A group organized by Mennonite Action gathered for a hymn sing inside the Harrisonburg Target store on Saturday as part of an action calling on the Minnesota-based retailer to end its complicity with ICE.
“As Christians, we have a clear call to stand up against injustice,” said Holly Stravers, a member of Community Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg. “ICE is not enforcing the law. They are kidnapping our neighbors, detaining children, assaulting people at will and killing people in the streets. This brutality is antithetical to our Christian faith, which calls us to love our neighbors and show hospitality to the stranger. We are demanding that Target immediately stop supporting ICE’s campaign of terror.”
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The Harrisonburg protest is the latest in a series that have been popping up at Target stores nationwide – a quick scan of the Google machine gives us news of protest actions in Lancaster, Pa.; Topeka, Kan.; Coralville, Iowa; Goshen, Ind.; in addition to big cities like Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia.
To date, all Target has done to rally with its customers – the customer base for the company has always been left-leaning – is join other Minnesota-based companies in one of those sternly-worded letters that is all about PR, and nothing about actually doing anything.
ICYMI
“Our hearts are broken seeing families torn apart,” said Tim Godshall, a member of Shalom Mennonite Congregation in Harrisonburg. “How, we ask, can those who espouse ‘family values’ be callous or indifferent to the incredible pain of children and parents being separated from each other? Following a God of love and compassion, we are compelled to extend that compassion to all of God’s children.”
“We are distraught by the hijacking of Christianity to justify hate and division,” said Maria Longenecker, a member of Shalom Mennonite Congregation. “Christian nationalism is not Christlike. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the teachings and the example of Jesus Christ, who called us to love our neighbor and to care for the vulnerable – from Palestine to Minnesota to Harrisonburg.”
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Chris Graham
