life in Puerto Rico and do as this author says: "advocate for the kind of reparative, emancipatory processes that actually repair the nations," and do this by supporting Puerto Rican leaders who know best what is needed.
Educationally relevant to this post, I recommend that people read How to Hide an Empire, subtitle: a History of the Greater United States (Daniel Immerwahr) and America for Americans, subtitle: a History of Xenophobia in the United States (Erika Lee).
Regarding the issue of immigration, I'm working on an article about a Biblical response to immigration. We must learn to show compassion as Jesus taught us, while helping in a practical way that makes a difference.
As Christians, following the teachings of Jesus to care for the "least of these," we need to educate ourselves on the realities of life in Puerto Rico and do as this author says: "advocate for the kind of reparative, emancipatory processes that actually repair the nations," and do this by supporting Puerto Rican leaders who know best what is needed.