Methodist Pastors Heckle Jeff Sessions at Religious Freedom Event

Methodist Pastors Heckle Jeff Sessions at Religious Freedom Event

Methodist Pastors Heckle Jeff Sessions at Religious Freedom Event
Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Pastors speak out against Sessions’ plans to control immigration.

Two United Methodist Pastors, Will Green and Darrell Hamilton, heckled Jeff Sessions[/tweetit], the Attorney General of the United States of America during his speech at the conservative Federalist Society's Boston Lawyers chapter. Pastor Will Green of Andover's Ballard Vale United Church quoted Biblical lines said by Christ himself in Gospel of Matthew. The lines described how Jesus chastised those who are aware of their own selfish ends. As per the Gospel, Jesus said to his disciples that when they did not feed him when he was hungry and did not welcome him when he was a stranger, they insulted God himself. When he was naked, clothes were not given to him. The verses are often quoted by the clergy as an encouragement to take care of those who are marginalized, sick, and poor.

Methodist Pastors Heckle Jeff Sessions at Religious Freedom Event[/tweetthis]

Green then asked Sessions to repent as a United Methodist and exhorted him to remember his faith, which teaches him to care for those who need it, and also remember the wounds of Christ when he ignores others. The pastor, however, did not explicitly state the reason as for why he criticized the Attorney General. Sessions has often become a target for a number of religious groups due to his hardline approach to immigration, specifically for his role in crafting the migrant family separation scheme adopted by the Trump administration. He is even now actively advocating stricter laws to fend off asylum seekers who come to the United States. In the spotlight was a large number of Honduran migrants who are slowly making their way to the border separating the U.S.and Mexico. The migrants are reported to be 4,000 strong and caravanning across Central America.

As Pastor Green was being escorted away, Pastor Hamilton of Boston's First Baptist Church spoke up. His voice was immediately drowned out by boos from the audience. Many in the room told him to "go home.” The Boston pastor termed those present in the room as hypocrites for pushing religious liberty at a political level and to deny him an opportunity to express personal religious faith by quoting gospel during the event.

Sessions responded to such comments by saying that nothing in Christian theology says that a secular state could not use its laws to control immigration and that is what the United States did. He said it cannot be termed indecent and immoral to go by the country's laws and enforce them.

Resources

Follow the Conversation on Twitter