White Evangelical Christians, it seems, are desperate for celebrity. So when President Donald Trump chose Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA to deliver a graduation speech, the school\u2019s leaders were elated.<\/p>\n
According to a recent Washington Post<\/em> article, President Jerry Falwell, Jr. is particularly excited.<\/p>\n Falwell, who recently called Trump a \u201cdream president\u201d for evangelicals, said that he hasn\u2019t spoken with the president about his planned remarks, but he knows what would go over well with the graduating class.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n For Trump, a trip to Liberty is reciprocation for the undying loyalty of the University president.<\/p>\n Perhaps no Christian leader in the United States has more closely aligned himself with Trump than Falwell. The Liberty president delivered a glowing tribute to Trump during a campaign visit in January 2016. And his support was critical after the release in October of the \u201cAccess Hollywood\u201d video in which Trump was overheard bragging lewdly about groping and trying to have sex with women. Falwell went to bat for Trump, saying that his comments were reprehensible but that \u201cwe\u2019re all sinners, every one of us. We\u2019ve all done things we wish we hadn\u2019t.\u201d (Paul Haim, Washington Post, May 6, 2017)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Never mind that candidate Trump dismissed the embarrassing remarks as just \u201clocker room talk\u201d not meant for public ears, in a rather empty \u201csorry I got caught\u201d kind of apology.<\/p>\n Hopefully the theology is better in the Liberty U classroom \u2013 be it virtual or literal. With only 15,000 of the enrolled 80,000 students taking classes on campus, Liberty University\u2019s distance learning initiatives make it \u201cthe largest Christian University in the world with over 250 online programs.\u201d<\/p>\n Ivan Herr\u00e1n<\/em> is a Liberty University distance student who has recently earned a degree in Biblical studies and counseling. He is also a first generation Colombian immigrant and proud USAmerican citizen. He will be attending the 2017 graduation exercise.<\/p>\n What he is not<\/i> is an enthusiastic Trump supporter. A church deacon who helps lead a multicultural ministry, Ivan understands well the stress felt by the Latino people, documented or not, resulting from the President\u2019s negative and racist campaign, as well as the his administration\u2019s determination to deport as many people as possible, regardless of their value to his adopted country.<\/p>\n True to his Christian faith founded on social justice, he aspires to demonstrate the value of our nation\u2019s immigrants to his adopted country. For Ivan, the Trumpian anti-Hispanic rhetoric is not helpful, neither to himself nor to those he seeks to serve at church or as a community college First Year Facilitator.<\/p>\n So with a sense of great personal pride in having earned a University degree while studying in his second language, Ivan is set to attend his graduation ceremony at the growing Lynchburg campus.<\/p>\n Yet it is with a sense of trepidation that he prepares to be addressed by a man who clearly knows little of the teachings of Jesus, and who does not share his Christian principles of humility and compassion.<\/p>\n A naturalized U.S. citizen raised as a Colombian Catholic, Ivan will undoubtedly express appreciation for an institution which has made possible distance learning while working a full-time job, yet\u00a0shake his head at what white evangelicalism has become.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When President Donald Trump chose Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA to deliver a graduation speech, the school\u2019s leaders were elated.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to University\u00a0President Jerry Falwell, Jr., President Trump is\u00a0a \u201cdream president\u201d for evangelicals.<\/p>\n Not all of the 65,000 “distance learners” would agree, including Ivan Herr\u00e1n, a church deacon and facilitator for incoming community college students.\u00a0Ivan has not found the Trumpian message or agenda particularly helpful to the Hispanic community.<\/p>\n In addition to working full-time, Ivan has earned a Biblical studies and counseling degree from Liberty, and will attend the 2017 graduation. \u00a0The irony of having President Trump as his graduation speaker has not gone unnoticed.<\/p>\n