Executive Secretary Diane Randall wrote a letter to Senator Ted Cruz (TX) in response to remarks he made during a Senate Judiciary hearing on the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program.
In these remarks, Senator Cruz called on the Administration to ask refugees being admitted from Syria if they are Muslim.
Diane emphasized that religious criteria for entry into the United States violates core values shared by many faiths and called on Sen. Cruz to publicly state his opposition to this kind of religious test.
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October 13, 2016
Dear Senator Cruz,
I am writing to you on behalf of the Friends Committee on National Legislation to express our deep concern regarding comments you made during the September 28 Senate Judiciary Hearing on Refugee Resettlement. As a Quaker organization, we believe that the Light of God exists in everyone regardless of religion, national origin or other attributes. Your comments suggesting a religious test for entry to the United States were particularly troubling. The United States was founded on the principles of religious liberty that are a bedrock value of our country. To recommend that a religious test should be required for entry to the United States goes against the very principles that our country was founded upon.
As a fellow American and a person of faith, I urge you to clarify your position by stating unequivocally that you do not support any policy that would bar people from entering this country on the basis of their religion. An individual’s faith should have no bearing on whether he or she is allowed entry into the United States. There are two reasons for this request. First, such a policy is a clear violation of the First Amendment by impeding the free exercise of religion. While refugees living in other countries are not protected under the U.S. Constitution, I believe we must guarantee the same rights to those we’re welcoming to our country. Second, our Quaker faith, like that of many faiths, teaches us that discrimination against others because of their religion is wrong. The Quaker faith tradition, like your own, calls on adherents to recognize the dignity and humanity of all people. Some of our Quaker ancestors gave their lives to defend the cause of freedom of religion. The kind of categorization and discrimination your remarks imply are contrary to the teachings of Jesus who tells us to “love our neighbor as ourselves.” And we can easily understand in the parable of the Good Samaritan that we are called on to extend the love of Christ to the stranger among us. At a time of an unprecedented global refugee crisis, we are compelled—both by our faith and by our country’s values to recognize the dignity and humanity of people desperate to flee violence and persecution.
As a faith community, FCNL urges members of Congress to speak up and speak out against derogatory, inflammatory, and fear-mongering rhetoric about refugees; it has no place in response to any humanitarian crisis. FCNL unequivocally opposes any legislation or proposal that sets a religious test for entry or prioritizes or denies refugees and individuals from resettling in the United States, based on their religion. To state simply that we must avoid violating the rights of refugees, however, would be to understate our responsibility to act.
The call to “Love thy neighbor” without excuses, caveats, or exceptions expects us to offer hospitality to people forced to flee war and persecution. In the midst of the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II, a crisis that has already led to the displacement of 65 million people, prosperous nations like the United States have a moral obligation to help ease the world’s suffering.
We live in challenging times, but it is precisely in these moments, when the way forward is obscured by fear, that we must listen most actively to the call to faith and love. Belief in God may be the foundation for an individual’s faith, but belief alone is not sufficient; to exercise faithfulness is to remain steadfast, unwavering, and loving those in greatest need. When electoral politics dominate the national conversation and violent attacks cause widespread fear, it becomes all the more important to hold fast to our core beliefs in the dignity and worth of every human being and to uphold the promise of religious freedom that makes the United States a beacon to others. I believe that we are called to welcome refugees, regardless of their religious backgrounds. I hope that you will join me and other people of faith who believe we have an opportunity now more than ever to demonstrate the freedom and beliefs that have been essential to this country.
Respectfully,
Diane Randall
Executive Secretary
