Many Americans have been rattled by President Trump’s recent Executive Order, which temporarily banned the admission of all refugees and most non-citizens from seven majority-Muslim nations before being suspended by a U.S. District Court. Protests erupted across the nation in the immediate aftermath of the Order’s signing, from Pennsylvania Ave., to Omaha, Neb., to Los Angeles International Airport, while many legal visitors and residents of the US caught in the crossfire of the Executive Order sat detained in airports all across the country. A recent town hall meeting at a mosque in Silver Spring, Md. underscored the deep fear gripping the American Muslim community, with some attendees wondering whether they were seeing parallels to the Holocaust. The tears of the Statue of Liberty are flooding the continent.
In the midst of controversies surrounding this travel ban, many Americans remain committed to welcoming and acquainting themselves with their Muslim brothers and sisters. This sentiment is clearly visible in suburban Chevy Chase, Md., less than ten miles from the White House. On January 29, two days after the refugee and travel ban was enacted, Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University, drew a standing-room-only audience, including several ambassadors, at St. John’s Norwood Episcopal Church during their Adult Education Hour to discuss contemporary Islam in the US, with a particular eye towards current political developments.
The Episcopal Diocese of Washington, of which St. John’s Norwood is a member, has played a very active role in standing up for immigrants and refugees around the globe and calling for the US to reopen its arms for those in need. On January 28, just one day before Ahmed’s lecture, the Episcopal Diocese of Washington released their “Resolution to Reaffirm the Church’s Commitment to Social Justice in a Divisive Political Climate”, which calls upon the Diocese to “reaffirm that we believe that every person is created in God’s image, imbued and blessed with inherent dignity and worth.” The Resolution goes on to state, “We welcome all people in our communities of faith and support other communities of faith, including particularly Muslim communities who may fear persecution.”
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