NEW YORK (RNS)—Amid outrage over racist jokes told at a Donald Trump campaign event in New York City on Oct. 27, some Hispanic Christian leaders and scholars are raising questions about the Republican candidate’s standing with a crucial ethnic and religious demographic a week before Election Day.

Tony Hinchcliffe, a standup comedian, opened Sunday’s event at Madison Square Garden with a set that referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage” and made disparaging comments about immigrants and Latinos.

“These Latinos, they love making babies, too,” said Hinchcliffe, who then added a lewd remark.

Archbishop calls for personal apology from Trump

The Trump campaign officials immediately tried to distance the campaign from Hinchcliffe’s “floating island of garbage” remark. Trump campaign Senior Adviser Danielle Alvarez told RNS the joke “does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”

In an open letter addressed to Trump and sent to RNS, Archbishop Roberto O. González Nieves of the Archdiocese of San Juan condemned the remarks, saying he is doing so after conferring with his fellow bishops.

“Puerto Rico is not a floating island of garbage,” the letter read. “Puerto Rico is a beautiful country inhabited by a beautiful and noble people, which is why in Spanish it is called ‘un encanto, un edén,’” or “an enchantment, an Eden.”

González went on to say Hinchcliffe’s remarks “do not only provoke sinister laughter but hatred” and “should not be a part of the political discourse of a civilized society,” invoking “a climate of equality, fraternity and good will among and for all women and men of every race, color and way of life” as the “foundation of the American dream.”

The Franciscan archbishop called on Trump to personally apologize for the remarks, saying it is “not sufficient for your campaign to apologize.”

‘Our community is deeply offended’

Gabriel Salguero, who heads the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, said his phone began buzzing with texts and phone calls as soon as footage of Hinchcliffe’s comments began circulating on social media on Sunday.

“I was on the phone for hours after that,” said Salguero, a Floridian whose family is part of the Puerto Rican diaspora. “Our community is deeply offended. We don’t endorse candidates, but we do endorse decency.”

Salguero said while members of his faith community are not a monolith and many will likely still vote for Trump, “It certainly did not help him.”

Salguero sent a separate statement in which the National Latino Evangelical Coalition decried the “deeply xenophobic and lewd rhetoric made by a comedian targeting Latinos and other communities at the rally in Madison Square Garden last night.

“We firmly believe that racialized attacks should have no place in political campaigns and are contrary to the Gospel we proclaim,” the statement read.

The National Latino Evangelical Coalition statement included more of Salguero’s personal response, saying: “As a Puerto Rican living in Florida whose parents and siblings were born in Puerto Rico, has many relatives still living on the island, and had many relatives who served courageously the United States military, I take this as a personal affront. My wife, children, parents, extended family and friends are not ‘garbage’ as this joke crudely insinuated. As a Christian, I forgive offenses but I also call for repentance and an apology for platforming this hurtful rhetoric.”

‘I wish the mudslinging would stop on both sides’

The remarks drew a more qualified reproach from Tony Suarez, the vice president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and a longtime faith adviser to Trump. Suarez, in a written statement, said Hinchcliffe’s performance “made me cringe,” and noted “the crowd didn’t seem to find him funny either.”

Suarez in his statement buffered his criticism by suggesting supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris, including her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, were guilty of overwrought rhetoric by comparing the New York event to a Nazi rally.

“I wish the mudslinging would stop on both sides,” Suarez’s statement read. “From comparing President Trump’s event in NYC to a Nazi gathering to disparaging remarks regarding the beautiful island of Puerto Rico, none of this is productive.”

Reached by email, Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and another Trump faith adviser, responded to questions about the joke by writing, “Puerto Rico is beautiful!”

“That joke was not funny,” added Rodriguez, who spoke at a faith-themed Trump event on Monday. “I am glad the crowd did not respond, and I am likewise glad the Trump campaign did respond pushing back on the joke that was completely inappropriate and foolish”

Some Hispanic evangelicals pray for Trump victory

Trump has courted Hispanic evangelicals for as long as he has run for president, with some success. There is evidence it helped him in Florida in 2020, and he’s worked to replicate that effort this year. At a recent Latino Americans for Trump event in the state, Hispanic evangelical pastors prayed over Trump and asked God to make him president.

“We anoint (Trump) to be the next, 47th president of the United States, to restore the biblical values,” said Guillermo Maldonado, senior pastor of King Jesus International Ministry in Miami, as he prayed over Trump.

The comments at the rally may sour more Latino Catholics against Trump, as well. Nichole Flores, associate professor of religious studies and director of the Catholic Studies Initiative at the University of Virginia, said she was “shaking with rage” when she heard about Hinchcliffe’s comments.

Calling herself “deeply offended, but also deeply saddened,” Flores said that her family and community had been talked to in “vile and almost animal-like terms.”

Flores saw Hinchcliffe’s comments about Latino sexuality “in real continuity” with Trump’s infamous comments about Mexicans as rapists at his 2015 campaign launch, part of a “theme that Latinos are not just a threat to society, but that somehow we’re sexually deviant and other, and that is one of the bases for rejecting us from American society.”

U.S. Bishops decline requests for comment

U.S. Catholic bishops contacted by RNS, including Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who serves as the archbishop of New York and sat next to Trump at the Al Smith fundraiser convened in this city earlier this month, did not respond or declined requests for comment about the comedian’s jokes.

The lack of response did not surprise Flores, who said prelates had focused their public engagement on abortion as a “preeminent priority.”

“Had these remarks been about abortion, we likely would have heard from the bishops already,” Flores said. “Latino identity and dignity is not placed on that same level.”

Chieko Noguchi, the spokesperson for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement the group does not “endorse political parties or candidates” and declined to comment on “something that was said during a political event.”

“But,” Noguchi added, “Pope Francis invited us to seek ‘a better kind of politics, one truly at the service of the common good’ in his encyclical letter Fratelli tutti. We should strive to seek the truth, build bridges, and find solutions together that promote the common good and dialogue in a respectful and meaningful way.”

Flores, for whom democracy is a key area of academic study, said that “while a lot of people have already voted,” Latinos “who are still weighing their votes will have this as their final impression.”

Still, there are many Latinos who have already voted for Trump or will still do so. For Flores, “this reveals something important and really damning about our political culture today, that the dignity of the human person and the dignity of life is not at the center of politics.

“That speaks to deeper challenges that Catholics, and Christians more broadly, have in offering an authentic public witness to the good news of Jesus Christ in the world, because if this is that witness, then we have a lot of work to do,” she said.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Since July, when the Republican National Committee dropped a federal abortion ban from its national platform, several traditional religious right leaders have suggested that they have been betrayed.

The Republican Party pivot has raised questions about whether evangelical Christians and conservative Catholics would support former President Donald Trump’s current campaign for the White House with the same vigor as in 2016 and 2020.

At the Pray Vote Stand Summit in Washington, the religious right’s annual confab held in the first week of October, some speakers took the occasion to denounce the decision.

Robert P. George, a Princeton University legal scholar, called the disappearance of the anti-abortion plank in the party platform “tragic and disgraceful.”

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, who founded the event as the Value Voter Summit in 2006 and is still its principal organizer, chided the RNC’s political expediency: “If (Democrats) are making this one of their top issues and the Republican response to it is crickets, well, it’s not going to motivate the base.”

But if they were upset by the RNC’s pivot this summer, by the time the summit was in session, many already had moved on to denial. Speaker after speaker invoked Dobbs v. Jackson, the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, as a triumph that resulted in effectively banning most or all abortions in more than 20 states.

Others simply dismissed the notion that Trump planned to soften on abortion if he returns to office. Janet Durig, executive director of the anti-abortion Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center, asserted during a panel titled “Kamala Harris’s Attack on Life and the Family” that a new Trump administration “would be pro-life.”

“We are making progress,” said Ben Carson, pleading with anti-abortion voters to stop fighting amongst themselves.

California pastor and radio host Jack Hibbs stated plainly: “I want someone in the White House who will save more babies’ lives than Kamala Harris. There’s no doubt about that. I’m voting for Donald Trump.”

Transgender identity eclipses abortion at  event

The conference organizers also showcased other issues that would rally evangelical Christians to Trump. Particularly salient was the issue of transgender identity, which at Pray Vote Stand eclipsed even abortion as the next big front in the culture wars.

Panels at the conference included “What’s Really Behind the Transgender Movement,” “Protecting America’s Daughters: Title IX and the Fight for Fairness” and “How the Biden-Harris Administration Is Eliminating Parental Consent for Children’s Health Care.”

Outlawed in more than 25 states, transgender medical interventions for minors remain extremely rare, but at Pray Vote Stand, the issue was a springboard for outrage. Nearly every speaker hit on the theme, often casting the practice as a specifically anti-Christian conspiracy.

“The trans movement is about erasing a family union, which is meant to be Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” declared Jennifer Bauwens, director of the Center for Family Studies, in one panel.

The issue was often framed as a new front in the fight against abortion. Cissie Graham Lynch, daughter of the evangelist Franklin Graham, said, “The Biden-Harris government oppresses and destroys life,” and the Democratic Party “encourages children to question their God-given gender … has a zeal for abortion.”

The Christian nationalist idea of religious liberty was another prominent cause. And the good news for several of its champions was that, regardless of the upcoming election’s outcome, their agenda is sure to advance due to the current makeup of the Supreme Court.

Texas lawyer touts David Barton’s brand of history

Matt Krause, a former Texas state representative and now an attorney with the Christian legal nonprofit First Liberty Institute, said, “I think we have a great story to tell about restoring faith in America.”

That story, as Krause tells it, begins with what he called the big lie of separation of church and state. He regaled his audience at Pray Vote Stand with a version of history familiar to anyone who knows the work of the Christian nationalist historian David Barton.

From Thomas Jefferson to the present day, the establishment clause of the Constitution has been misinterpreted,  Krause insisted, and judicial decisions from the 1940s to the 1960s bolstering it were “erroneous rulings.”

Krause related a string of successes First Liberty Institute and its fellow travelers in the right-wing legal ecosphere have had in getting their cases before the Supreme Court.

“We’ve had four cases at the Supreme Court in the past 20 months,” he said. “Our religious liberty rights are being restored at an incredible pace.”

The goal, Krause said, is to impose Christian religious symbols and ideas wherever possible in the public sphere.

“Restoring faith in America could mean restoring the Ten Commandments and cross displays. Where they have been taken down they can go back up,” he said.

Krause advocated for direct religious involvement in public schools and sectarian invocations for city councils, school boards and state legislatures.

“What is the new test at the Supreme Court? History and tradition, right?” he asked, referring to a key phrase in the Dobbs decision. “And there’s nothing more historical or traditional than the Ten Commandments.”

Call for political engagement

At a breakout session on “Running for Office and Engaging Your Community,” Aamon Ross, founder of a video podcast called “Kingdom in Politics,” said, “We should think of government as the next big mission field.”

The 2020 election, according to the speakers, validated these schemes. They also maintained Trump won the 2020 election and had it stolen out from under him.

“I believe 2020 awoke a sleeping giant. People like me got involved in election litigation. Get into the fight,” said Mike Berry, executive director of the Center for Litigation at the America First Policy Institute, in a panel on “The 2024 Election: What You Should Know and How To Engage.”

Berry explained how he worked with pro-Trump election board members in Georgia to require recount procedures involving hand recounts prior to certification of the results.

His proposed rules are regarded by many experts as an attempt to disrupt the election procedures, and a Georgia judge ruled they are “unconstitutional, illegal and void.”

“The other side made it a crime to engage in intimidating or harassing behavior,” he scoffed. “We need to be able to fully exercise our First Amendment rights on November 5.”

Conspiracy theory promoted

The menace of a “One World Government”—which purportedly will be imposed on God-fearing Americans by means of a conspiracy between the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization—was the subject of a panel titled “A Conversation About Global Governance and the WHO.”

Perkins asked, “Was COVID-19 a test of global governance?”

Travis Weber, vice-president for policy and government affairs for the Family Research Council, responded,: “Yes!”

He continued by saying, “The forces that humankind has created, Tower of Babel-like, are leading us to an ability to create a system of even tighter control and quicker response.”

Gabe Lyons, founder and President of THINKQ, emphasized the importance of resisting global control in areas such as digital currency, expressing his belief that “this nation is the one nation to resist this.” He stressed that engagement with local leaders, including congressmen and county sheriffs, can both build trust and impact resistance at higher levels of government.

The remedy for many of the ills identified at Pray Vote Stand was to get out the conservative Christian vote. A particularly telling exchange toward the end of Krause’s seminar on First Amendment jurisprudence concerned the use of churches to mobilize the base.

“I’m confused. Is the Johnson Amendment gone?” a woman asked Krause, referring to the IRS rule that prohibits charities from promoting political candidates.

Krause answered, “If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound?” The audience laughed knowingly. “It’s supposed to be there, but nobody is ever prosecuted for it. Not one church has been prosecuted,” he said.

But if it were, he made clear, he’d be ready to take the case.

“So, if you want to be one of those pastors, call us,” he said. “That’d be a great test case, as well.”

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Over the last year and a half, surveys have tracked a significant rise in support for Christian nationalism among U.S. Hispanic Protestants, even as support for the ideology has remained fairly stable among other racial and ethnic Christian groups.

Among Hispanic Protestants, strong and moderate support for a group of ideas that include “U.S. laws should be based on Christian values” and “God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of American society” have inched up from 43 percent in 2022 to 55 percent in 2023 and 59 percent in June 2024, according to Public Religion Research Institute surveys.

That brings Hispanic Protestant support for Christian nationalism close to white evangelical support.

Hispanic Protestants make up under a quarter of U.S. Hispanics (23 percent in PRRI’s latest census). Among Hispanic Catholics, a larger group that makes up about half (48 percent) of U.S. Hispanics, support for Christian nationalism remains low, with less than a quarter (22 percent) expressing strong or moderate support.

Scholars discuss role of apostolic networks

While academics have long studied a version of U.S. Christian nationalism that privileges white, native-born Christians, a group of scholars gathered at Princeton Theological Seminary on Oct. 14 to consider the rise in U.S. Hispanic Christian nationalism.

Scholars at the evening symposium, part of the Herencia (“Heritage”) Lectures, said U.S. Hispanic Protestants participate in a strand of Christian nationalism connected to transnational apostolic networks that seek to advance Christian power in nations across the globe.

Matthew Taylor, a scholar at The Institute for Jewish, Christian and Muslim Studies in Baltimore, said apostolic and prophetic Christian nationalists believe they must exert power to convert and Christianize whole nations.

These apostolic and prophetic circles have a “natural sense of alliance” with authoritarian political leaders because they have “at least in their own mind, moved beyond democracy in the governance of their own coalition” and instead “installed these charismatic individuals, the apostles and prophets, as the quasi-authoritarian leaders within their networks,” Taylor said.

Prominent U.S. Latino Protestant pastors, including some who have advised former President Donald Trump and who mobilized Christians for the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, are involved with these loose international networks within what is called either the apostolic and prophetic movement or the Five-Fold Ministry movement, Taylor explained.

His new book, The Violent Take It by Force, explores the charismatic Christians who have supported Trump and their role on Jan. 6.

The movement, where Pentecostal theology and nondenominational governance are combined, extends across continents, and different leaders voluntarily submit to the spiritual authority of other leaders, sometimes in other countries.

“You have to be part of a chain of authority in order for your prophetic acts to have authority in the spiritual world,” Raimundo Barreto, Jr., associate professor of world Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary, explained to RNS.

In contrast to the model of sending missionaries, “apostolic networks transcend national borders, so that ideas and leaders and resources flow in every direction,” Taylor said.

Baylor scholar explores political-religious trends in Brazil

João Chaves, assistant professor of the history of religion in the Américas at Baylor University, said that “the overlaps in the transnational influences” on the Christian far right have been very clear as he and Barreto write a book about the political movement in Brazil and its international connections.

Chaves and Barreto have followed the political influence of the growing population of Pentecostals in Brazil. In the 2022 elections, Chaves said, more than 500 candidates for political office used classic evangelical terms, like missionary, pastor, reverend and bishop, as they campaigned.

Both scholars emphasized the links between the United States and Brazil, with Barreto referencing sociologist David Hess’ description that the two countries are “slightly distorted mirror-images of each other.”

Chaves noted former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s son, Eduardo, was in Washington, D.C., just before the Jan. 6 insurrection. Two years later, on Jan. 8, 2023, Bolsonaro’s supporters, including many evangelicals, invaded government buildings and called for a military coup following their leader’s defeat in the 2022 Brazilian general election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Several speakers noted that Zionism is a common feature in worship and politics among charismatic Pentecostals who also advance Christian nationalism.

“When Trump was trying to move the embassy (to Jerusalem), you could see them pushing in Brazil also,” Chaves said.

While televangelist Paula White has connected Trump to apostolic networks, Silas Malafaia, a Brazilian Pentecostal televangelist, has played the same role for Bolsonaro, a Catholic who appeals to Brazil’s right-wing evangelicals, Barreto noted.

Malafaia “is not a thinking head of that movement,” Barreto said in his lecture. “He is repeating the same discourse that we are hearing from other apostolic voices.”

Common themes include the idea that “Brazil belongs to Jesus Christ” and cultural Marxism, feminism, abortion, the LGBTQ+ community and the whole left are enemies to be fought, Barreto said.

The rise of Christian nationalism in Brazil is pushing some people out of the church, but others are forming a resistance, Barreto told RNS.

Vozes Marias, or Maria Voices and Novas Narrativas Evangélicas, or New Evangelical Narratives, are among the groups led by young people “from the peripheries, the favelas,” that have both stepped up, Barreto said.

Miranda Zapor Cruz, a professor of historical theology at Indiana Wesleyan University, said the rise of Hispanic Christian nationalism is replaying some debates about new prophecy in the early church.

“Those who are part of these movements affirm a version of modern-day Gnosticism and Montanism that rejects the authority of creedal Christianity in favor of new revelation that has authority,” Cruz said.

WASHINGTON (BP)—The United States resettled more Christians fleeing persecution in fiscal year 2024 than it has since 2016, Open Doors and World Relief said in a report unveiled Oct. 14 as insight for policymakers and voters weeks ahead of the U.S. presidential elections.

The nonpartisan groups reported the numbers of refugees and asylum seekers the U.S. has accepted in recent decades, including Christians and others fleeing religious persecution.

Their report also explored how U.S. presidential platform policies will impact the ability of those persecuted for their faith to find refuge here after the November elections.

“I think it would be remiss of me not to note that we are aware that President Trump has pledged to suspend the refugee admissions program on day one, but we also hope that this report will be something that raises voices and attention to this issue, and will persuade him to change his mind if he’s elected,” World Relief President and CEO Myal Greene said on a press call releasing the report.

“And similarly we have seen that the Biden-Harris administration has implemented very significant restrictions on the asylum program, and we believe these restrictions inhibit a pathway for individuals fleeing religious persecution. And so, we would like to see and hope that these issues can be addressed.”

Still, both groups were clear in emphasizing that the report remained nonpartisan.

“Nothing in this report should be construed as an endorsement or denunciation of any particular party or candidate,” Greene said. “But we do know that as many evangelicals and Catholics and Christians come to make their voting decisions here, they should be aware of these facts.”

More than 29,000 Christian refugees resettled

In fiscal year 2024, which ended Sept. 30, the United States resettled 100,034 refugees of all backgrounds, the groups reported, including 29,493 Christian refugees from the 2024 World Watch List of the 50 countries where Christians suffer the most persecution.

The growth was a result of the Biden administration rebuilding the refugee resettlement program after it reached crippling lows during the Trump administration, even in advance of the COVID-19 pandemic, for which the report offered its commendation.

But the report noted restrictions placed on the asylum program in the final year of the Biden-Harris administration that reinterpret existing law to mean those illegally crossing the U.S. southern border are presumed ineligible for asylum, “with very limited exceptions.”

While the rule faces legal challenges, the report notes, it has also “left those with genuine asylum claims—including those persecuted because of their faith in Jesus—at profound risk.”

Such individuals often wait for months in shelters on the Mexican side of the border until they can apply through legal means.

While the Refugee Act, passed in 1980 with bipartisan support, allows each president to set a ceiling for refugee admissions, no such ceiling exists for asylum seekers.

Refugee ceilings have ranged from 231,700 under President Carter in fiscal year 1980 to 15,000 under President Trump in fiscal year 2021, a limit Biden retained in his first year in office. But the refugee resettlement program has rebounded during the remainder of Biden’s term, reaching its current high.

Greene further lamented Trump’s campaign promise to end the refugee resettlement program, citing a Lifeway Research poll showing 71 percent of evangelical Christians believe the nation has a moral responsibility to accept refugees.

“And so what that tells me is that many evangelical voters who are likely to support President Trump are doing so, not because of his views on immigration, but in spite of those views,” Greene said during a Q&A segment.

“For me, I think it would be very prudent for President Trump to reconsider some of his promises that he has made to restrict refugee resettlement,” he said, citing advocacy from the World Relief parent group the National Association of Evangelicals, the Southern Baptist Convention and other evangelical Christian groups for stronger borders accompanied by due process for asylum seekers.

“And that’s a fundamental and essential obligation and it’s ingrained in international law and it’s ethical and represents the best ethics there,” Greene said.

“And what we see in this situation is that we will not live up to our moral obligations to people fleeing persecution if there are further restrictions of the asylum process or closing of the refugee program for people who are fleeing religious persecution, whether they’re Christians or others.”

U.S. policy influences other countries

Nadine Maenza, a former U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom chair who joined the press call from Iraq, pointed out the influence U.S policy has on the ability of refugees and asylum seekers to find an open door anywhere.

“When the U.S. drops their numbers, countries around the world all drop their numbers, and when the U.S. increases their numbers, it has the effect where all the other countries increase their numbers,” Maenza said she has learned through conversations with the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

“So when we close our doors, guess what happens? Other countries close their doors and it becomes an even larger problem in the world.”

Open Doors U.S. President Ryan Brown pointed out the increasing need for the United States to provide a safe haven for Christians fleeing persecution, as the organization’s annual World Watch List has noted a multiyear trend of increasingly violent persecution that forces Christians to flee their homelands.

“The need for refugees and those seeking asylum to have a safe haven and to have a place where they flee and find safety, those needs continue to rise,” Brown said. “We certainly, through this report, hope to illustrate and give visibility to that fact.”

He encouraged voters not to confuse the issue of border security with asylum and refugee access, pointing out the worth and importance of all.

Mark J. Seitz, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Migration, and Knox Thames, senior fellow of the Pepperdine University U.S. Institute of Peace, also joined the call moderated by Chelsea Sobolik of World Relief and Kaylee Fischer, global operations director of the International Religious Freedom Roundtable.

CHARLOTTE, N.C.(RNS)—The political ad begins with a clip of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, wearing glasses, a gray suit and tie, leaning in toward a pulpit.

“But you must realize that in the last days, the times will be full of danger,” Graham declares. “Men will become utterly self-centered and greedy for money.”

Suddenly, a clip of former President Donald Trump is spliced in. Standing before a row of American flags at a campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa, Trump says: “My whole life I’ve been greedy, greedy, greedy. I’ve grabbed all the money I could get. I’m so greedy.”

For the next few seconds, the ad, which has racked up over 30 million views, flips between Graham’s 1988 sermon, contrasting his points with shots of Trump using violent language, claiming to be “the chosen one” and talking about kissing women without their consent.

That ad, the result of a $1 million ad campaign by Evangelicals for Harris, is now the subject of a potential lawsuit from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, a Charlotte-based nonprofit that supports the ministries of Billy Graham’s son and grandson.

‘Cease and desist’ letter sent

In late September and early October, Evangelicals for Harris, a grassroots campaign of the political action committee Evangelicals for America, said it received multiple letters from lawyers representing the association, including a “cease and desist” letter.

An Oct. 2 letter, sent from outside counsel and obtained by RNS, threatened to sue Evangelicals for Harris on the basis of copyright infringement.

In a statement to RNS, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association said they do not generally comment on potential disputes, but they acknowledged having communicated with Evangelicals for Harris regarding their concerns about the “unauthorized, political use of BGEA’s copyrighted video,” and said they would continue to address the matter.

“It may be worth noting that, in all of his years of ministry and across relationships with 11 U.S. presidents, Billy Graham sought only to encourage them and to offer them the counsel of Christ, as revealed through God’s Word. He never criticized presidents publicly and would undoubtedly refuse to let his sermons be used to do so, regardless of who is involved,” said the statement.

In August, Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association,  turned to the social platform X to voice his displeasure at Evangelicals for Harris’ use of his father’s sermons.

“The liberals are using anything and everything they can to promote candidate Harris. They even developed a political ad trying to use my father @BillyGraham’s image. They are trying to mislead people,” he wrote.

“Maybe they don’t know that my father appreciated the conservative values and policies of President @realDonaldTrump in 2016, and if he were alive today, my father’s views and opinions would not have changed.”

In response to the threatened lawsuit, Evangelicals for Harris released a statement saying Franklin Graham is taking a page from Trump’s playbook by trying to silence the group through legal action.

“Franklin is scared of our ads because we do not tell people what to do or think. We merely hold Trump’s own words up to the light of Scripture, the necessity of repentance, and Biblical warnings against leaders exactly like Trump,” they wrote in a post on X.

Group defends use of video clips in ad

The lawyers representing Evangelicals for Harris also released their formal legal response to the threatened lawsuit.

Originally sent on Sept. 28, the letter asserts that the ad does not constitute copyright infringement or violate the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s right.

They write that the public discussion of Trump’s moral failings is “essential First Amendment expression,” and the use of Billy Graham’s sermon is protected under the Copyright Act.

“EFH will not be removing the ‘Keep Clear’ advertisement in response to your demand. The advertisement is a transformative, noncommercial use of less than two percent of a widely disseminated video, aimed at a market that BGEA (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association) was prohibited from targeting,” the letter says.

Evangelicals for Harris was founded by Jim Ball, an evangelical minister and former head of both the Evangelical Environmental Network and Evangelicals for Biden.

Since its launch in August, the group has had more than 300,000 people sign up for information about the campaign, according to Ball. Jerushah Duford, Billy Graham’s granddaughter; Bishop Claude Alexander of The Park Church in Charlotte, N.C.; and Texas Baptist pastor Dwight McKissic of Arlington are among the group’s ranks.

Ball said the “Keep Clear” ad, named after Graham’s admonishment to “keep clear of people like that,” was inspired by a desire to rely on the biblical wisdom of Billy Graham, whom Ball considers a personal hero, and to reintroduce young people to the evangelist.

“We’ve never had a situation where a single individual has threatened democracy and the rule of law like Mr. Trump has,” said Ball. “We’re also hoping to provide a witness to others that love should be at the heart of how we look at politics.

“How are we called to love our neighbors in the public square? We think hands down that Kamala Harris is the candidate that everyone should be voting for on that regard.”

(RNS)—Oklahoma is in the market for some Bibles. They might get some help from Donald Trump.

The state’s education department is on the hunt for 55,000 copies of the Scriptures, bound in leather or a similar material and including a mix of religious and historic documents like the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

While the Bible remains one of the most popular books for sale, few versions fit Oklahoma’s requirements, according to Oklahoma Watch, which contacted Mardell, a major Christian retailer where none of the 2,900 Bibles on sale reportedly fit the bid criteria.

One Bible that might fit is country singer Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” Bible, which President Trump endorses. That Bible has the right translation and historic documents and is available in leather for about $60.

“The supplier must provide only the King James Version Bible for historical accuracy and contain both the Old and New Testaments,” according to a bid description for the Bibles, published by Oklahoma Watch, a nonprofit investigative publication.

“The supplier’s Bible must include copies of The United States Pledge of Allegiance, The U.S. Declaration of Independence, The U.S. Constitution, and The U.S. Bill of Rights.”

Not all Bibles fit the bill

Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s state superintendent of public instruction, has championed teaching the Bible in public schools and has mandated that it be taught in grades 5-12. That mandate seems to have prompted the quest to buy the Bibles.

The bid description does not mention the Apocrypha—a group of texts found in Catholic Bibles—but does ban any “study guides, publisher narration, or additional commentary.”

The “We the People Bible,” endorsed by Donald Trump Jr., might also fit the bill. That Bible is available in packs of 10 for about $500 online and has the state education department’s desired documents.

Other patriotic versions of the Bible might not qualify for the bid. The “American Patriot’s Bible”—available online—has the King James Version and patriotic images but does not appear to have the Constitution or Declaration of Independence.

The “Founder’s Bible,” from controversial conservative author David Barton, has the wrong translation and about 1,000 pages of commentary about the Bible and America’s history. It also does not appear to have the founding documents.

One caveat could derail Trump’s favorite Bible from ending up in the hands of Oklahoma school kids. The “God Bless the USA” Bible includes lyrics from Greenwood’s hit song, which might be disqualifying content.

A spokesman for the “God Bless the USA” Bible did not respond to a request for comment about whether a bid for that Bible will be submitted to Oklahoma.

When asked if the “God Bless the USA” Bible was eligible, Dan Isett, communications director for the Oklahoma Department of Education, declined to comment, saying it would be inappropriate since the bidding process is now open.

“We are excited to bring back the Bible in its essential historical and literary context to Oklahoma classrooms,” he said in an email. “Superintendent Walters has committed the agency to an open and transparent RFP (request for proposal) process, consistent with the norms for state procurement, that will be adequate to meet the needs of Oklahoma classrooms. There are hundreds of Bible publishers and we expect a robust competition for this proposal.”

Greenwood Bible has controversial history

The “God Bless the USA” Bible’s controversial history could prove to be an advantage in the bidding process. An earlier version of the Bible, featuring a licensed version of the New International Version, was canceled after public outcry in 2021. That led the group marketing the “God Bless the USA” Bible to switch to the King James Version, which fits the bid proposal.

Greenwood’s project found new life earlier this year when Donald Trump released a video promoting it. That endorsement is a paid promotion.

The Trump campaign has also used “God Bless the USA,” Greenwood’s 1984 hit patriotic song, at rallies.

Fans of the former president can also buy a signed version of the “God Bless the USA” Bible for $1,000. For those looking for a less expensive option, a “The Day God Intervened” version of the Bible is available for $60—featuring a cover embossed with July 12, 2024, the date of the failed attempted assassination of Trump in Butler, Penn. Some religious followers of Trump have claimed God miraculously intervened to save the former president’s life.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—More than 200 evangelical Christian leaders—moderates as well as influential conservatives—have signed an open letter urging the presidential candidates of both parties to reflect “biblical principles on immigration.”

While challenging both parties, the letter signals particular discomfort with the approach taken by former President Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, to the issue.

The letter, released Sept. 30, was organized by the evangelical humanitarian aid organization World Relief and signed by the group’s vice president of advocacy and policy, Matthew Soerens, as well as Timothy R. Head of the Faith and Freedom Coalition; Daniel Darling of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; and National Association of Evangelicals President Walter Kim.

Other signers include Gabriel and Jeanette Salguero, leaders of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition; Raymond Chang, president of the Asian American Christian Collaborative; Dave Dummitt, senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church; and Rich Nathan, pastor of Vineyard church in Columbus, Ohio.

“There’s no single evangelical perspective on U.S. immigration policy,” the letter argued. But it added, “The vast majority of American evangelicals are neither anti-immigrant nor advocates for open borders.”

The letter instead detailed three “core principles” regarding evangelical beliefs and immigration: the belief that immigrants are made in the image of God and have innate dignity, a desire for secure and orderly borders, and opposing immigration policies that separate families.

The call for more secure borders seemed to appeal to critics of the current administration, as did the letter’s concern about the “record number of apprehensions of individuals who have unlawfully crossed the U.S.-Mexico border” and those who have entered without being apprehended.

The signers argue the influx increases “the risk of entry of those intent on harming the United States and its citizens,” a concern heavily emphasized by Trump’s presidential campaign.

“We believe our government can and must both maintain a secure, orderly border and protect those fleeing persecution,” the letter reads.

‘Dehumanizing language’ condemned

But the letter appeared more reflective of criticism lobbed at Vance and Trump, particularly in light of controversy sparked by their repeated false claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio.

“Dehumanizing language is offensive to evangelicals, especially because many of us are immigrants, are descendants of immigrants or have personal relationships with the immigrants who make up a growing share of our movement,” read World Vision’s letter, using language similar to religious leaders who have come to the Haitian community’s defense, with local and national clergy signing statements rallying in support.

The letter also singled out the “zero tolerance” policy instituted in 2018 by the Trump administration, which led to immigrant children detained along the U.S.-Mexico border being separated from their parents and sent to other facilities, sometimes without enough information to easily reunite them later.

The policy, overwhelmingly condemned by faith leaders at the time, induced hundreds of United Methodists to join an unsuccessful effort to bring church discipline against then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a UMC member who had attempted to justify the policy with Scripture.

At least one Catholic bishop also suggested “canonical penalties”—which includes denial of Communion—for any Catholics who helped implement the policy.

The letter connected the policy to recent proposals by Trump to enact the “largest deportation” in U.S. history.

“While those convicted of serious violent offenses should face deportation,” the letter reads, “any initiative to deport all unauthorized immigrants—the vast majority of whom have lived within the United States for at least a decade and have not been convicted of any serious crime—would result in family separation at an unconscionable scale.”

In an email to RNS, Soerens argued the Trump campaign “is making not just a moral error in using dehumanizing language and proposing policies that would separate families on a large scale, but also a political misstep.”

He said that while Trump has long enjoyed ironclad support from white evangelical voters, his approach to immigration could damage the former president’s prospects come Election Day.

“I’m obviously not predicting that most white evangelicals in Wisconsin or any state are going to vote for Harris, but if even a small share of 2020 Trump voters make that switch or—perhaps more likely—are so dismayed by both candidates that they simply stay home, it could be decisive in states like Wisconsin, North Carolina and Georgia, where the margin of victory is sure to be very close,” Soerens wrote.

‘Love our neighbors—including our immigrant neighbors’

The signers of the letter, who hail from all 50 states, include Myal Greene of World Relief, president of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities David Hoag and an array of local faith leaders in states such as Wisconsin, among others.

“As you seek to appeal to evangelical voters, we urge you to reflect each of these biblically-informed values in the rhetoric you employ and the policy solutions you propose,” the letter concludes.

“Regardless of the outcome of this or any election, American evangelicals remain committed to the biblical call to love our neighbors—including our immigrant neighbors.”

The letter comes less than two days after a faith-themed event in Pennsylvania where Vance offered a theological defense of Trump’s border policies.

Speaking before a conservative Christian crowd, Vance—a Catholic—suggested his hardline position on immigration is rooted in the “Christian idea that you owe the strongest duty to your family,” and that leaders should prioritize their own citizens first.

“It doesn’t mean that you have to be mean to other people, but it means that your first duty as an American leader is to the people of your own country,” Vance said.

(RNS)—Even before Hurricane Helene made landfall in the United States—near Tallahassee, Fla., on Sept. 26—faith-based disaster groups were on the move.

Disaster relief staff from the Southern Baptist Convention shipped food and other essentials to Valdosta, Ga., where Send Relief, a Southern Baptist humanitarian group, runs a ministry center. From there, supplies could be sent to the Gulf Coast and other areas affected by the devastating storm.

Coming ashore as a Category 4 hurricane, Helene killed more than 130 people at last count and left millions without power in at least eight states across the Southeast U.S., according to the Associated Press.

On Friday, as the storm headed north, SBC officials and leaders from other faith-based groups were holding conference calls and planning their relief efforts.

In the early days of their response, along with assessing damages, Southern Baptists and Salvation Army officials planned to establish mobile kitchens capable of turning out 10,000 meals a day in Georgia and Florida.

Two of the first mobile feeding sites will be based at Baptist churches in Live Oak, Fla., and Perry, Fla., both within an hour of Tallahassee.

“The Baptists set up their field kitchens, begin cooking, and then Salvation Army field units gather the meals and distribute them into the communities that were impacted,” Jeff Jellets, disaster relief coordinator in the Southeast for the Salvation Army, said in a telephone interview.

The Salvation Army also will set up shower units and other support services in communities affected by Helene. Other faith groups will send teams of relief workers with chainsaws to clean up debris and tools to help muck out flooded houses and will provide chaplains to support those affected by the storm.

Jellets said disaster relief teams may end up working in communities farther north along Helene’s route as well, in Virginia and Tennessee, because of the extensive damage from the hurricane—which he called one of the worst storms he had seen in years.

Texas Baptists respond

Texans on Mission volunteers already have begun helping churches clean out flooded homes in the area around Tampa Bay, Fla.

A large group of Texans on Mission volunteers are on their way to Tennessee and North Carolina to help with flood recovery, chainsaw work and food service, as well as incident management.

They are supported by a shower and laundry unit, electrical repair teams, asset protection volunteers and chaplains.

The widespread effects of Helene will prove challenging for disaster relief groups. Normally volunteers and other staff come from nearby states. Helene was such a large system, however, that people are being mobilized as far away as the Midwest.

“This hurricane is more than 500 miles across and will impact as many as eight states within our territory,” Jellets said in an update on the Salvation Army’s work.

“In my more than 20 years of disaster experience, I can’t think of a time when such a large area was at risk and the Salvation Army could be called to support so many people.”

Josh Benton, a vice president at Send Relief, said Southern Baptists have trained volunteers and leaders in each state and can draw from that pool of volunteers in states affected by the storm as well as other states.

“That coordination allows us to respond in multiple areas,” he said.

Though the Southern Baptist Convention is a relatively decentralized denomination, disaster relief is an instance where churches coordinate closely for the benefit of communities hit by disaster, Benton said.

Benton said Send Relief works closely with the Salvation Army and other faith groups, as well as with federal officials, FEMA and local officials. Jellets said faith groups already are coordinating their plans and will continue to do so in the days ahead.

On Friday, the ministry center in Valdosta already was serving meals to those affected by the storm, including a family with 10 children who lost their home in the storm, said Jay Watkins, a pastor who coordinates the ministry center.

More than half of the groups in the National Voluntary Organization Active in Disasters—a network of nonprofit disaster response agencies—are faith-based groups that remain an essential partner in the nation’s response to natural disasters.

“This is one of the darkest days in many people’s lives,” said Jellet.

“When the disaster hits them, there is an incredible amount of trust and responsibility involved. God opens the door for us to bring a little bit of light into those situations.”

With additional reporting by Managing Editor Ken Camp.

(RNS)—As many as 100,000 church-owned buildings are expected to be sold or repurposed by 2030, according to an analysis in a new book, Gone for Good? Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition.

Though Sunday attendance has recovered in part from COVID-19 restrictions, a decades-long decline has continued to take its toll, and the squeeze on churches only has gotten tighter in the post-pandemic economy, according to fall 2023 data from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.

As a result, congregations face hard choices about what to do with large sacred structures that are underutilized, costly to keep up and suffering from deferred maintenance.

“Everything keeps getting more expensive, but we have fewer people in the congregation to pay for it,” said Jainine Gambaro, a member of Franklin Reformed Church in Nutley, N.J. “We keep going by the grace of God, but it’s an issue.”

Gambaro was one of some 100 church leaders and congregants who gathered online and in person, Sept. 20-21, to hear from a lineup of real estate experts about how to reimagine a new future for church buildings.

The Future of Church Property conference, organized by Princeton Theological Seminary, focused on turning community needs into grants, partnerships with developers and new business-driven income streams.

Thanks to the federal Inflation Reduction Act, lots of new dollars are available for renovations, said Lindsay Baker, CEO of the International Living Future Institute, an advocacy group for making buildings healthier, greener and more affordable.

“There is a lot of money for you all right now, and that’s not always the case, so that’s exciting,” said Baker.

Consider social enterprise

Congregations were urged to consider social enterprise, a term for using business principles to address social problems while generating revenue. Attendees heard about congregations that had escaped financial dire straits and galvanized new ministry momentum by leasing space to the public for community and commercial use.

Sunset Ridge Church of Christ in San Antonio leases a former “junk room” to NYX Wellness, which painted walls and began offering yoga classes. It now brings in $650 per month for the church.

Sunset Ridge’s commercial-quality kitchen now is used by entrepreneurs to prepare food for retail sale, for another $400 per user per month. A coworking space brings together remote workers on a membership model: Each user pays $75 per month for unlimited access.

Getting the congregation on board for these innovations involved many “coffee chats” with the congregation—in which pastoral leaders listened to fears and answered questions—said Jess Lowry, executive director and pastoral leader of the Sunset Ridge Collective, which coordinates the church’s social enterprises.

“That time we invested ended up really helping people get ownership and understand,” Lowry said. “Even if they weren’t moved to participate in some part of the particular mission, they at least felt safe and comfortable that they weren’t just losing their church.”

The assembled church leaders were directed to resources such as the Good Futures Accelerator course from Rooted Good for other ideas on how to forward their missions while raising revenue.

Churches with land or buildings that can be developed into housing have huge opportunities in the current housing crisis, said Nina Janopaul, president of Virginia Episcopal Real Estate Partners.

She pointed to Arlington Presbyterian Church, across the Potomac River from Washington—which built 173 affordable housing units, working with a nonprofit developer who pieced together $71 million in direct funding and tax breaks for the project from multiple sources.

The project not only allowed the congregation to keep a presence at its location, Janopaul said, but it also spawned new energy for the congregation as it has mobilized to reach out to its new community and serve its needs.

Many nonprofit developers will cover costs before a project gets started as well, said Janopaul. They may cover predevelopment costs—which can run up to $50,000 for appraisals, zoning analysis and feasibility modeling—in exchange for a commitment to use that developer if the project goes forward.

In many cases, the church will be asked to lease the land to the affordable housing partner for a minimum of 50 years, Janopaul said, which sounds risky.

However, she added: “At least with a nonprofit, you know that in 50 years you’re not dealing with an individual who will sell it. … Nonprofits, you hope, are going to be around longer.”

Even when partners cover most of the costs, most housing projects take years to complete, and the deals themselves or neighborhood relations can become highly contentious. So, congregations that lack the wherewithal and need cash fast might do better to subdivide and sell off parcels, Janopaul said.

Consider engaging uses

Churches were urged to consider uses that will engage people in their community.

“Young people are really motivated by climate action and thoughtful community engagement,” Baker said.

Sometimes simply “greening” old buildings can show prospective churchgoers that a congregation shares their values.

Baker suggested improving the health profile of churches while shrinking their impact on the environment by using nontoxic flooring materials, increasing ventilation, replacing oil or gas with electric heat pumps and installing solar panels for power and shade.

Then, she said, take credit for doing so. “There are ways you can make that visible on your landscape and on your signage.”

The lofty visions presented at the conference partly were tempered by financial realities in congregations where even paying utility bills is a challenge.

“That’s how we got into this mess, all of us, because there wasn’t money to say, ‘Oh, let’s just fix this’ when something comes up,” said Meagan Manas, pastor of Clinton Presbyterian Church in Clinton, Mass., in the session.

But Manas realized surviving was going to take more than simple donations. “The answer to so many of the things (discussed) today feels like it’s money, but that’s not an answer for us. So, I’m looking for more creativity.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (RNS)—“Jesus said that he is the way, the truth and the life. Jesus is with us in truth. And the truth is that Haitians are not eating pets in Springfield,” said Pastor Carl Ruby, gripping the pulpit of Central Christian Church in Springfield, Ohio.

Moments later, the 60-person congregation rose to its feet, applauding the five Haitian community leaders visiting on Sept.15.

“We love you,” Ruby said to them. “We are glad you’re here.”

Earlier in the week, the small church hadn’t been certain they would be worshipping on Sunday. Bomb threats and the presence of hate groups had the city on edge. But the board voted to meet, and Ruby took the opportunity to appeal to both President Biden and former President Trump.

“I call on our former president, President Trump, out of the goodness of his heart, out of the divine spark of God’s image that lives in every human being, to let people know that he was misinformed about what’s happening in our community, and to ask hate groups who are here to leave,” Ruby said.

He also called on President Biden to provide additional resources to support the expanding city, which has seen an influx of as many as 20,000 Haitian migrants in the past decade.

Bomb threats and verbal attacks

The appeal came after the midwestern city was thrust into the national spotlight during the most recent presidential debate, when former President Trump claimed Haitian migrants are “eating the pets of the people that live there.”

Since then, the debunked pet-eating line has become a “memeified” punchline. But for community members, effects of the remark have been no joke.

On Sept. 12, two schools, Springfield City Hall and Clark County offices closed in the wake of bomb threats. On Saturday, two Springfield hospitals closed due to bomb threats.

Flyers claiming to be from the Trinity White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan—a Kentucky offshoot of the white supremacist group—reportedly were distributed in Springfield.

“Foreigners & Haitians Out,” the flyers read, according to a photo obtained by RNS. “Join us and stand against forced immigration.”

Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio, which provides legal and case management services in Springfield but does not resettle migrants there, has faced verbal and written attacks, chief executive Tony Stieritz told America Magazine.

“My daughter asked me, ‘What’s going on dad?’” said Harold Herard, an engineer and member of the Haitian Community Help & Support Center who visited Ruby’s church on Sunday. “I tried to explain to her the situation, but I don’t want to put her in a situation of feeling fear about school.”

On Sunday, patrons and cashiers at a Dunkin’ Donuts in the south end of the city traded rumors about Haitians being arrested and consuming pets.

Churches say, ‘I am with you in the difficulties’

But later that afternoon, a different narrative unfolded just around the corner, where about 60 Haitians met at First Evangelical Haitian Church of Springfield for a weekly English-Speakers-of-Other-Languages course. Normally, the classes are stretched to find English-speaking conversation partners. But this week, about 30 volunteers—many from local churches—participated.

“I am with you in the difficulties,” the Haitian students practiced speaking in English. “Mwen avèk ou nan difikilte yo,” the English-speakers learned to respond in Haitian Creole.

At the end of the event, the English speakers distributed flowers and baked goods, while Haitian leaders thanked them for their solidarity.

“We are in amazement at how so much good is coming out of such difficulty,” said Heidi Earlywine, an English teacher and advocate who co-coordinates the ESOL classes.

Despite the welcoming atmosphere, some Haitian ESOL students voiced concerns about the level of scrutiny they’ve faced in Springfield this week, saying the toxic atmosphere had pushed them to consider relocating out of state.

Viles Dorsainvil, president of Springfield’s Haitian Community Help and Support Center and a former Moravian pastor, said he’s also heard Haitians debating whether to leave Springfield. But he hopes people stay a few more weeks before deciding.

“We have so many good leaders working with us,” Dorsainvil said. “And we do our best in our nonprofit to work through this situation with the community. I think that if we just take our time, we will navigate this together. But the tension is here. The fear is here.”

Skilled workers bring ‘tremendous gifts’

Once a bustling manufacturing town that produced farm equipment and other machinery, Springfield faced race riots in the early 20th century, and struggled with closing factories and a declining population at the tail end of the century.

Then, about a decade ago, the city launched a successful effort to bring in several businesses and companies that created thousands of new jobs. Haitian migrants facing political turmoil and gang violence in their home country began to arrive, filling job shortages and opening churches, shops and cafes.

“First Baptist Church is one part of a larger faith community and group of public service agencies that believe in the tremendous gifts that come along with the increase in population,” said Pastor Adam Banks, who pointed out the benefit of welcoming skilled Haitian professionals, including educators and health care specialists. “As a city that has seen its population decline for decades, this increase provides a great deal of hope.”

Countering rumors that resettlement organizations have been “bussing in” migrants, Herard said Haitians have arrived organically after hearing about jobs from other Haitians in the area.

The vast majority are here legally, many as recipients of Temporary Protected Status due to conditions in Haiti. Springfield’s Haitian population has swelled to between 12,000 and 20,000 in recent years, city officials estimate.

Influx of residents a boon but carries costs

Some longtime Springfield residents called the “pet-eating” rhetoric a distraction from the very real strains on local health, education and government resources facing the city.

The influx of residents has, according to many business owners, landlords and city officials, been a boon for the declining city, but it has also come with costs. Schools and hospitals are struggling to keep up with the growing population and the need for translation services and ESOL classes. Housing costs have risen, and the sudden increase in new drivers has prompted safety concerns.

In August 2023, tensions between Haitians and longtime Springfield residents ruptured when 11-year-old Aiden Clark was killed in an accident caused by a Haitian migrant who crashed into a school bus. Clark’s parents have since asked that their family’s tragedy not be used to stoke hatred or be exploited for political gain.

City Council meetings were suddenly flooded with concerned residents, and Haitians became the targets of beatings and robberies. First Evangelical Haitian Church of Springfield was reportedly broken into.

But the fractures were subsiding when, this summer, Republican vice presidential nominee and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance cited Springfield as a failure of Biden’s immigration strategy.

“It really kind of quieted down until our local leaders reached out to J.D. Vance for help getting financial assistance,” said Ruby. “And instead of providing financial assistance, he politicized it.”

Herard said Springfield’s Haitian community is most in need of better translation services, as well as mental health support, particularly in the wake of last week’s debate. For now, many of Springfield’s churches are giving support by way of English classes, correcting misinformation, and displaying solidarity.

At the end of Central Christian Church’s Sunday service, congregants shuffled to the front of the sanctuary where they took Communion elements and bundles of small fliers intended for distribution.

“Mwen byen kontan ou la. Kris la renmen ou e mwen menm tou,” the fliers said in Haitian Creole. “I’m glad you are here. Christ loves you, and so do I.”

To Herard, the service was a welcome respite.

“It was a tough week,” he said. “Fear. Confusion. But today, we feel free.”

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Americans who hold Christian nationalist views are also likely to express support for forms of authoritarianism, according to a new report from the Public Religion Research Institute.

The report points to a possible link between those who advocate for a Christian nation and people who agree with statements such as the need to “smash the perversions eating away at our moral fiber and traditional beliefs.”

Melissa Deckman, CEO of PRRI, framed the study as an effort to connect recent research on Christian nationalism with longstanding efforts to assess authoritarianism.

“While most Americans do not espouse authoritarian views, our study demonstrates that such views are disproportionately held by Christian nationalists, who we know in our past research have been more prone to accept political violence and more likely to hold antidemocratic attitudes than other Americans,” Deckman said.

The survey included questions from PRRI’s ongoing study of Christian nationalism, which tracks support for the ideology by rating people on a scale of Adherents, Sympathizers, Skeptics or Rejecters.

Respondents also were asked whether they agree with statements such as, “What our country really needs is a strong, determined leader who will crush evil, and take us back to our true path,” and whether they think children should exhibit traits such as obedience and curiosity.

Measuring authoritarian leanings

Such questions were based on two well-known rubrics to measure authoritarian leanings: the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale, developed in 1950 by a group of scholars at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Child-Rearing Authoritarianism Scale, which social scientists use to measure similar trends with child-rearing preferences as a framework.

Researchers found striking connections in the responses. A large majority of Christian nationalism supporters (namely, Adherents and Sympathizers) also scored high on both the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale (74 percent) and Child-Rearing Authoritarianism Scale (61 percent)—significantly more than Christian nationalism Skeptics and Rejecters (30 percent and 31 percent, respectively).

In addition, about half (51 percent) of those who scored high on the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale also qualified as Christian nationalism supporters. The reverse was true among those with low Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale scores: only 7 percent could be classified as Christian nationalism supporters.

And while few Americans overall (34 percent) agreed the U.S. needs a “strong leader who is willing to break some rules,” the statement was supported by majorities of both Christian nationalism supporters (55 percent) and those who score high on the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale (59 percent).

Patriots or insurrectionists?

PRRI also asked questions about current events, such as whether respondents agreed that those who were convicted of crimes for participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection are “patriots” who are “being held hostage by the government,” or that Donald Trump should do “whatever it takes to be president” if he is not declared the winner outright in November.

Few Americans overall agreed with either statement (23 percent and 14 percent, respectively), but support was noticeably higher among supporters of Christian nationalism (44 percent and 28 percent) and those who scored high on the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale (38 percent and 24 percent).

Researchers also asked respondents whether they were supporters of “7 Mountains” theology, a belief system popular in some conservative circles that calls on Christians to seek control over the seven “mountains” of society, including politics.

Most Christian nationalist Sympathizers and Adherents (57 percent) said they backed the sentiment, as did significant percentages of those who scored high or very high on the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale (43 percent) or the Child-Rearing Authoritarianism Scale (35 percent).

The theology found its greatest support among white evangelical Protestants in the survey (48 percent), followed by around 4 in 10 Black Protestants (42 percent) and Hispanic Protestants (42 percent).

“Our new survey shows, too, a close intertwining of apocalyptic and dominionist views among Americans who support authoritarianism. In short, authoritarianism in America is not wholly secular, but has important religious dimensions,” Deckman said.

Supporters of Christian nationalism were also highly likely (84 percent) to agree that “the final battle between good and evil is upon us, and Christians should stand firm with the full armor of God,” as were those who scored high or very high on the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale (70 percent) and the Child-Rearing Authoritarianism Scale (61 percent).

While no group exhibited majority support for the idea that “American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country” (only 16 percent of Americans overall agreed), the idea was most popular among Christian nationalism supporters.

The survey revealed 33 percent of Adherents and Sympathizers saying they agreed, while 28 percent of those who scored high on the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale and 21 percent who scored high on the Child-Rearing Authoritarianism Scale agreed.

MIAMI (BP)—The U.S. Republican presidential ticket’s unfounded claims that Haitian immigrants are stealing and eating pets in Ohio are alarming, harmful rhetoric that “fuels xenophobia and perpetuates damaging stereotypes,” a group of Southern Baptist pastors and other Christian leaders advocating for Haitians globally told Baptist Press.

“We must reject inflammatory remarks,” the Haitian Christian Leaders Coalition told Baptist Press Sept. 12, “and uphold the dignity and respect every human being deserves, including Haitian immigrants.

“This nation was built by the hard work of immigrants, and Haitians have played a significant part in shaping its identity.”

Keny Felix, an HCLC vice president who is also president of the Southern Baptist Convention National Haitian Fellowship of about 500 Haitian churches, lamented the accusations lodged against Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, by Republican Vice-Presidential Candidate J.D. Vance, and repeated by Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump on the global stage in reference to all immigrants in Springfield during the Sept. 10 U.S. presidential debate.

The Haitian Christian Leaders Coalition objects in particular to Vance’s Sept. 9th X post, “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country,” and his post that Haitians were “draining social services” in Springfield.

And HCLC objects to Trump’s debate response to moderators’ inquiry about immigration: “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats … the pets of the people that live there.”

False claims

Both Springfield Mayor Rob Rue and Springfield police have said there have been no reports of such crimes in the city, with the Springfield News-Sun reporting Sept. 9 that Springfield police had “received no reports related to pets being stolen and eaten.”

“We were shocked and dismayed by the statements of Donald Trump,” Felix told Baptist Press, amplifying a Haitian Christian Leaders Coalition prepared statement. “We know that words have consequences. Words that are disparaging against any group, let alone a group that is already suffering … is not reflective of who we are as a people.”

Spreading such disinformation can “lead to significant harm” to Haitians in Springfield, Felix said, and is “problematic. It comes down to common sense. But I think it’s all reflective of this trend of, whether we call it racism, or whether we call it xenophobia. It’s dangerous.”

Disappointment

Messengers to the 2023 SBC annual meeting adopted a Bible-based Resolution on Wisely Engaging Immigration, and Felix said it is disturbing evangelicals are not calling out Trump’s and Vance’s behavior, just as evangelicals critique the leaders’ stances on abortion and other policies.

“For me, the disappointing factor is that evangelicals are not calling out the behavior that is not consistent with what we call evangelical life,” Felix said, “which is love your neighbor as you love yourself. And so when we fail to do that, it puts us in a challenging position then to share the gospel—we often say the ospel of love and grace—when we support someone who spews the opposite through their words.”

Trump’s and Vance’s words are reminiscent of statements that were made to denigrate Felix and his peers on middle school playgrounds, he said.

“But to hear this from a national debate stage, which is pretty much a job interview for a role that we recognize as the presidency of the United States, the commander in chief, the leader of the free world,” Felix said, “and to talk in those terms without any regard, it’s very hurtful. It’s very sad.”

Felix and other Haitian Christian Leaders Coalition leaders planned to establish contacts with Springfield community leaders and Haitian civic leaders from across the United States, hopefully in advance of visiting Springfield to collaborate on ways to support the Haitian community there.

Haitian community

Bomb threats forced the mass closure of Springfield government buildings and schools Sept. 12, and additional closures of some Springfield schools and other public buildings Sept. 13.

An estimated 12,000 to 15,000 immigrants are living legally in Clark County, Ohio, many of them with Temporary Protected Status, ABC News reported, based on information from government officials.

Low living costs and work opportunities attract migrants to the area, ABC reported, but it wasn’t clear what percentage of the immigrants were from Haiti. The county’s population of about 135,000 includes about 60,000 in Springfield.

Condemnation and advocacy

David Eugene, pastor of Haitian Evangelical Baptist Church in Miami, is president of the Haitian Christian Leaders Coalition, a nonprofit incorporated in April that describes itself as representing thousands of Haitian Christian churches worldwide, advocating for social justice, economic development and civic engagement.

Felix is also senior pastor of Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church in Miami, and is joined as vice president by Jackson Voltaire, pastor of the multisite Grace Connection Baptist Church in the Miami area.

“Our condemnation of these baseless accusations is rooted in our commitment to defend human dignity,” HCLC said in its statement, “not as political ammunition for any party. We uphold justice for all Haitians and urge the public to recognize the Haitian community’s valuable contributions.”

HCLC pointed out Haitians in the United States “play crucial roles as business owners, healthcare workers, educators, and public officials.

“Their efforts not only boost local economies but also strengthen the nation through civic engagement and leadership. These contributions deserve recognition and respect, not defamation through harmful, unfounded accusations.”