Taking a stand is hard. 1) You have to be willing to bear the opposition. 2) You have to be willing to give credit where credit is due. 3) You need to have some alternate solutions at hand, or else you’re just venting.

I’ve taken a stand regarding the current president, but generally speaking, I’m more into peacemaking than rebel-rousing (point #1). And I do agree with one of Trump’s executive orders and I’m pretty sure I’m ok with Gorsuch (point #2).

As to point #3, declaring myself has led some to ask me, “so what do you propose?” GREAT QUESTION! And this is where taking a stand is really hard…and really good, because if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. So if not the wall, then what? And how do we cull out the bad dudes (as Trump tweeted) but welcome the Syrian innocents who have been through Hell. I’m not naïve. These are complex and difficult issues. I’m just dumbfounded that the directives of the past two weeks are, for the most part, so polar opposite to what I believe as an American and as a Christian. This is new territory, so taking a stand is on new ground.

So my answer to the “what do you propose” question is three-fold…
1) to encourage each of us to take a stand rather than to stay neutral. “We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere.” Elie Wiesel

2) to get involved in a hands-on way with an issue, local or global or both. We have people power. People power took down the Berlin Wall, for example.

3) to soul search. To really settle on WWJD. I see Jesus as a commoner who said radical things, drove the money-changers out of the temple, hung out with undesirables, loved his friends intensely, took a stand, and called us to do even greater things.

Think about it. What WOULD Jesus do in the USA in February of 2017?