Multiple religious communities gather; support Muslim community

Standing in solidarity with the Muslim community was the whole purpose of an interfaith gathering Friday.

More than a hundred people showed up for the prayer service at the Newman Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Representatives from local Islamic, Jewish, Lutheran and Catholic communities read aloud a statement urging the Trump administration to continue to work with citizens from nations that have been temporarily banned.

In part, the statement read: “We agree with the importance of keeping our country secure, as the administration stated in its executive order last Friday, but we are convinced that temporarily banning vulnerable refugees will not enhance our safety nor does it reflect the values we share. Instead, it has caused immediate chaos, separating families, disrupting lives, and denying safety and hope to those who have already suffered. The promise that members of a certain religious group from regions of conflict will be given priority denies the humanity that they all share.”

Las Cruces Catholic Diocese Bishop Oscar Cantu says the orders only serve to divide communities, and encourage prejudice and hatred in the community. “We find it appalling, we find it to be immoral in that we should never put a religious test on humanitarian help,” Cantu said. “The Catholic Church does not do that and will not do that.”

President Donald Trump stated his executive order is not about religion, but about terrorism and keeping the country safe.​