In the past few months the political discourse has been slanderous towards entire people groups to include the persecuted, oppressed, and most vulnerable in our society and in the world at large. Let us not forget that the Savior reminds us, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). We must remember that regardless of one’s opinions on national security, immigration policy and enforcement or any other policy or law, using fear and prejudice against a race or nationality to push to get votes goes against the very core of the Christian Faith.

As ministers of God’s Word we cannot stand silent. We cannot ignore that God in Christ has already abolished “the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2.14) among people. While we offer no opinion on literal walls or border security we are concerned that the political discourse is encouraging the children of God to build up walls in their hearts against one another. As ministers of God’s Word we call on all of God’s children to let the example of the Savior and not the political discourse of the age guide each individual’s conscience. We make no attempt to endorse any one candidate or guide the political process any further than standing together as ministers of God’s One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church to dispel the false notion that hate and divisive speech is useful in shaping society through the political process or compatible with Holy Scripture and the Christian life.

A Statement from the Chaplain of the Canterbury Club – The Episcopal Church

In the Episcopal Church our baptismal covenant commits us to striving for justice among all people, and respecting the dignity of every human being. We covenant with God and to each other to seek and serve Christ in all persons, always loving our neighbors as ourselves (Book of Common
Prayer, pp. 304-305). In Hebrews 13:2 we are reminded to not “forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!” The command to love one’s neighbor extends to the stranger and is linked to the Christian duty and virtue of providing hospitality. Hospitality itself is translated from the Greek word philoxenia which literally means “love of the stranger.”

It is the love of Christ that transforms a lost world. We have been left behind as living witnesses of that love to a broken world in need of a Savior. We cannot be silent as our community and nation is herded into further brokenness through the hate speech that has become emblematic of the political

discourse of this election cycle. We remind all of God’s children that loving and respecting the stranger is a fruit of a life transformed by and conformed to Christ. The stranger and all those different from us are not our enemies. In the same way that Christ became a friend to the stranger we call each and every person in our community to see the stranger as a friend and graciously and benevolently love those who are different from us.

A Statement from the Director and Pastor of Central Florida Wesley
The United Methodist Church

In the United Methodist Church each of us are called to remember the promises that were made before God and the Church at our baptism. We stood in front of the House of God and it was proclaimed that we accept the freedom and power God gives each of us to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves (The United Methodist Book of Worship, pp.88). In today’s political discourse, we are seeing evil in the form of racism towards immigrants and different religious groups. We are hearing politicians degrade women. We are listening to voices of evil condoning war crimes. We are hearing many things but we cannot remain silent nor turn a deaf ear for the Lord Himself does not do so in the face of evil (Psalm 83:1).

We encourage you all to vote according to your conscious in conformity with Holy Scripture for a leader whose message promotes as closely as possible a message of peace, reconciliation, and unity. We encourage you all to resist evil by standing up against powers that promote violence, division and hate among neighbors. We remind you of our call to resist the powers of evil in this election with prayer and because we have been blessed with free participation in the political process with our votes as led by a conscious conformed to and a mind transformed by Christ (Romans 12:1-2).

A Statement from the Minister
of the Reformed University Fellowship The Presbyterian Church in America

In the Presbyterian Church in America, we are very concerned with the sanctifying work of the Spirit in the Christian, as well as the peace and purity of the church. Our confessional document, the Westminster Confession of Faith speaks to the misuse of Christian liberty:

And because the powers which God has ordained, and the liberty which Christ has purchased are not intended by God to destroy, but mutually to uphold and preserve one another, they who, upon pretense of Christian liberty, shall oppose any lawful power, or the lawful exercise of it, whether it be civil or ecclesiastical, resist the ordinance of God. (WCF, pp.20-4)

My denomination is also going through the formal process of repenting for our sins of omission during the Jim Crow and Civil Rights areas to our brothers and sisters in the African American community. We are striving for peace and unity, and yet the rhetoric of the current political season has been saturated with vitriol, hate, and division. We will not and cannot stand by in idly while further injustice and discrimination take place in the name of Christianity.