Published 19:10 IST, December 9th 2019
Church in US shows Jesus, Mary & Joseph staged as caged immigrants
Church in the US shows Jesus, Mary & Joseph staged as caged immigrants. Claremont United Methodist Church in Los Angeles tried depicting immigrant crisis.
- World News
- 3 min read
As Christmas approaches, a church in the United States has staged the nativity scene with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph trapped in cages. The depiction intends to highlight the immigrant crisis in the country which has separated children from their families in the country. As per reports, an unprecedented 69,550 migrant children held in the United States in 2018 alone. Claremont United Methodist Church in the east of Los Angeles in Southern California created the provocative nativity scene - special exhibition, particularly during the Christmas season, of art objects representing the birth of Jesus. A minister of the church, Karen Clark Ristine shared an image of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph wearing chain links and incarcerated in separate cells on Facebook. Yet inside the church there is another nativity scene in which the family can be seen reunited.
Comparison with refugee crisis
The Church's Minister wrote in the post that she was stirred by the depiction and that Holy Parents and baby Jesus are the most well-known refugee family in the world. Ristine further draws similarities with refugees in the US saying that Joseph and Mary were also forced to flee with their young Jesus from Nazareth to Egypt to escape King Herod, a tyrant. As per the bible, they feared persecution and death. She further wrote that if the holy parents lived by the day they would have been separated at the border and Jesus no older than two taken from his mother and placed behind the fences of a Border Patrol detention center.
Response to the nativity scene
Users on Facebook seemed moved by the nativity scene. A user wrote: "Well stated. This country is certainly not behaving in a "Christlike" manner. These hateful people will have to answer at some point". A second user added: "Unfortunately, if events of two thousand some years ago were transported to today's world, God would not direct Joseph to gather his family to go to the United States". Another wrote: "Karen Clark Ristine and the rest of your congregants, thank you. Thank you for using your platform to highlight the human rights violations in our country and the hypocrisy that keeps it alive. With all the hateful comments coming your way over this post, just know that there are those of us sending love and gratitude to you as well".
United Nations researchers have stated that the number of children parted from their parents in the United States exceeds any other recorded number of separations seen in other nations. It is continuing even though the US Government is acknowledging that the detention can be traumatic. Some migrant children who were in government custody this year have already been deported. There are others who have reunited with family in the US, where they’re trying to go to school and piece their lives back together. About 4,000 are still in government custody and more arrive every week.
Updated 19:28 IST, December 9th 2019