If it is treason to criticize U.S. health care policies based on pseudo-scientific half-truths and conspiracy theories promulgated by a charlatan, then I am a traitor and should be deported immediately to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.
If it is treason to criticize the gutting of critical services and benefits to our veterans and their families who have sacrificed to ensure our freedoms and security, then I am a traitor and should be deported immediately to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.
If it is treason to condemn the whitewashing of American history by burying the contributions of women, African Americans, Asian Americans, Latino Americans, Native Americans, LGBTQ Americans and anyone else who doesn’t fit the white male supremacy narrative, then I am a traitor and should be deported immediately to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.
If it is treason to protest the genocide of Palestinian men, women and children by U.S.-made bombs, missiles and other weapons, then I am a traitor and should be deported immediately to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.
If it is treason to call out the president and associated sycophants for haphazard trade policies and market manipulation designed to line the pockets of insiders and oligarchs, then I am a traitor and should be deported immediately to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.
If it is treason to question the deportation of international students advocating for worldwide human rights, then I am a traitor and should be deported immediately to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.
If it is treason to expose the cowardice of Christian churches and congregations who refuse to speak truth to power in order to preserve their institutions at the expense of the Gospel, then I am a traitor and should be deported immediately to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.
If it is treason to support diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, as opposed to xenophobic, prejudicial and exclusionary policies, then I am a traitor and should be deported immediately to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.
St. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for treasonously wearing men’s clothing and refusing to submit to church authorities. Patriot Nathan Hale was hung for treason against the oppressive British empire. Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed for treason against the fascist Nazi regime in Germany. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Brother Malcolm X and Medgar Evers were assassinated for their treasonous civil rights activism. Rosa Parks was arrested for treasonously organizing boycotts against segregated busing. Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated for preaching treasonous action against the brutally oppressive regime in El Salvador. Jesus Christ was executed for treason against the Roman empire and blasphemy against the religious institutions of his day. Pretty good company to keep, as far as traitors go!
Keith Kondrich is a deacon in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.