Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
In November 2016, my husband and I, full of unironic millennial optimism, hosted an election night party in Canada, where we were living at the time. We attended a church that cared deeply about immigrants and refugees and asylum seekers. I had co-founded a catering company with Syrian refugee women. We were troubled by the anti-immigrant rhetoric coming from those who loved Jesus back home, but were so confident that the polls were correct that we didn’t think twice about hosting a celebratory gathering. I don’t need to tell you how that ended.
A whole decade later, last night, I tried to dust off that now-scoffed-at millennial optimism, but I live in Michigan, where anti-immigrant rhetoric was still on full display this election – this time because the Democratic candidate, Abdul El-Sayed, is a Muslim child of immigrants. I am in a new church now, back in my home state and country, once again surrounded by Christians who are immigrants themselves or who love immigrants deeply. I have refused to lose hope, but we certainly didn’t throw a watch party this time. In fact, I went to the movies with friends so that I couldn’t anxiously be on my phone.
I am grateful that wide swaths of America said no more to this level of dehumanization.
And then! The results rolled in. James Talarico wins his Senate race in Texas — the first Democrat to win a Texas Senate seat since 1988! A seminary student who told the New York Times: “Scripture says you can’t love God and hate other people. That’s in [1 John]. You can’t love God and abuse the immigrant. You can’t love God and oppress the poor. You can’t love God and bully the outcast. We spend so much time looking for God out there that we miss God in the person sitting right next to us, in that neighbor who bears the divine image. In the face of a neighbor, we glimpse the face of God.”
And then! In Kansas, Adam Hamilton, a Methodist megachurch pastor, wins his Senate race in Kansas (something no Democrat has done since 1932). A pastor who has preached sermons on what the Bible says about immigration and how Christians should think about their undocumented neighbors. If last night didn’t feel joyful for you, Hamilton’s words might be an invitation: “In deeply red Kansas, the heart of America, I want us to model what it looks like when thoughtful people actually work together to solve problems, instead of slinging mud at each other.”
Talarico and Hamilton both follow in the tradition of Senators like Raphael Warnock, who famously pastors Martin Luther King Jr.’s former congregation. Like many in the Black Church tradition, he does not shy away from sharing how Scripture motivates him in the public square: “The Hebrews are reminded that you were immigrants. Jesus then picks up that tradition in Matthew 25. But somehow whole communities have been so maligned, so assaulted in their basic humanity and integrity. They’re being persecuted in a real sense. And it is our obligation, all of us, people of moral courage, people of faith especially, to speak out.”
How incredible that some of the voices meeting this moment are Christians who take Scripture this seriously. But these victories are not without deep grief. I was beside myself after seeing Minneapolis voters place their “I Voted” stickers at the sites where Alex Pretti and Renee Good were killed by federal immigration agents. Or, when Ronaldo Salgado placed his own “I Voted” sticker at the location where his father was killed by ICE agents in Houston. I am moved to tears by the beauty of these expressions, and to something like rage at the fact that this was necessary at all. And yet, these are the stakes of elections for our immigrant neighbors and those who love them right now.
I am grateful that wide swaths of America said no more to this level of dehumanization.
So how does a faithful Christian engage now that elections are done? First, we rejoice whenever neighbor love wins! Joy sustains us, and it’s right and good to celebrate when those who have caused pain are removed from positions of power. However, Psalm 146:3 reminds us not to put our confidence in powerful people.
Here’s what that looks like for me: when I woke up to the news that Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan (which I desperately tried to stay awake for, but alas, children wake up early no matter whether there was an election the night before), I was so relieved. I was troubled by the anti-immigrant and Islamophobic rhetoric used against him. (I fully understand that Christians of good faith could have legitimate reasons for voting against him, too, that aren’t rooted in those things.) But let me tell you – when he takes the oath of office in January, I’ll be calling on Day 1, asking him to support reopening the refugee resettlement program.
So, we pray for our leaders by name. We pray that no matter what party they represent or platforms they ran on, they will govern with the well-being of the vulnerable in mind. And if your race went the way you hoped, you do not abandon your civic engagement! Just because your leader supports immigrants (or the environment, or working parents, or whatever issue you are most passionate about) does not mean they will spend the political capital to support that issue. So we keep using our voice and making phone calls!
