KNCC

Jim Winkler President of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA

My theme is “Searching for Hope: The Transforming Role of Churches in the Transitional Period of History.” I know that we Christians have hope in Jesus and we believe in his transforming power.That is central to my faith.

That hope can seductively lead me to believe we are on a constant forward path toward a time of justice and peace. And I do cling to the hope that while the arc of history is long, it bends toward justice. I wish the arc was not as long as it is and the bent toward justice was shorter.

I confess I did not think Donald Trump would be elected president of the United States. Although Hillary Clinton had 3 million more votes than Trump but she did not win enough electoral votes. Even after he has won, Trump remains unpopular. Only 37% of Americans approve of him. 62% believe he does not have good judgment. Only 12% believe he will be a great president and 32% think he will be a bad president.

On January 11, the New York Times reported the heads of U.S. intelligence agencies presented Mr. Trump with the news that Russia has collected compromising personal and financial information about him including description of sex videos of Mr. Trump and prostitutes in a Moscow hotel.

We all know, of course, of many other unsavory aspects of Mr. Trump’s personality, his life, and his career. There have been other American presidents who have done despicable acts and deeds. I do not mean to suggest Mr. Trump is the first one who has a problematic record,but I do believe we have entered new and strange territory with this president.

Beyond the distasteful aspects of Mr. Trump’s personality, many of us in the interfaith community have deep concerns over his plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act. More than 20 million Americans have obtained health insurance in recent years and we fear they will soon lose it.

We are concerned Mr. Trump and the U.S.Congress intend to slash human needs programs such as Supplemental Security Income, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Medicaid, and Medicare.All of these programs provide food, medical, and income assistance to people who are facing challenges in their lives.

We are concerned the United States will move renounce its commitments to combat climate change through agreements such as the Paris Accord. We are concerned the advances we have made as a nation in terms of developing sustainable energy will be reversed.

The United States has been plagued by racism since the beginning of our nation. There is deep concern among the churches that the slow progress we have made in recent years in the area of racial justice will be lost. Additionally, the anti-immigrant and anti-Mexican rhetoric employed by Mr. Trump have raised many fears. Further, the anti-Muslim rhetoric and the threats to ban Muslims or require them to register their presence with the police is another area of concern.

The federal prison population and the crime rate in the United States have dropped during these past eight years. We have made some progress on criminal justice reform. Mr. Trump speaks often of the need for more law and order in the United States. We are afraid there will be more killings by the police of unarmed civilians in the years ahead.

During the presidency of Barack Obama, we have re-established diplomatic relations with Cuba. Now, that progress is in doubt. The churches have long supported normal relations between the U.S. and Cuba. President Obama also negotiated an agreement with Iran that we supported which will preclude the development of nuclear weapons in that nation.

Mr. Trump says he wants the United States to build more nuclear weapons and spend more money on the military. In my view,this is the last thing our nation needs to do but our Congress will likely increase the military budget and reduce spending on human needs programs,education, and environmental protection.

We are concerned that President Trump will use torture again as an instrument of U.S. foreign policy. We worked hard for many years to expose the use of torture by the U.S. and to bring it to an end. 

We were disappointed President Obama did not succeed in concluding a peace treaty here in Korea and we are concerned that President Trump will adopt a negative and aggressive policy toward the DPRK. 

I have shared a lengthy list of challenges we face in the coming years. Still, I have hope. The National Council of Churches will not be silent in the face of these attempts to move our nation and the world away from justice.

As the United States prepares for the Presidential Inauguration, we do so with the lasting residue of a divisive election season and an even more fractured past. Our faith teaches us to be ministers of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:11-21).That is why we urge President-Elect Donald Trump, who has said he shares our Christian faith, to take seriously his responsibility to bring our nation together and to heed the oath he will take to preserve, protect and defend America. He can start this work before the oath of office is taken with his policy agenda and political appointments.

Together, the National Council of Churches represents millions of Christians in the U.S. who believe in the power and possibility of healing and unity for our nation. We have grave concerns about a proposed policy agenda that, if enacted, would put the most vulnerable among us in jeopardy. Throughout Christian scriptures we are instructed to care for the poor and the most vulnerable. The Affordable Care Act, including Medicaid expansion, has given more than 30 million people access to affordable health coverage.

Safety net programs, which lift more than 40 million people out of poverty each year, must also be preserved. These programs are proven to help reduce poverty and provide families in need, especially children and seniors, with food and housing security as well as with access to health care and provide much-needed help to families when they are struggling to make ends meet.

In addition, we are deeply troubled by choices President Trump has made for his Cabinet,particularly for Chief Strategist, Attorney General and National Security Advisor. Stephen Bannon, Jefferson Beauregard Sessions and Michael Flynn epitomize extremist, racist and fringe world views that we believe are morally inconsistent with Christian principles of loving neighbor and antithetical to American values of “liberty and justice for all.”

These objectionable nominees represent a bygone era of hatred that we have denounced and worked tirelessly to eradicate. Their corrupted credentials, which include condoning and purporting racist, anti-Semitic, white supremacist, xenophobic and anti-Muslim ideologies, are not only unacceptable but they should disqualify them for service as public officials. We urged the President to protect the integrity of our nation by replacing these nominees with candidates who represent shared American values for the common good.

We call on President Trump to preserve, protect and defend our nation by enacting a policy agenda that will improve the lives of the most vulnerable, not put them at greater risk. We urge President Trump to preserve, protect and defend our nation against people who have a documented history of racial hatred, bigotry and xenophobia. We encourage President Trump to preserve, protect and defend our nation by doing the hard work it will take to unify our country and move us toward a just, sustainable and equitable future that lives up to the ideals and promise of America.

As I reflect on the 30 years I have been in ministry with the churches on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, I can identify some significant accomplishments we have achieved. For many years, we stood in solidarity with your struggle for liberation from dictatorship through the North American Coalition for Human Rights in Korea which was affiliated with the National Council of Churches.

I was friends with Pharis and Jane Harvey and George and Dorothy Ogle. They always pushed the churches to support you and they and many others gave sacrificially to help you.

Similarly, we created the Church Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines to stand in solidarity in the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship. When your struggle was victorious and when the struggle in the Philippines was victorious, we were joyful.

During those years, we campaigned for an end to U.S. military aid to cruel, corrupt tyrants.We campaigned for the release of political prisoners. We demanded the United States government impose sanctions on the dictatorships.

My father is a tired United Methodist preacher. When I was 11 years old, I participated in my first political demonstration. Members of our church protested against the war in Vietnam. My father also supported Dr. Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement. He was denounced as a communist in those years. That was the best example that could be set for me as a young Christian.

In college, I became involved in the South African anti-apartheid struggle. After college, I participated in the campaign against nuclear weapons. I was part of the movement to stop the war in Iraq.

I have been involved in all of these and many other movements for peace and justice because of my faith in Jesus, but I have lived in a nation that has been at war throughout my entire life. My nation has wasted trillions of dollars on weapons and war.

There was an era in the history of the United States when the churches that comprise the National Council of Churches in the USA were pillars of the establishment. But, the terrible toll of World War II in which tens of millions of people died and in which atomic bombs were used and the subsequent Cold War began to raise doubts in the minds of church leaders.

Then, through the civil rights struggle, African American churches pushed the white churches to confront their racism. The National Council of Churches of the USA took a courageous leadership role in support of civil rights. Next came the unjust war in Vietnam. Again, the churches began to raise questions and came out against the war.

Through this long process, our churches came to question the very direction in which our nation is heading. As a result, many have rejected the National Council of Churches.More conservative Christians have said we are not authentic Christians. One of the reasons for that is many of our churches now have women who are in leadership.

I have committed my life through Christ for the struggle for peace and justice throughout the world and to turn the United States away from war and violence. This is indeed a long and difficult journey. The years ahead will be challenging, but I believe the outcome will be good. I am honored to stand with you as we work for love, peace, and justice.

Thank you.