It's Not a Political Statement

You've probably seen them around the Treasure Valley: the little signs in yards and windows that simply say, "Everyone is Welcome Here." They're about the size of a campaign sign, but they're not campaigning for anything. Not a candidate, not a ballot initiative, not a political party. They're not a protest sign or a piece of propaganda.

They're just a promise. A simple statement of shared human values: decency, hospitality, dignity. And although it's not intended to be a religious message, it is nevertheless a modern-day echo of spiritual teachings in the scriptures of almost every world religion. Welcome the stranger. Love our neighbor. Seek the image of the divine in every human being.

​Apparently, that's too much for some people.

Earlier this year, a teacher in Idaho made international news when she was asked to remove an "Everyone is Welcome Here" poster from her classroom. Her school district demanded its removal, citing a recently adopted policy of "neutrality." According to their reasoning, such a sign might be interpreted as taking a side. Apparently, a poster featuring cartoon children of different skin tones — paired with a simple word of welcome — is offensive to those who believe some of those children don't belong.

And now, state legislators and the Idaho Attorney General have doubled down: making it illegal to display such a message in any public school classroom in Idaho.

Let's be clear: this isn't about neutrality. It's about fear. It's about controlling the narrative of who belongs. It's about using bureaucratic policy to enforce the silence of compassion. And the idea that "everyone is welcome here" is controversial should tell us something about the state of our politics and the fragility of our moral imagination.

Because from a theological perspective, welcome is never neutral.

God's story is full of radical welcome. The Hebrew scriptures remind us again and again: "you shall love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." (Deut. 10:19). Jesus made a habit of eating with outcasts, crossing boundaries, and telling stories that ended with the outsiders being welcomed in. The early church struggled, but ultimately affirmed, that in Christ there is "no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female." (Galatians 3:28). Paul didn't say, "be neutral." He said, "Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you." (Romans 15:7)

Welcome is not political. It's biblical. Welcome is not a threat. It's a blessing.

And I'm heartened that so many people know that in their bones. 

The teacher who put up the poster has since been hired by the Boise School District, where the superintendent and school board president have just stated, plainly, that they'll keep supporting any teacher who chooses to display the poster in their classroom. Many churches, libraries, businesses, and homes across Idaho and beyond are quietly adding their own signs to windows and front yards. A local screenprinting business made tens of thousands of t-shirts with the welcoming message emblazoned on the front, shipping them far and wide.

What once might've gone unnoticed is now a bright, visible reminder that love is not afraid.

So yes, I'm angry. I'm angry that a message so gentle and good has been treated as a threat. I'm angry that children in our state are learning that the most basic form of hospitality — of saying "you belong" -- is too dangerous to name out loud.

But I'm also hopeful. Hopeful because I've seen what happens when communities refuse to give up welcome. Hopeful because love doesn't go away when you legislate against it. It just gets more creative. More visible. More stubborn.

When you walk past one of those yard signs, or a person wearing the t-shirt, or enter a classroom that dares to affirm every child's belovedness, remember: this isn't political.

It's a promise.

​And some of us intend to keep it. Not in defiance, but in faith.

Southminster proudly displays an "Everyone Is Welcome Here" yard sign in front of the church!