Evangelical Christians Hit Out At Trump's Refugee Ban

Evangelicals have spoken out against Donald Trump's executive order to ban Middle-East refugees from seeking asylum in the US.

Several prominent evangelical Christian charities who work with refugees have voiced their opposition to the policy. Scott Arbeiter, president of World Relief, told Christianity Today: "Our concern is that this action really does further traumatise a group of people that have already borne so much tragedy. The human toll is really crushing." 

NAE president Leith Anderson also criticised Trump's policy, saying: "Most refugees from the Middle East are women and children who have suffered the assaults of ISIS terrorists and civil war.

"We have the opportunity to rescue, help, and bless some of the world's most oppressed and vulnerable families."

World Relief took on approximately 11,000 cases last year, working with nearly 1,200 churches. The Obama administration had set an objective of settling 110,000 refugees in the fiscal year 2017 but Trump's administration is now set to cut that to 50,000. The proposed ban would crack down on immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations: Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Iran, Sudan, Libya, and Yemen. The ban on Syrian refugees would be indefinite. In 2016, Syria was the country of origin for the almost 85,000 refugees who came to the US.

"The question for the American Christians is: will we speak out on behalf of those who are running from the very terror that we are rightly trying to put an end to?" Arbeiter asked. "People who are running from Mosul and Aleppo and a thousand other places on fire?"

The Trump administration has justified the executive order under security concerns. A draft of the executive order reads: "In order to protect Americans, we must ensure that those admitted to this country do not bear hostile attitudes toward our country and its founding principles."

Critics of the executive order point to the US's already stringent vetting policy, as well as the fact that many of the refugees seeking asylum are desperate and vulnerable woman and children, not terror threats. Many say that a blanket ban on refugees is more likely to incite radicalisation than it is to minimise it. 

The advocacy group We Welcome Refugees created an online solidarity statement in support of refugees this week, which has already exceeded 13,000 signatures. The group includes several prominent Christian groups, including World Relief and the NAE, World Vision, Willow Creek Community Church, Q, OM, and the World Evangelical Alliance.

On Twitter, several evangelicals have spoken up. Former faith adviser to Barack Obama Michael Wear posted his direct opposition to Trump's policy, accusing Trump of "playing politics with people's lives".

Russell Moore was a vehement critic of Trump's during the campaign, but his rhetoric has softened since the election, and he has called on Christians to pray for the president rather than challenge his legitimacy. His tweet underlined the Christian imperative to help those seeking refuge.

Despite Franklin Graham calling the refugee crisis "not a Bible issue", writer Laura Turner posted this verse from Leviticus, suggesting otherwise. Many other have pointed out that Jesus himself was a refugee when he and his family fled to Egypt, as well as noting numerous other verses about concern for the outsider.

Progressive evangelical pastor Brian Zahnd posted the following, addressing several of Trump's policies and challenging what it truly means to be 'pro-life'. 

Activist Jim Wallis framed the issue as one of religious liberty.