Speaker Mike Johnson promised he would govern "according to the Bible" but his what he says is different than what he does: Hypocrite

PLEASE 🙏🏼SHARE THIS: A social media echo from Ed Jansen:

My struggle with Speaker Mike Johnson is not that he is a conservative or that we disagree politically. People of good faith can disagree. My struggle is that he publicly presents himself as a “Bible-believing Christian,” yet repeatedly promotes claims that have been shown to be false—including the false claim that Democrats shut down the government to provide free healthcare to undocumented immigrants.

Jesus did not teach us to manipulate the truth to gain power. 

He said, “Let your ‘Yes’ be yes and your ‘No’ be no.” He taught that we recognize people by their fruits, and he reserved some of his strongest criticism for religious leaders who appeared righteous publicly while acting differently in practice.

Christian ✝️ faith is not proved by quoting the Bible, displaying religious symbols or condemning others. It is demonstrated through truthfulness, mercy, humility, justice and love.

Mike Johnson does not embarrass me because he is a Republican. He embarrasses me when he lies and uses Christianity to provide moral cover for dishonesty and political hypocrisy. That is not the way of Jesus—and he does not speak for my faith.

Again and again, Jesus says to them, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” Matthew 23:13-36

Donald Trump attracts violent behavior because he preaches violence in incoherent rants

A small sample of Donald Trump’s violent rhetoric:

Echo opinion letter published in TribLive in Pennsylvania

    • 2016 rally: “Knock the crap out of” protesters; “I will pay for the legal fees.” 
    • 2020 Oval Office: He allegedly asked officials in his administration about shooting protesters in the legs.
    • 2021 Select Committee testimony: He stated that when informed that insurrectionists of the Capitol Building wanted to hang Vice President, Mike Pence, his reply was that maybe he deserves it.
    • 2023 on Truth Social: He stated Gen. Mark Milley deserves “DEATH” for perceived disloyalty.
    • 2023: He made fun of the vicious hammer attack on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband.
    • 2024 rally: Liz Cheney should face “a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her.”
    • 2024 speech: He stated political opponents are “enemies from within,” worse than foreign threats.
    • 2025: He stated Sen. Mark Kelly and five other veterans’ “seditious behavior” is punishable by death because they reiterated what the Uniform Code of Military Justice states regarding unlawful orders.

• Following the death of former FBI Director Robert Mueller in March 2026, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social: “Robert Mueller just died. Good, I'm glad he's dead

Yet he wants Jimmy Kimmel fired and James Comey in prison (because Comey took a picture of a seashell formation on a beach, aka the "seashell indictment"). 

Do you think he and Melania even understand the meaning of the word hypocrite? Doubtful. 😒

All this from the self-declared stable genius who stated the “Jesus-like” image he posted of himself was actually him being a doctor. Haven’t you wondered why he’s had to take so many cognitive tests❓

From Jack Sillaman in Latrobe, Pennsylvania

Mr. Charlie Kirk was entitled to free speech but he was not a martyr. Sadly, Mr. Kirk was a victim of gun violence motivated by political violence

I also hope that Mr. Charlie Kirk (b. 1993- d. September 10, 2025) is resting in peace (“We can’t be afraid of the haters,” Our Readers’ Views, Sept. 24- The Columbian). And it is true that if our hearts are filled with the spirit of Jesus, we can be fearless and brave when it comes to peacefully and lovingly confronting hateful people. Mr. Kirk was entitled to the free speech rights he enjoyed as a leader of young conservatives, but he was not a martyr. 

Opinion letter published in The Columbian news by Steve Friebel in Vancouver Washington 

However, Charlie as a martyr is a struggle for some. Joan of Arc, Saint Stephen and Jesus are martyrs. Compared to these saints, by what measure is Mr. Kirk a martyr❓😒😟😧

Mr. Kirk was not assassinated for saintly behavior or for being misunderstood. He was disliked because he made a career of demeaning others — Black professionals, LGBTQ citizens, Muslims and immigrants — while hiding behind “common sense” and “Christianity.”

His dismissal of empathy as a “made-up term” and mercy as a liberal conspiracy clearly conflicts with all that Jesus and other martyrs claimed as important virtues. And calling for public executions is abhorrent.

Mr. Kirk's followers appear to have normalized his brand of fear and hate. I doubt that Jesus would condone much of what Mr. Kirk disgorged as righteous.

In the end, what one does is a more accurate indicator of one’s intentions more than what one says. Finally, in the end, “Only love can conquer hate.” Well stated.💙

Donald Trump cannot even read a Bible but now selling them? Hypocrisy on steroids!

Letters to the Editor: A Trump Bible? What’s next from the huckster-in-chief? Burial plots on Mars? Published in The Los Angeles Times:

Would you buy a Bible 📖 from this orange hypocrite? Not me!

Donald Trump moved on from selling trading cards and sneakers to selling Bibles during Holy Week✝️. 😒

This is disgusting. Just as Jesus drove the money changers from the Temple, can all of us unite to drive Trump from American politics? 

John 2:13-25 Jesus & the Money Changers in the Temple

From William Dodd Brown, in Chicago

It looks 👀as if the former president (tRumpzi❗) is about to add to some of his failed ventures, which have included Trump steaks, golden tennis shoes, Trump University, wineries, casinos, real estate, golf courses and too many more to count. Now his latest racket, and the lowest of the lows, is selling a Bible, which includes the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Pledge of Allegiance and the lyrics to “God Bless the USA.” 

Trump's shameless attempts to separate his loyal followers from their money is quite despicable. Any way to make a buck is his method of madness. What’s next? Burial plots on Mars? It’s truly enough and the insanity must stop.

From Frances Terrell Lippman, in Sherman Oaks

To the editor: Well, perhaps Trump has decided “dictator” isn’t high enough. By publishing his version of the Bible, he’s reaching for God status.  Nothing is sacred in Trump’s world. 

From Christine Sanchez, Los Angeles

Christian opposition to "Christian Nationalism"

Rev. William Barber II, the prominent Pastor speaks out against Christian Nationalism as 'Heresy':  Echo opinion published in Faithful Citizens for Truth. 

Rev. William Barber II

Traditional approach to politics and faith is often seen as a competition between two sides: left vs. right, woke vs. unwoke, Red State Jesus vs. Blue State Jesus. However, the Rev. William J. Barber II, a MacArthur “genius grant” recipient and contemporary leader who has been compared to Martin Luther King Jr., has developed a different approach: "fusion politics."

Christian Nationalism is a euphemism for white supremacy.

This approach brings together coalitions that often transcend the traditional conservative vs. progressive divide. Barber believes that by uniting marginalized groups such as the poor, immigrants, working-class whites, religious minorities, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community, a powerful force for change can be created. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Barber argues that these groups share a common enemy, citing how the same forces that demonize immigrants also attack low-wage workers, the same politicians that deny living wages also suppress the vote, and the same people who deny the climate crisis and refuse to act are also willing to deny access to healthcare to millions of Americans.

By leading one of the nation’s most sustained and visible anti-poverty efforts as co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, Barber has become one of the country's most prominent activists and speakers, known for his fusion politics approach.

Who is Rev. William J Barber II?

Rev. William J. Barber II has made a name for himself as a powerful speaker and organizer, known for his "fusion politics" approach. He delivered an electrifying speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention that was called a "drop the mic" moment by one commentator. Barber also regularly organizes and marches with groups such as fast-food workers and union members, at a time when both political parties have been accused of ignoring the working class.

Barber has also been outspoken about the importance of voter turnout among marginalized communities, saying, "there is a sleeping giant in America." He believes that poor and low-wealth folks now make up 30% of the electorate in every state and over 40% of the electorate in every state where the margin of victory for the presidency was less than 3%. He argues that if these marginalized communities vote, they could fundamentally shift every election in the country.

Rev. Barber will take his fusion politics approach to the Ivy League as the founding director of Yale Divinity School's new Center for Public Theology and Public Policy. In this role, he hopes to train a new generation of leaders who will be comfortable "creating a just society both in the academy and in the streets."

Rev. William J. Barber II has announced that he will step down as pastor of the North Carolina church where he has served for 30 years, but he has made it clear that he is not retiring from activism. He remains the president of Repairers of the Breach, a nonprofit organization that promotes moral fusion politics.

Against Christian Nationalism

Barber has recently spoken out against White Christian nationalism, a movement that insists that the US was founded as a Christian nation and seeks to erase the separation of church and state.

When asked why poverty is so urgent to face now, Barber responded: "Doctor King used to say America has a high blood pressure of creeds, but an anemia of deeds. In every generation we’ve had to have a moment to focus on the urgency of the right now. We will never be able to fix our democracy until we fully face these issues. We will constantly ebb and flow out of recessions because inequality hurts us all." Barber also cites Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz's book "The Price of Inequality," which argues that it costs more as a nation for these inequalities to exist than it would for us to fix them. Barber also argues that paying a living wage would not hurt business, but rather it is the lack of it that does.

Rev. William J. Barber II, an advocate of "fusion politics" has spoken out against the concept of White Christian nationalism, arguing that it is flawed because it goes against the core values of Christianity.

He explains that the scriptures say that God loves all people and that if a nation is going to embrace Christian values, then one must know what those values are, and they certainly aren't discriminatory or exclusive. He also explains his view of the word “evangel” which means good news and that when Jesus used that phrase it was in his first sermon, which was a public policy sermon. He said it in the face of Caesar, where Caesar had hurt and exploited the poor. He also explains that he embraces the kind of evangelicalism that Jesus embraces and that is to start where Jesus started, preaching good news to the poor.

He also speaks about his health challenges and how he keeps going year after year and keeps himself from being burned out. He finds inspiration in reading the Bible and seeing that all the people that God used in a major way had some physical challenge, it helped him overcome any pity party and made him see that Moses couldn't talk, Ezekiel had strange post-traumatic syndrome types of emotional issues, Jeremiah was crying all the time from his struggles with depression, Paul had a physical thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7–10) and Jesus was acquainted with sorrow.

Donald Trump is the Poster for "Seven Deadly Sins" - Evangelical and Christian alert!

Bible lesson 101 to Evangelical and Christian Trump supporters: a lesson letter from Utah. (I do not understand how how people who can quote the Bible verses verbatim do not understand the basic message contained in the Scriptures.)

This echo opinion letter was published in The Spectrum, a St. George Utah newspaper:

Challenge! When will those who profess to be admirers/followers of Jesus, "talk the walk"?  I am referring to the "conspiracy of silence" regarding the moral bankruptcy of Donald Trump. He makes a good candidate for Poster Boy for the "Seven Deadly Sins," which are: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride as opposed to the Christian virtues of Chastity, Temperance, Charity, Diligence, Patience, Gratitude and Humility.

Jesus spoke "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which comes out of the mouth, this defileth a man." (Mathew 15:11)  The apostle James said "And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity . . . that it defileth the whole body." (James 3:6)

Jesus would call out Trump directly on this, just as he did the Scribes and Pharisees for their Hypocrisy and Perjury.

One cannot have it both ways. Most of our Utah Congressional delegation through cowardly expediency, stand condemned in betraying these Christian values they profess. The same with us if we are silent and afraid to speak the truth. You don't have to ask, you KNOW what Jesus would do and say as to Trump's tongue. (My mother would have washed his mouth out with soap, as she did mine).

Warren S. Wright, St. George, Utah

Cruel Donald Trump immigration policies- a Biblical view

The stranger is Jesus in disguise

This opinion essay was published in The Conversation written by Mathew Schmalz* and dated January 2017, one year ago. This essay is even more timely in 2018 and the future ahead of us.

Donald Trump signed an executive order that placed a stay on refugees from seven Muslim majority countries. Entrance of refugees from Syria, however, will be banned for the next 120 days.

...look to the Bible for guidance when asking about how to best welcome the stranger. 

Two days prior to that, he committed the United States to building a wall on its border with Mexico. Soon after the order, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto canceled an upcoming trip to the United States.

President Trump has also proposed that Mexican goods be taxed at the rate of 20 percent to provide funds for building the wall. This would fulfill his campaign promise that Mexico would actually pay for the wall’s construction, in spite of America’s southern neighbor’s protests.

For Christians, the questions about building the border wall or permitting immigrants and refugees into the United States involve a host of associated considerations not just about the specifics of immigration law, the economics of cheap labor coming across the border or potential terrorist threats.

At issue are both broader and deeper questions about what it means to welcome the stranger.

As a Roman Catholic scholar who lived in South Asia for a total of four years, I know what it is like to be initially considered a “stranger” but be quickly welcomed with open arms. 

And I, like all Christians, look to the Bible for guidance when asking about how to best welcome the stranger.

So, what does the Bible actually say?

We will all be strangers, sometime The Bible affirms – strongly and unequivocally – the obligation to treat strangers with dignity and hospitality.

In “Love the Stranger,” an article written for the annual meeting of the College Theological Society in 1991, biblical scholar Alice Laffey stated that in the Hebrew Bible, the words “gûr” and “gēr” are the ones most often glossed as referring to the “stranger,” though they are also translated as “newcomer” and “alien” or “resident alien,” respectively.

In the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, the word “gēr” appears almost 50 times, and the fifth book, Deuteronomy, delineates a number of specific provisions for treating “the stranger” not just with courtesy but also with active support and provision.

For example, the book of Deuteronomy sets out the requirement that a portion of produce be set aside by farmers every third year for strangers, widows and orphans. In the “temple sermon” attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, the Jewish people are exhorted to “not oppress the sojourner.”

Within the Hebrew Bible the requirements of hospitality are sometimes affirmed in very striking ways, as in the story from the book of Judges in which a host offers his own daughter to ruffians in order to safeguard his guest.

Of course, the Israelites themselves were “strangers” during their enslavement in Egypt and captivity in Babylon. The Hebrew Bible recognizes that every one of us can be a stranger and, for that very reason, we need to overcome our fear of those who live among us whom we do not know.

The stranger is Jesus in disguise

Within the New Testament, which Christians read in continuity with the Hebrew Bible or “The Old Testament,” the most often cited passage dealing with welcoming the stranger is from Matthew 25: 31-40.

This section speaks of the Final Judgment, when the righteous will be granted paradise and unrepentant sinners will be consigned to eternal fire. Christ says to those at his right hand that they are “blessed” because “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

The righteous then ask,

“When did we see you, a stranger, and welcome you?”

Christ replies,

“‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”

As Matthew 25 makes clear, the Christians should see everyone as “Christ” in the flesh. Indeed, scholars argue that in the New Testament, “stranger” and “neighbor” are in fact synonymous. Thus the Golden Rule, “love your neighbor as yourself,” refers not just to people whom you know – your “neighbors” in a conventional sense – but also to people whom you do not know.

Beyond this, in the letters written by Paul of Tarsus (one of the most notable of early Christian missionaries), often known as the Pauline “Epistles,” it is made clear that in Christ,

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave[g] nor free, there is no male and female.”

From this perspective, being “one in Christ” should be taken literally as acknowledging no fundamental differences in kind among human beings.

Bible is unambiguous in its message

Of course, in Christianity the strong admonitions toward treating the stranger with dignity have coexisted with actions that would seem to indicate an opposite attitude: pogroms against Jews, slavery, imperialism and colonialism have been sanctioned by Christians who nonetheless would have affirmed biblical principles regarding caring for those who seem “other” or “alien.”

The stranger is Jesus in disguise

Within the New Testament, which Christians read in continuity with the Hebrew Bible or “The Old Testament,” the most often cited passage dealing with welcoming the stranger is from Matthew 25: 31-40.

This section speaks of the Final Judgment, when the righteous will be granted paradise and unrepentant sinners will be consigned to eternal fire. Christ says to those at his right hand that they are “blessed” because

“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

The righteous then ask,

“When did we see you, a stranger, and welcome you?”

Christ replies, “‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me'.”

As Matthew 25 makes clear, the Christians should see everyone as “Christ” in the flesh. Indeed, scholars argue that in the New Testament, “stranger” and “neighbor” are in fact synonymous. Thus the Golden Rule, “love your neighbor as yourself,” refers not just to people whom you know – your “neighbors” in a conventional sense – but also to people whom you do not know.

Beyond this, in the letters written by Paul of Tarsus (one of the most notable of early Christian missionaries), often known as the Pauline “Epistles,” it is made clear that in Christ,

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave[g] nor free, there is no male and female.”

From this perspective, being “one in Christ” should be taken literally as acknowledging no fundamental differences in kind among human beings.

Bible is unambiguous in its message

Of course, in Christianity the strong admonitions toward treating the stranger with dignity have coexisted with actions that would seem to indicate an opposite attitude: pogroms against Jews, slavery, imperialism and colonialism have been sanctioned by Christians who nonetheless would have affirmed biblical principles regarding caring for those who seem “other” or “alien.”

Indeed, when it comes to the specific questions concerning building a wall on America’s border with Mexico or welcoming immigrants and refugees, some Christians would argue that doing so does not violate any biblical precepts concerning hospitality to the stranger, since the issue is one of legality and, of course, a good number of Christians did indeed support Donald Trump’s candidacy for the presidency. Other Christians have taken a diametrically different position, and have called for cities and educational institutions to be set apart as “safe zones” for undocumented immigrants.

It is true that the application of biblical principles to contemporary matters of policy is less than clear to the many Christians who have taken opposing sides regarding how the United States should deal with immigrants, undocumented workers and refugees.

However, in my reading of the Bible, the principles regarding welcoming the stranger are broad-reaching and unambiguous.

*Mathew Schmalz wrote this essay, he is Associate Professor of Religion, College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.

Doppelganger - "It was the other guy!": Judge Kavanaugh plot thickens

Echo opinion from Max Boot published in PennLive.com

The Kavanaugh doppelganger theory shows how far the right has descended into madness.

When Christine Blasey Ford went public with her charge of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh, I wrote that the confirmation hearings had turned into a melodrama ripped from the pages of an Allen Drury novel.

Then, we moved into the realm of horror movies or science fiction - or perhaps just a cheesy daytime soap opera. Those are all genres where doppelgangers are common plot devices: X wasn't the killer - it was his evil look-alike!

That Kavanaugh is the victim of mistaken identity was the implausible theory put forward by Ed Whelan, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington.

On Thursday night he posted (and now has deleted) a long series of tweets, complete with links to Zillow and Google Maps, arguing that Ford had indeed been assaulted - but by a friend of Kavanaugh's who looked a lot like him. And then he proceeded to name the friend and post his picture.

In the long annals of American politics, a lot of people have done a lot of irresponsible things, but for sheer callousness and craziness it's hard to top an accusation of sexual assault against a specific individual based on, essentially, nothing.

This is McCarthyism redux - and if Kavanaugh is revealed to have any connection to the propagation of this loathsome falsehood, he should be voted down overwhelmingly by the Senate.

It tells you how far the right has descended into madness that this vile accusation did not come from an anonymous blogger on some online bulletin board or from professional conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

It came from someone with sterling establishment credentials: Whelan is a Harvard Law School graduate who has served as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a Senate Judiciary Committee staffer, and a deputy assistant attorney general in the George W. Bush administration.

He is also friends with Kavanaugh and with Federalist Society executive vice president Leonard Leo, and has been involved in efforts to confirm Kavanaugh.

That someone so seemingly respectable was spreading this cuckoo conspiracy theory gave it instant validity: "Fox and Friends" aired it to a national audience Friday morning.

Amplified by Russian bots, this theory went viral on social media, because it fit so neatly with what so many conservatives were already saying. As former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy wrote in National Review, "[T]he unverifiable sexual-assault allegation against Judge Brett Kavanaugh bore 'all the hallmarks of a set-up.'"

This makes no sense: Why would Ford "set up" Kavanaugh when the cost of doing so is to have her name dragged through the mud (??? Exactly!) and forced to flee her own home to avoid death threats? If she is setting up Kavanaugh, why would she take (and pass) a polygraph test and insist on an FBI investigation, knowing that lying to the FBI is a federal crime? If she was setting up Kavanaugh, why would she place his friend Mark Judge in the room, knowing that his testimony could contradict hers?

And, why if this is a set-up, did she relay the sexual assault allegation to her marital therapist in 2012? Did she intuit years in advance that Kavanaugh would be nominated to the Supreme Court - but fail to foresee that, like every other woman who has made such allegations against a powerful man, she would be subject to character assassination?

The (incredulous!) claim that Ford had simply mistaken Kavanaugh for his evil twin was marginally less offensive but even more crazy. Ford immediately shot it down: She said that she knew both Kavanaugh and his doppelganger and "there is zero chance that I would confuse them."

By 8:38 a.m. on Friday, Whelan had recanted. "I made an appalling and inexcusable mistake of judgment in posting the tweet thread in a way that identified Kavanaugh's Georgetown Prep classmate," he tweeted. "I take full responsibility for that mistake, and I deeply apologize for it. I realize that does not undo the mistake."

Give Whelan credit for at least being more honest than the man who appointed Kavanaugh: President Trump has never apologized for all of the deranged conspiracy theories he has spread, from claiming that Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States to claiming just last week that the death toll in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria was concocted by Democrats to embarrass him. But Whelan is right: His apology, however welcome, does not undo the mistake.

There are a lot of (stupid!) people who will believe his conspiracy theory, despite the recantation, because they are predisposed to believe it. Much of the right has taken leave of its senses. They are willing, even eager, to believe in "alternative facts," to quote Kellyanne Conway's infamous phrase, if by doing so it will advance their agenda. 

Any sin, no matter how grave - even maligning an innocent man on sexual-assault charges - is justified in the name of political expediency. And there is no higher imperative for the right than the confirmation of conservative judges.

Conservatives need to ask themselves a version of Jesus' question (Mark 8-36): What shall it profit them if they gain the Supreme Court and suffer the loss of their souls?

Max Boot, is a Washington Post columnist. This opinion was published in the Pennsylvania news PennLive. 

Mennonite message - lyrics and echo: "How Can We Be Silent?"

Carlos Romero is Executive Director of Mennonite Education Agency. This piece originally ran in the January issue of The Mennonite magazine, focused on education.

Opinion ~ I can’t remember living in a more polarized time than today. No matter how you view the results of the presidential election, its aftermath has underscored those disagreements. Fear and hatred of “the other” and acts of oppression, cruelty and violence that grow from this seem to have become normal.

I wish I could say the people and institutions of the church are immune from these forces. We like to think we are separate, but in fact we are greatly influenced by negativity in our culture.

I have experienced this negativity. It’s happened to me in the past and recently as well.

Last October, I received a call from an alum of Mennonite educational institutions. A hate call. The caller told me I needed to go back to Mexico where I belong (I am from Puerto Rico). I was told that my kind of people are rapists, thieves and criminals. The caller said the Mennonite church is corrupt because it made the mistake of welcoming me and that our educational institutions are corrupt because a person like me serves as executive director of Mennonite Education Agency.

Mennonites

I wish I could say such an engagement is rare. While the outright hostility and forthrightness of the caller is rare to experience, which I am grateful for, at times the spirit behind it is all too alive and active within our church. While it may be couched in more sophisticated and nuanced language, the same spirit of racism and bullying still finds ways to express itself in our church.

I struggled mightily to view the caller as someone created in God’s image. Sometimes it seems we lose the ability to look into the eyes of another and see Jesus, and this was real to me as I thought about that call. I continue to face this, with God’s help. I know that at times we become so consumed by our own sense of self-righteousness that we can’t see the gap between our words and our actions.

What can we do at a time such as this? The Mennonite church and our institutions can no longer be silent. Being “the quiet in the land” is an inadequate response to God’s call today.

Each time we sing these words in worship, from the hymn “How Can We Be Silent?” (Sing the Journey, No. 61), we ask ourselves: How can we be silent when we know our God is near, bringing light to those in darkness, to the worthless, endless worth? We need to share openly the gospel message of love, peace and reconciliation.

And we cannot be effective in spreading this message to the world without it beginning with us. One of the simplest commandments we have been given also is one of the most profound: to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. As church people and church institutions, we need to say clearly and unapologetically that we cannot engage in racism, sexism, abuse and bullying.

I’ve been asked many times, as a person of color, why I remain in the church. My answer always is this: I have hope and faith in God’s call and God’s kingdom.

In times of disagreement, church institutions can be an easy target for criticism. No institution or each person connected with it is perfect; my caller’s action is evidence of that.

But I would argue with great conviction that if there was ever a time the church and our world needed Mennonite education, it is today. Mennonite education is about transformation and inviting all to be full participants in the educational endeavor. Mennonite education is about developing critical thinking skills and learning in a rigorous environment. It’s about understanding that peace is a real way to live our lives and that we are called to be part of community. It’s about knowing the blessing of giving and serving, and remembering that we are all children of God.

How can we be silent when we are the voice of Christ, speaking justice to the nations, breathing love to all the earth?

My brothers and sisters, let’s move forward with the commitment that we will not be silent, with the realization that the work of healing a broken country and world must begin with us.

Let’s open our hearts and minds, willing, as the prophet Isaiah said, to go up to the mountain of the Lord, so that the God of Jacob may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his path.

Let’s work hard to maintain our ability to see God in the eyes of others and the assurance that others will see God in ours, to keep faith and hope. Education is about transformation, and transformation starts with us.

None can stop the Spirit burning now inside us. 

We will shape the future. We will not be silent.

This “Opinions” section of our website provides a forum for the voices within Mennonite Church USA and related Anabaptist-Mennonite voices.