Yesterday morning, I watched my daughter climb onto the bus for her very first time as she headed off to kindergarten. She attends a dual-immersion public school—where half the students are native Spanish speakers and half are native English speakers. Most of her instruction this year will be in Spanish. I couldn’t be more excited for her to learn in such a diverse and life-giving community, where language and culture are honored as strengths and children can learn from one another.
Only a few hours later, I stood alongside other clergy, impacted families, and people of moral conviction at a Moral Monday in Boone. I had the privilege of introducing my friend and colleague-Sandra Pardo Munez, with the North Carolina Council of Churches, who serves as the Farmers Advocacy Network (FAN) coordinator. She shared stories of immigrants who harvest the food that WE EAT, and yet too often struggle to have enough food themselves—and who are afraid to seek help for fear of it retribution. The racial profiling, targeting and kidnapping of hispanic communities is antithetical to what it means to believe all people are created in the image of God.
We gathered at the Watauga Community Center and then walked less than half a mile to the office of Rep. Virginia Foxx, carrying a coffin. Because the policies that are being enacted through the “Big Ugly Bill” is a matter of life and death. Access to health care is a matter of life and death. Food to eat is a matter of life and death.
Faithful people can disagree on how best to structure health care and insurance systems. But there is no faithful justification for stripping food and health care away from the most marginalized and vulnerable in our communities. Jesus was clear: we must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and welcome the stranger.
I do not fear other languages or cultures—I rejoice in them. They are woven into the very fabric of creation. What I do fear are the consequences when people of faith abandon love for power, and when leaders weaponize fear to divide us. The joy of sending my daughter into a classroom where diversity is celebrated stood in sharp contrast to spending the afternoon protesting policies that demonize and endanger the very communities that make that diversity possible.
That is why when others are hurting, I will not stay silent.
And for those who still insist that Medicaid isn’t being cut—here is the truth. If you need to-call the NC Department of Health and Human Services to see for yourself.
