Claremont Methodists depict Holy Family as refugees in cages

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There’s more on the church’s website: http://claremontumc.org

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Statement from Claremont United Methodist Church
On the outpouring of response to our nativity display

Monday, December 9, 2019

A Nativity to Affirm the Humanity of All People

Christianity is a tradition full of passion. It challenges and inspires us. As we the people of Claremont United Methodist Church seek to follow Christ, our faith causes us to pray, think, and reflect. We hear the passion in peoples’ responses to our nativity display. We hear them all, prayers and criticisms. This is Christianity in action. Our nativity has evoked an important conversation, and we ask that you hear the passion – in the voices of others as well as your own. When passion turns to compassion, the Spirit inspires us all.

Background On Our Nativity Display

Many people have shared that they are praying for us – some who appreciate the nativity display, and some who do not. We are grateful for every prayer. Every one.

We want to directly address a concern raised by some. We find the detention and family separation policy immoral in any administration, and this congregation has opposed those policies since their inception. For those who have asked why we did not do such displays previously, please know that we have. In both 2009 and 2012, in particular, our nativity displays attempted to raise similar awareness on immigration policy concerns.

We believe and proclaim that all people are made in God’s image. The message of our nativity encourages us to see God’s image and the love of Christ in every person.

We are receiving too many communications to respond to each individually. We are grateful for the conversations the nativity has inspired, and we hope they raise greater awareness in each of us for God’s care for the least of these. As Jesus said:

“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Matthew 25:35
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There is already a thread on this if you’re brave enough to venture into the World News forum:
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Nativity Scene Portraying Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as Caged goes viral World News
Amazing how much “housing minors” looks like “ caging.
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Apologies. I tried a search in case it was already a thread and somehow my search didn’t come up with that. Is it okay to have something in both world news and non-Catholic religions? I am new here so don’t know exactly how things are done.
 
Okay. I feel like my post adds something in that I have provided the church’s own explanations of what they are doing. Also, the world news thread seemed to descend within three posts to the level of questioning whether Methodists are even Christians, which is sad. I gather the world news forum has a reputation for people being a bit snarky? I feel like maybe this is better discussed as a theological topic as the church intended rather than a political one.
 
There seems to be confusion between refugees and illegal immigrants. Not everyone is fleeing from life-threatening situations.

The Holy Family returned to their home country in short order.
 
there is a catholic church neare me that turns their nativity set into a political message every year.
 
Here is a picture(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
Here is last year’s(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
I can appreciate that the nativity is a timeless scene, and that doing anything that changes it can be upsetting for people, but my own understanding of what it means to be a Christian, which may not be the same as everybody else’s, is that God wants us to protest against suffering and injustice in the world. That means sometimes doing things that challenge people. Discussing migration in a homily is something that people expect. Seeing migration depicted in a nativity scene is not what people expect. For that reason, it can be a much more effective way of challenging how people feel about the issue. I think our United Methodist friends in Claremont, CA, and our Catholic friends in Dedham, MA, have done something that makes people feel uncomfortable, but I think that is courageous of them. I am sure that the Old Testament prophets made people feel uncomfortable. I am sure Jesus made people feel uncomfortable. I am sure that Dr. King made people feel uncomfortable when he took words right out of the Bible to describe the struggle of our people. I think these kinds of protests stand in that tradition of Christian witness. Others may disagree, of course.
 
Tolle_Lege said:
There seems to be confusion between refugees and illegal immigrants. Not everyone is fleeing from life-threatening situations.

The Holy Family returned to their home country in short order.
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Weren’t they in Egypt for two or three years? Not sure where I heard that, but I thought it was a bit longer than just going there, waiting out the threat, and going back. Scripture doesn’t tell us, so it would have to be just tradition.
 
The Holy Family weren’t refugees. Nor were they immigrants. Both Judea and Egypt were apart of the Roman Empire at the time. What they did was akin to a Californian moving to Texas.
 
Elias said:
The Holy Family weren’t refugees. Nor were they immigrants. Both Judea and Egypt were apart of the Roman Empire at the time. What they did was akin to a Californian moving to Texas.
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Yes, but add to that, moving to Texas because the governor of California was killing all the first-born sons.
 
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