SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
In a formal complaint, more than 600 members and clergy of the United Methodist Church brought charges against Attorney General Jeff Sessions over his enforcement of the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy. (Photo: Brynn Anderson/AP)
Sessions' Separation of Families Results in Charges of Child Abuse and Immorality From His Own Church
"We have an ethical obligation to speak boldly when one of our members is engaged in causing significant harm in matters contrary to the Discipline on the global stage."
Jun 19, 2018
Bringing charges against Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the church where he's been been a member for many years, more than 600 clergy and lay people of the United Methodist Church wrote a formal complaint this week regarding Sessions' enforcement of the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy.
The attorney general's "harmful actions," a letter (pdf) detailing the charges noted, have separated thousands of children from their parents and guardians as the administration has begun detaining all adults who cross the border and recommending them for prosecution.
"We have an ethical obligation to speak boldly when one of our members is engaged in causing significant harm in matters contrary to the Discipline on the global stage," wrote the members. "We believe that the severity of [Sessions'] actions and the harm he is causing to immigrants, migrants, refugees, and asylees calls for his church to step into a process to directly engage with him as a part of our community."
"Mr. Sessions' unique combination of tremendous social/political power...and the severe and ongoing impact of several of his public, professional actions demand that we, as his siblings in the United Methodist denomination, call for some degree of accountability." --United Methodist Church membersThe complaint states that Sessions is guilty of several "chargeable offenses" including child abuse, immorality, racial discrimination, and "dissemination of doctrines" that violate the church's standards.
Last week, Sessions defended the administration's forcible separation of families by quoting the Biblical verse Romans 13--the same passage often used before the American Civil War to defend slavery--saying the government must enforce laws, despite the fact that there is no law requiring the Trump administration to separate families who cross the border.
"The misuse of Romans 13 to indicate the necessity of obedience to secular law, which is in stark contrast to Disciplinary commitments to supporting freedom of conscience and resistance to unjust laws" amounts to a chargeable offense, wrote the United Methodist Church members. The charge echoed concerns brought forth last week by the United Methodist Board of Church & Society.
"To argue that these policies are consistent with Christian teaching is unsound, a flawed interpretation, and a shocking violation of the spirit of the Gospel," wrote the board.
The letter also condemns Sessions for detaining children in "mass incarceration facilities" after taking them from their families and refusing to recognize those fleeing domestic and gang violence as asylum seekers.
Sessions, the members' letter notes, is a longtime lay leader of Ashland Place United Methodist Church in Mobile, Alabama and has also been involved at Clarendon United Methodist Church in Arlington, Virginia.
"While we are reticent to bring a formal complaint against a layperson, Mr. Sessions' unique combination of tremendous social/political power, his leading role as a Sunday School teacher and former delegate to General Conference, and the severe and ongoing impact of several of his public, professional actions demand that we, as his siblings in the United Methodist denomination, call for some degree of accountability," wrote the members.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Bringing charges against Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the church where he's been been a member for many years, more than 600 clergy and lay people of the United Methodist Church wrote a formal complaint this week regarding Sessions' enforcement of the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy.
The attorney general's "harmful actions," a letter (pdf) detailing the charges noted, have separated thousands of children from their parents and guardians as the administration has begun detaining all adults who cross the border and recommending them for prosecution.
"We have an ethical obligation to speak boldly when one of our members is engaged in causing significant harm in matters contrary to the Discipline on the global stage," wrote the members. "We believe that the severity of [Sessions'] actions and the harm he is causing to immigrants, migrants, refugees, and asylees calls for his church to step into a process to directly engage with him as a part of our community."
"Mr. Sessions' unique combination of tremendous social/political power...and the severe and ongoing impact of several of his public, professional actions demand that we, as his siblings in the United Methodist denomination, call for some degree of accountability." --United Methodist Church membersThe complaint states that Sessions is guilty of several "chargeable offenses" including child abuse, immorality, racial discrimination, and "dissemination of doctrines" that violate the church's standards.
Last week, Sessions defended the administration's forcible separation of families by quoting the Biblical verse Romans 13--the same passage often used before the American Civil War to defend slavery--saying the government must enforce laws, despite the fact that there is no law requiring the Trump administration to separate families who cross the border.
"The misuse of Romans 13 to indicate the necessity of obedience to secular law, which is in stark contrast to Disciplinary commitments to supporting freedom of conscience and resistance to unjust laws" amounts to a chargeable offense, wrote the United Methodist Church members. The charge echoed concerns brought forth last week by the United Methodist Board of Church & Society.
"To argue that these policies are consistent with Christian teaching is unsound, a flawed interpretation, and a shocking violation of the spirit of the Gospel," wrote the board.
The letter also condemns Sessions for detaining children in "mass incarceration facilities" after taking them from their families and refusing to recognize those fleeing domestic and gang violence as asylum seekers.
Sessions, the members' letter notes, is a longtime lay leader of Ashland Place United Methodist Church in Mobile, Alabama and has also been involved at Clarendon United Methodist Church in Arlington, Virginia.
"While we are reticent to bring a formal complaint against a layperson, Mr. Sessions' unique combination of tremendous social/political power, his leading role as a Sunday School teacher and former delegate to General Conference, and the severe and ongoing impact of several of his public, professional actions demand that we, as his siblings in the United Methodist denomination, call for some degree of accountability," wrote the members.
Bringing charges against Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the church where he's been been a member for many years, more than 600 clergy and lay people of the United Methodist Church wrote a formal complaint this week regarding Sessions' enforcement of the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy.
The attorney general's "harmful actions," a letter (pdf) detailing the charges noted, have separated thousands of children from their parents and guardians as the administration has begun detaining all adults who cross the border and recommending them for prosecution.
"We have an ethical obligation to speak boldly when one of our members is engaged in causing significant harm in matters contrary to the Discipline on the global stage," wrote the members. "We believe that the severity of [Sessions'] actions and the harm he is causing to immigrants, migrants, refugees, and asylees calls for his church to step into a process to directly engage with him as a part of our community."
"Mr. Sessions' unique combination of tremendous social/political power...and the severe and ongoing impact of several of his public, professional actions demand that we, as his siblings in the United Methodist denomination, call for some degree of accountability." --United Methodist Church membersThe complaint states that Sessions is guilty of several "chargeable offenses" including child abuse, immorality, racial discrimination, and "dissemination of doctrines" that violate the church's standards.
Last week, Sessions defended the administration's forcible separation of families by quoting the Biblical verse Romans 13--the same passage often used before the American Civil War to defend slavery--saying the government must enforce laws, despite the fact that there is no law requiring the Trump administration to separate families who cross the border.
"The misuse of Romans 13 to indicate the necessity of obedience to secular law, which is in stark contrast to Disciplinary commitments to supporting freedom of conscience and resistance to unjust laws" amounts to a chargeable offense, wrote the United Methodist Church members. The charge echoed concerns brought forth last week by the United Methodist Board of Church & Society.
"To argue that these policies are consistent with Christian teaching is unsound, a flawed interpretation, and a shocking violation of the spirit of the Gospel," wrote the board.
The letter also condemns Sessions for detaining children in "mass incarceration facilities" after taking them from their families and refusing to recognize those fleeing domestic and gang violence as asylum seekers.
Sessions, the members' letter notes, is a longtime lay leader of Ashland Place United Methodist Church in Mobile, Alabama and has also been involved at Clarendon United Methodist Church in Arlington, Virginia.
"While we are reticent to bring a formal complaint against a layperson, Mr. Sessions' unique combination of tremendous social/political power, his leading role as a Sunday School teacher and former delegate to General Conference, and the severe and ongoing impact of several of his public, professional actions demand that we, as his siblings in the United Methodist denomination, call for some degree of accountability," wrote the members.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.