654: Inauguration Consternation & Respecting Refugees with Matthew Soerens

The first week of the second Trump administration has seen refugees cut off and January 6th criminals cut loose. Franklin Graham declared in his inauguration prayer that God himself had chosen the President. The MAGA faithful applauded this mix of Christian faith and politics, but when Bishop Budde asked the President to “show mercy” to frightened people during her homily at the National Cathedral, she was accused of everything from political activism to witchcraft. Phil has a theory about what these two religious leaders at the inauguration reveal about the state of American Christianity. Then Matthew Soerens from World Relief is back to discuss Trump’s immediate shut down of all refugee resettlement, including cutting all financial aid previously promised to refugees already in the U.S. What’s behind the President’s aggressive policy, and how can we practically help our neighbors abandoned by the government that brought them here? Also this week—reanimated squirrels and Skye wears a red hat.

0:00 - Show Starts

4:14 - Theme Song

4:36  - Sponsor - Go to https://www.fromourplace.com and use code HOLYPOST to get 10% off site wide on beautiful cookware!

5:42 - Sponsor - Faithful Counseling - This episode is sponsored by Faithful Counseling. Give online therapy a try at https://www.faithfulcounseling.com/HOLYPOST and get 10% off

10:54 - Inauguration

20:57 - The Demonization of Empathy

27:08 - Loyalty Buys Protection

32:26 - Cruelty as Proof of Allegiance

39:30 - Created Order vs. the Marginalized

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1:02:24 - Interview 

1:05:50 - The Refugee Resettlement Program

1:09:44 - We Invited Refugees

1:15:22 - What Options to Help Refugees

1:21:45 - Helping Local Immigrant Communities

1:28:10 - End Credits

Links Mentioned in News Segment:

Evangelicals Made a Bad Trade:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/01/evangelicals-trump/681450/

Collision of Two Christianities:

https://religionnews.com/2025/01/24/inauguration-week-was-a-collision-of-two-christianities/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=topic/donaldtrump&utm_medium=social

Other resources:

Learn how recent executive orders are having a devastating impact on thousands of refugees and humanitarian programs both in the U.S. and globally, and find out how you can help make a difference!

Learn more: https://worldrelief.org/stand-in-the-gap/?utm_source=HolyPost&utm_medium=ShowNotes&utm_campaign=EO_UrgentAppeal

Partner with World Relief: https://give.worldrelief.org/site/Donation2?df_id=5541&5541.donation=form1&mfc_pref=T&utm_source=HolyPost&utm_medium=ShowNotes&utm_campaign=EO_UrgentAppeal

Sign the Christian Statement on Refugee Resettlement: https://worldrelief.org/christianstatement/

Easy tool to contact Congress with talking points: https://p2a.co/AEQhezU

Access This Toolkit to Get Involved: https://worldrelief.org/content/uploads/2025/01/World-Relief-Toolkit.pdf

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