US faith leaders opposed to ICE raids counsel nonviolent resistance and lead by example
When the Rev. Edward Anderson rallied in Los Angeles this week against the Trump administration's intensifying immigration crackdown, he positioned himself between law enforcement and his fellow protesters, serving as a human buffer.
Anderson, who leads McCarty Memorial Christian Church in the city's West Adams Terrace neighborhood, believes he was upholding his moral duty to stand against injustice, but in a nonviolent manner that his faith demands.
'It is imperative that people of faith speak out because silence in the face of injustice is complicity,' he said.
Some U.S. religious leaders are taking a stand about President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, including ones citing Scripture to explain their support for his policies and others citing it to explain their resistance. For many of those condemning how federal agents are rounding up and deporting people who are in the country illegally, though, nonviolent resistance is the best — and only — way to effect positive change.
State and local leaders have accused Trump of inflaming tensions and raising the risk of violence by deploying National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles in response to the protests, which have been daily since last week. Although most have been peaceful, some have resulted in clashes between protesters and law enforcement.
Elected officials, including LA Mayor Karen Bass, have called on protesters to remain peaceful, saying violence will only inflame the situation.
It's a message religious leaders can get behind.
'The moral message is clear: we do not accept the world as it is. We respond to cruelty with courage, to hatred with love,' Rabbi Sharon Brous said this week at an interfaith vigil in Los Angeles, where the mayor imposed a downtown curfew.
The Rev. Jacqui Lewis, senior pastor of Middle Collegiate Church in New York City, said nonviolent resistance is a core belief of her congregation, which has been feeding and helping newly arrived immigrants and demonstrating to support them.
'We're like Jesus — nonviolent,' said Lewis.
But nonviolence isn't silence, she said, adding that it 'often means confronting people with the truth. ... We understand that social change has happened because people of faith and spiritual imagination guided the streets peacefully.'
Her flock plans to take part in one of Saturday's 'No Kings' rallies, which are happening in cities throughout the country to protest Trump's policies and which will take place during a military parade in Washington.
Nonviolence and a slow path to change
Nonviolent protest has a proven track record in the U.S., having been successfully used by, among others, the Rev. Martin Luther King during the Civil Rights movement.
However, Michael Nagler, co-founder of The Metta Center for Nonviolence, a California-based nonprofit involved in education and advocacy, cautioned that nonviolence and civil disobedience come with suffering and sacrifice.
He pointed to the sacred Hindu text the Bhagavad Gita, which advises practicing action without getting attached to the result.
'Principled nonviolence comes from this awareness that the divine resides in each and every one of us and every life is precious,' he said. 'You believe that a solution can always be worked out where all parties have their legitimate needs met.'
Nonviolence might not yield immediate results, but it eventually has a deeper impact and fewer casualties than the alternative, Nagler said. In the context of the current struggle, a positive result might mean getting the administration to deal with immigrants more humanely, he said.
Faith leaders can play a crucial role in the demonstrations, said the Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, president of Interfaith Alliance. They can provide 'a sense of shield' and a 'spiritual force' for demonstrators, and inspire 'a reduction of harm and nonviolent presence ... in a space where it appears that there's only a spiraling of violence.'
Partnering with local Los Angeles organizations and labor unions, Anderson said his congregation has led prayer vigils, helped migrants learn about their rights, and advised other faith leaders about what to do if ICE shows up at their houses of worship.
'As clergy and community leaders, we are not only called to preach justice but to embody it, to be present in the pain of our people, and to lift up the sacred worth of every human life,' he said in an email.
Anderson said he draws strength from the Bible's calls to welcome the stranger, defend the oppressed and love thy neighbor.
Views among faith leaders are hardly uniform, with others citing the Bible as a reason for supporting Trump's crackdown.
There are many faith leaders, notably in the evangelical ranks, who support the immigration crackdown.
'I support 100% President Trump's goal of protecting our country from evildoers, whether from within or without,' said the Rev. Robert Jeffress, a longtime Trump supporter who is a Southern Baptist pastor at a Dallas megachurch. 'The president has authority from the Constitution and the Bible to do exactly what he's doing.'
Regarding the protests, Jeffress said, 'People have a right to be wrong. But they don't have the right to be wrong in a violent manner.'
Committed to interfaith action and working together
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which participated in an interfaith prayer vigil in Grand Park on Tuesday, said it plans to remain engaged. That gathering showed that people of different faiths can unite and pray for a compassionate way forward, said the Rev. Parker Sandoval, the Catholic archdiocese's vice chancellor.
'A lot of people are living in fear now, whether it's fear of violence or the fear of being separated from their families,' he said. 'God insists that we are not alone or without hope. Evil, no matter what form it takes, does not have the last word.'
Seth Zuihō Segall, a Zen Buddhist priest affiliated with the Buddhist Coalition for Democracy, said he and his colleagues are appalled by images of masked, armed federal immigration agents 'whisking people off the streets and into cars.' He stressed via email that opposition to these developments should be nonviolent.
'Non-harming, non-hatred, and nonviolence are at the very core of the Buddha's message,' he wrote. 'We strive to treat all people — even those whose actions appall us — as buddhas-in-progress.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
36 minutes ago
- New York Post
Vance: ‘No interest in boots on the ground' — but bracing for poss. sleeper-cell attacks in US
Vice President JD Vance on Sunday insisted the US has no interest in putting boots on the ground in Iran — while admitting the administration is bracing for potential terror attacks from sleeper cells in America. 'We're not at war with Iran. We're at war with Iran's nuclear program,' Vance told NBC's 'Meet the Press.' 'We have no interest in a protracted conflict. We have no interest in boots on the ground,' he said. 'We didn't blow up diplomacy. 'We only took this action when it was clear, as the president said, that the Iranians were tapping us along,' the vice president said of the US strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities Saturday. 'The Iranians are clearly not very good at war. Perhaps they should follow President Trump's lead and give peace a chance if they're serious about it. I guarantee you, the president of the United States is,' Vance said. 4 Vice President JD Vance on Sunday warns Iran against retaliation. NBC 4 The Pentagon laid out a timeline for how 'Operation Midnight Hammer' unfolded against Iran on Saturday. Dept of Defense The vice president insisted Iran's network of terrorist proxies in the region is already washed up, as is its nuclear program, though comprehensive damage assessments haven't been finished. After announcing the successful military campaign late Saturday, Trump dramatically warned that any retaliation from Iran 'will be met with force far greater than what was witnessed' during the strikes on its Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan nuclear sites. Vance reiterated that warning and underscored that 'it would be the stupidest thing in the world if they' seek retribution. He also indicated that the US has been battening down the hatches just in case. 'We're, of course, doing everything that we can to keep our people safe. I think that we're prepared in the event that the Iranians do retaliate,' Vance said — before later warning about possible sleeper cells in the US. 'Unfortunately, we know that a lot of people who we don't have full accounting of were let in over the last four years under the Biden administration,' Vance said. Also among the fears of reciprocation from Iran is that Tehran could target US bases and other military assets in the Mideast or close off the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway through which about 20% to 25% of the world's oil consumption flows. 4 Vance joined President Trump in the Situation Room to monitor the strikes Saturday. The White House/X Vance said it would be 'suicidal' for Iran to try to shut the strait, particularly given the havoc that would wreak on its already beleaguered economy. But he reiterated that 'our biggest red line is the Iranian nuclear weapons.' Vance, throughout his tenure as an elected official, has staked out a staunch anti-war position. He had long been skeptical of protracted US aid to war-torn Ukraine. In March, a leaked Signal message chat revealed that he was privately apprehensive about Trump's strike against the Houthis in Yemen. Despite that, Vance was adamant Sunday that Trump is being prudent with his use of military force and that preventing Iran's theocratic regime from obtaining a nuke is within America's core interests. 'The president has actually been one of the fiercest critics of 25 years of failed foreign policy in the Middle East, which is why he did what he did: a very precise, a very surgical strike tailored to an American national interest,' Vance said. 'I don't fear that this is going to become a protracted conflict because I think that we have a president who knows what's in America's interest.' The vice president also juxtaposed Trump's use of military action against Iran with how past presidents have dealt with conflicts in the tumultuous region. 4 Top military officials are still assessing the damage done to the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant and other facilities. MAXAR Technologies 'I certainly empathize with Americans who are exhausted after 25 years of foreign entanglements in the Middle East,' he stressed. 'I understand the concern. But the difference is that back then we had a dumb president.' Shortly after news of the strikes broke, a chorus of Democrats called for Trump to be impeached, accusing him of exceeding his military authority. Even some Republicans, such as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), called the airstrikes unconstitutional. Vance, a former Ohio senator, shrugged off those concerns and stressed that 'the president has clear authority to act to prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.' Earlier this year, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified before the House and Senate intelligence committees that the US intelligence community assessed that 'Iran is not building a nuclear weapon.' She later accused the media of misconstruing her words. 'They were way too close to a nuclear weapon for the comfort of the president of the United States, which is why he took this action,' Vance said of the Iranians. 'We had a narrow window of opportunity. 'We might not have been able to carry out this attack six months down the road,' he added. 'It would have been irresponsible, I think, for the president not to take the action that he did. 'What happens next is up to the Iranians,' Vance assessed at another point in the interview.
The Hill
41 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump touts ‘great unity' in GOP after Iran strikes, pushes to get ‘big, beautiful' bill done
President Trump touted the 'great unity' among Republicans following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, as he called on the party to focus on getting his agenda bill through to his desk. 'Great unity in the Republican Party, perhaps unity like we have never seen before,' Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Sunday. 'Now let's get the Great, Big, Beautiful Bill done. Our Country is doing GREAT. MAGA!' he added. The president's remarks come after he announced Saturday evening that U.S. forces bombed three Iranian nuclear sites and said to Iran in a social media post, 'NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!' The bombs targeted three nuclear sites in Natanz, Esfahan and Fordow, located inside a mountain. Six 'bunker buster' bombs were reportedly dropped on Fordow, while more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles were launched at the other two sites. The bombings put the U.S. directly in Iran's crosshairs for retaliation and made it an active participant in the Mideastern war, which Israel launched with airstrikes against Iran on June 13. Ahead of the strikes, news outlets had focused on the so-called 'civil war' in the GOP, between the pro-Israel foreign policy hawks and supporters who identified more with the 'America-First' agenda. Members of both groups had been publicly lobbying the president in opposite directions as he considered taking military actions against Iran. While some anti-interventionist Republicans—including Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.)—still publicly criticized the strikes, most of the GOP expressed support following the announcement. The news also comes as the Senate enters a pivotal week for the president's massive agenda bill, which Republican leaders in Congress still say they hope to get done by July 4.
Wall Street Journal
43 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Standards Slip at Fort Bragg
'On Display at D.C.'s Parade: Tanks, Drones and the Military's Identity Crisis' (Review, June 14) cites President Trump's speech at Fort Bragg in which he used a group of soldiers as stage props in a piece of political theater. The authors refer to it as 'a breach of traditional decorum.' I believe it is an egregious violation of U.S. military standards of conduct. Our armed forces have sedulously separated themselves from partisan politics—and soldiers on duty, in uniform, booing or cheering remarks in a blatantly political speech are acting in contravention to those standards. One might note that politicians don't campaign on military installations; nor should they. That a politician would use soldiers in this way is profoundly disrespectful to the Constitution and to the troops who are sworn to defend it. It appears that refresher training in standards of conduct would be in order at Fort Bragg. Moreover, someone might inform the president of what type of speech or behavior is appropriate for uniformed military audiences.
