World Relief, which calls itself the "biggest evangelical refugee resettlement agency in America" is urging political leaders around the country -- many of whom consistently court evangelical votes -- to support the resettling of Syrian refugees in this country. Politico.com quotes World Relief's vice president Jenny Yang who says that talk of shutting such refugees out "does not reflect what we've been hearing from our constituencies, which are evangelical churches across the country."
To the contrary. She said, "Most of the people have been saying we want to continue to work with refugees, that what happened in Paris ... doesn't reflect who refugees are."
World Relief has also created a website, wewelcomerefugees.com/advocate, that encourages people to contact their political leaders and express their concern for the safety of Syrian refugees and to express their disappointment in the anti-refugee rhetoric that's emerged since Paris.
In 2008 evangelical Christian Lisa Sharon Harper wrote a book called "Evangelical Does Not Equal Republican or Democrat." Such a statement ought to be self-evident. But far too often evangelical Christians have acted as if the Republican party is godly. They have sometimes given the impression that they are more loyal to the GOP than to Jesus.
But kindness to the stranger is a biblical mandate that Christians ought to take seriously. It's encouraging, then, to see so many Christian groups -- World Relief, Catholic Charities, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and others -- demonstrating to these self-professed religious leaders that their anti-refugee talk doesn't square with their faith.
The Anti-Defamation League, whose primary fight is against anti-Semitism, has also joined the chorus of voices encouraging refuge for those fleeing Syria. "This country must not give into fear or bias by turning its back on our nation's fundamental commitment to refugee protection and human rights," the ADL's CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt wrote in a prepared statement. "Now is precisely the time to stand up for our core values, including that we are a proud nation of immigrants. To do otherwise signals to the terrorists that they are winning the battle against democracy and freedom."
You can read the Politico story mentioned above here: Christian groups break with GOP over Syrian refugees.
Jarvis DeBerry can be reached at jdeberry@nola.com. Follow him at twitter.com/jarvisdeberry.