I am struggling to understand the rationalization of the hypocrisy we are witnessing today.
In January, President Trump warned Iran not to violently suppress peaceful demonstrators. The same month, after deadly incidents in Minnesota, the president labeled these protesters, “professional agitators.”
How are we supposed to reconcile this contradiction? When peaceful protest is defended abroad but condemned at home, what principle is actually being upheld?
Then, I am deeply troubled by the ease with which our immigrant neighbors are vilified.
We’ve seen violence against immigrants and peaceful protestors. We are seeing the trampling of due process, the violations of First, Second and Fourth Amendment rights. This raises an uncomfortable but necessary question: What do we truly stand for as a nation, and how did we stray so far from it?
Lastly, in Utah — a state that proudly identifies as Christian — this contradiction feels especially stark.
Scripture repeatedly calls for compassion and moral consistency.
In Matthew 2:13–15, an angel warns Joseph to flee to Egypt to escape violence. “Get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt.” They were, quite literally, asylum seekers.
In Matthew 25:35–40, Christ is even more explicit:
“I was a stranger and you invited me in … whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
We need immigration reform. We need laws, courts and order.
What I am calling out is the hypocrisy of condemning cruelty to protestors abroad while excusing it at home; of praising freedom while suppressing it; of claiming Christian values while ignoring Christ’s teachings.
We should find ways to modernize the immigration system, hold our government accountable when policies and actions are not consistent with our Constitution and our values.
Nila Horton, Salt Lake City
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