Rachel reflects on the Anti-Trump Protests which happened all over the country last week.

Last Thursday Madalena, Helen and I went out with 250,000 others to register our anger at the visit of Donald Trump to the United Kingdom.  We were not angry that he was here in the UK or that the red carpet had been rolled out, he is after all the President of the United States.  What we are angry about is what he represents.  Therefore, last Friday we went out and joined one of the anti-Trump protests.

Trump represents so much of what is wrong with our world today and he represents the opposite of the kind of leadership Christ showed us 2000 years ago.

Trump represents a toxic cocktail of misogyny, racism, xenophobia and lies. 

He has consistently spoken ill of women, and talks openly about sexual assault.  He has failed to condemn the rise of white supremacist movements in the United States, introduced a so called ‘Muslim Travel Ban’, and categorized all Mexicans as criminals and rapists.  He has consistently lied and misquoted experts, refused to answer questions from the press and fires off inaccurate tweets at a moment’s notice.  www.jointpublicissues.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/protest-picture.jpg 320w” sizes=”(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px” />

These attitudes are contrary to the gospel and the values we, as Christians, hold dear. 

We believe that everyone is made in the image of God and is entitled to dignity and respect and therefore, that discrimination is an assault on the image of God.  We believe that everyone is equal in the eyes of God regardless of race, gender or nationality and all are welcome to be part of the body of Christ.  And we believe that, as Jesus said: ‘truth will set us free’ and that the normalisation of lying presents a moral danger to the fabric of our society.

As Christians we must get angry, just like Jesus did when he saw money lenders in the temple.  It is important that we get fired up with righteous anger when we see injustice all around.  We must remember, however, to use this anger to build the Kingdom of God.  It is what we do after the tables have been turned over in the temple that matters and makes a difference.  We must endeavour to challenge the narratives of misogyny, racism, the misuse of resources, the dehumanising of people and the propagation of lies day by day in everything we do.

When we went to Trafalgar Square to protest on Friday we were registering our anger and dissent at the state of society but we were also making a commitment to convert our anger into tangible change and make the world a better place for all of its inhabitants.    

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