The last time Mana Kharrazi spoke with her uncle in Iran on the phone, she told him he could not visit the U.S. because of President Donald Trump’s so-called “Muslim ban,” an executive order barring travel from seven mostly Muslim-majority countries. She did not know her uncle was dying.
In May 2017, Juana Luz Tobar Ortega took sanctuary at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Greensboro, N.C. Originally from Guatemala, she had received a deportation sentence that would have separated her from her husband, four children, and two grandchildren, after living and working in the United States for over 20 years. Juana’s story, which is one among many harrowing stories of families harmed by aggressive immigration policies under the Trump administration, is now the subject of a documentary film.
As this conversation continues at the national level, we want to hear from you. What is changing in the way we discuss religion and politics, and what does that tell you about the direction of our country?
“Unskilled” and “temporary” do not accurately describe the people Areli Arteaga loves and works with — and she has no problem addressing those false labels. Arteaga, the daughter of two agricultural workers who immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico almost 30 years ago without documents, testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on April 3, urging Congress members to help pass The Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2019, also known as the “Blue Card” bill.
According to Francirosy Campos, anthropologist and professor at the University of São Paulo (USP), the main problem faced by Muslims in Brazil is prejudice and threats, many of them made on social networks, particularly on Facebook.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who oversaw President Donald Trump's bitterly contested immigration policies during her tumultuous 16-month tenure, resigned on Sunday amid a surge in the number of migrants at the border with Mexico.
Like racism in the U.S., the caste system in India is normalized, permeating every aspect of Indian society. With some exceptions, if you asked a middle-of-the-road white evangelical Christian if racism is prevalent in the U.S., they would likely say no. In a similar vein, if you ask any Hindu upper-caste person if casteism exists, they too would likely say no. But the people directly impacted by the systemic ways in which racism and casteism are baked into society would give you a much different answer.
As our current media and political narrative from the border paints a grim picture, a look at how advocates like Border Angels are working to offer a different kind of welcome—
As Shamika and I called upon our own experiences in church and seminary, we became especially concerned with providing a resource for those who historically have been barred from participation at the Lord’s Table: the divorced, Christians of color, LGBTQ believers, those living far from physical community, or far from a church that is physically accessible. While we’re not trying to replace “brick and mortar” community, we believe God calls us beyond a spirit of fear in the face of innovations in technology.
Buttigieg and the Religious Right, God as mother, oceans drowning in plastic, Jesus in trap music, and more!