IT TAKES A HEART OF STONE

By Akin Ojumu

There are those who ask for my opinion on the reactions of some of our Christian friends to the seismic political turmoil unfolding in Washington. They ask me what I think about people they respected and trusted as fellow Believers in Christ who appear to revel at the ongoing destruction to the fabric of American society all in the Name of Christ.

There in this commentary is my opinion about these individuals who profess to be lovers of God but are deliriously happy about the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, senseless destruction of governmental agencies, and the indiscriminate decapitation of the US federal workforce.

There is a gaping hole, I believe, in your soul if you call yourself a Christian and you are an immigrant to this country yourself but now you do not see anything wrong in the hounding and the hunting down of undocumented immigrants all across the country. I mean hardworking people who would do any job you give them, whose only offense is that they or their parents came to America without proper documentation all in pursuit of happiness and in search of an opportunity to be able to provide for their families, which was the same reason you yourself immigrated here.

There is deep darkness in your heart, I think, if you call yourself a follower of Christ and you take to social media to gleefully celebrate the destruction and devastation being inflicted on US government agencies under the guise of eradicating waste, fraud, and abuse. I’m referring to reputable and respected agencies that have led the fight against poverty, plagues, sickness and diseases, political turmoil, bad government around the world.

There is definitely no humanity left in you, I’m sure, if you say you love God and yet it doesn’t concern you that untold numbers of hardworking federal workers are being cruelly and rudely laid off. I’m talking about men and women who, every day, selflessly dedicate their lives to the service of this great nation. These are people who fight to provide critical services that their fellow citizens need to continue to survive and lead normal lives without having to worry about what they are going to eat, what they are going to wear, where they are going to live, and where their children will go to school.

There must be cruelty in your psyche if you actually believe that all those federal workers who were recruited into the federal workforce under the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) program were all unqualified and incompetent LGBTQ immoral souls.

There is bitterness coursing through your veins, I’m certain of it, if you do not to understand that the vast majority of those DEI hires, all of whom have now lost their jobs and means of livelihood, were supremely brilliant Black folks and preeminently intelligent Hispanic folks who were simply given a level playing field under the DEI program so that they could compete fairly for jobs they are more than qualified for but would never have, otherwise, had the chance of getting hired because of the systemic racism and endemic discrimination that permeate this country.

There is no way I can call you my brother and I cannot honestly refer to you as my sister if your heart is so calloused that you cannot feel the pain of the deported immigrants or have compassion for the families whose lives are being ripped apart out of sheer hate.

There will always be a wall of separation between you and me if your eyes are so blind that you cannot see the fear and trepidation of innocent federal workers who have either lost their jobs or in fear of losing their jobs for no good reason other than that they are maliciously labelled the deep state and are deemed enemies of the soulless golden deity in the people’s house whom you have turned into an idol deserving of your worship

There cannot be a relationship of any sort between you and me if you are insensitive to the pain of other people. If you cannot crawl into the skin of the undocumented immigrant and walk in it to feel their anguish and relate with their despair, it’s impossible for us to see eye to eye on anything. For only a black-hearted schadenfreude would cause anyone to gloat over the misery of their fellow human.

There is, nevertheless, no hatred in my heart for you if you happen to fall into this category. I want you to know that I harbor no bitterness towards you. It’s just that there’s no way two people can walk together unless they agree. So, you stay in your lane, and I’ll stay in mine, no hurt feelings. No muss, no fuss. It’s as simple as that.