To those who stand in solidarity against Donald Trump and his authoritarian policies:

If you are old enough to be a Star Trek fan, you might recall the phrase, “Resistance is futile.” It was the phrase of a technologically superior power which took all things from other civilizations and appropriated it into itself. The oligarchs of today are playing the same tune, taking from the poor and marginalized and giving it to themselves and to their fellow billionaires.

Today they are also claiming this is in the name of some form of Christianity which has been labeled “Christian nationalism.” As a Presbyterian pastor, I must say there is nothing Christian about this. In the gospel of Luke, Jesus said his ministry was to proclaim “good news to the poor…” As the Poor People’s Campaign puts it, if it isn’t for the poor, it’s not Good News.

It’s time to tell the truth and resist the policies of the Trump administration, policies which have split families and sent people who came to this country seeking a better life to gulags in Central America, policies which have applauded the killing of innocent women and children in Gaza, policies which have taken money from programs for the poor and given them to the rich for tax breaks, and policies which have crippled our planet and are contributing to ecocide. We are seeing why Jesus said “You cannot serve God and money” – putting profits over people is killing us.

This cannot continue. We must resist and stop the harm being done by this administration.

RefuseFascism is an organization committed to stopping the carnage Donald Trump is creating. We stand in solidarity with their aims.

I serve as the pastor of a small congregation in Queens, as well as the chair of the Justice Ministries Committee of the Presbytery of New York City, a presbytery of 89 congregations in the five boroughs of NYC within the Presbyterian Church (USA). We Presbyterians have many congregations and members who are involved in resisting Trump in areas such as confronting DHS and ICE, confronting racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia, and confronting environmental injustice. We are allies with you in this struggle.

Rabbi Abraham Heschel, when marching with the late Martin Luther King Jr. for civil rights, called his action “praying with his feet.” Consider us your prayer partners as those who are able march with you to stop Donald Trump and his poisonous policies.

Yours in Christian Service,

Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Courter