An Open Letter to My Senator

Below is an e-mail that I have already sent to one of my senators.  I found myself talking to others about this subject and quickly realized that that was useless.  I decided to send the below e-mail as well.  If you feel strongly about this, or any subject, please stop complaining in the coffee shop and talk to those who represent you instead.  Believe it or not these e-mails make more of a difference than the meme you may share.  You can find contact information for any of your representatives online.

Senator Grassley,

I write to you today because I respect you and your service to my state and country.  You have always been responsive to me in person and the last time I sent an e-mail.  I write to you today because you have always seemed to me to be a good man, a man of character and faith.

I am an employee of KWAY radio in Waverly and you have always been helpful to us.  I do not represent KWAY radio in any way in this e-mail.  I have the privilege of serving as an elder at Grace Baptist Church in Waverly.  You, before my time, had attended services and even spoke at the church and many appreciate that to this day.  I do not represent Grace Baptist Church in any way in this e-mail.  I simply write as a concerned citizen.

You sir, however, are a representative of me and I am a representative of Christ Jesus so I must write this e-mail.

Please ask President Donald J. Trump to reconsider the Department of Justice’s policy of splitting up immigrant families.  I find this policy to be both highly unusual and incredibly cruel.

I have a thirteen-month-old boy and I love him to pieces and I couldn’t imagine anyone separating me and my wife from him.  Taking my son from me, and especially from my wife, would be about the cruelest thing I could conceive of being done.  These people who are separated from their children no doubt feel the same way.

Jeff Sessions cited Romans 13 in his defense of this policy.  I wholeheartedly agree with Romans 13 and my life is affected by that passage.  But you men and women in the government represent me and I think Romans 13 is much easier to follow if you, my representatives, make and enforce just laws and policies.  As a citizen of a democratic-republic I implore you to work to change this policy.

The policy of ripping children from their parents is beneath the dignity of our country and this policy is completely beneath the dignity of the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Jesus Christ asks me and you to care for the least of these.  He demands that you and I let the little children come to Him.  He says, “If anyone causes one of these little ones- those who believe in me- to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.”  Those are strong words and the trauma of government ripping children from their parents may cause these little ones to distrust the King of kings. 

Mr. Grassley, I respect you.  I trust you.  Please represent me well.  I know there is not a simple solution to illegal immigration.  I’m not naïve.  I understand that the parents are committing a crime, but this punishment most certainly does not fit this crime.

Thank you for your time and consideration of my e-mail,

Matt Ray

Waverly, IA