Deep Breaths Who Belongs "Trump administration welcomes first batch of white Afrikaners while US cuts off refugee programmes to other countries." — Al Jazeera This subhead from Al Jazeera is deeply unsettling. It lays bare the reality of power deciding who gets in and who is left out. Who is deemed worthy and who is disposable? Who is granted refuge, and who is left to face violence, poverty, or death? This policy doesn’t just expose a preference — it exposes a system where whiteness grants entry and protection, while Black and brown bodies are criminalized, surveilled, and shut out. We are in a moment where lines are being drawn based on race, gender identity, and ideology. And these lines aren’t just political or social — they’re theological. William Augustus Jones Jr., in God in the Ghetto, reminds us that theology shapes how we see people and how we structure society. When lawmakers create policies that harm the vulnerable, it's often because their theology limits who they believe is redeemable. Their view of God allows them to strip others of dignity, humanity, and belonging. But I remain hopeful. I believe more people are holding to a theology that sees God as love and justice. That considers every human being as made in God’s image. And I see it showing up in acts of kindness, courage, and resistance. People are rising up. They are standing for immigrant rights, shielding the vulnerable with their bodies, saying, not on our watch. My plea is simple: let your theology be known — through your actions, your words, and your presence. If we claim to follow Jesus, then we must embody his love, his justice, his mercy. Be light. Be salt. See the divine in others. Be like Jesus, not the empire. ––Rev. Moya Harris, Director of Racial Justice, Sojourners
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