“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” These words are inscribed on the Statue of Liberty.

The challenge is, will we live up to them? People from Africa and the Middle East desperately seeking refuge from persecution and war, combined with fear-inspired hateful statements from politicians seeking power, present a tough test for American ideals and for our churches.

Honesty about our country’s history makes us remember past times when many churches failed to meet the challenge. Before the Civil War, some churches joined the Underground Railroad, helping African American slaves escape. Most obeyed the laws of those times that required returning slaves to their masters. In the 1940s, some churches spoke up when Jews fleeing the Nazi extermination project were turned away from our shores. Many remained silent. When Japanese Americans were interred by our government, a few churches protested. Most quietly watched as neighbors were taken away to interment camps.

Today is a time of testing for our country and especially for our churches. In this post-9/11 era, after recent terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernadino, California, it’s natural for people to be afraid. Statements by Donald Trump and other candidates for president to bar Muslims from entering America and to profile or register Muslim American citizens manipulate our fears to promote hateful, un-American policies.

Our American ideal of welcoming people fleeing persecution and war is being tested once again. The challenge for our churches is, will we live up to our Christian commandment? Will we love our Muslim neighbors as ourselves? Will we do for others, including refugees from Syria and elsewhere, what we would want them to do for us? The challenge couldn’t be clearer.

It’s time for Christian churches here in Washington state and across the country to join with synagogues, mosques and other religious communities to pledge publicly to stand with our Muslim neighbors and to welcome and help resettle refugees from the Middle East and Africa.

Ron Young serves as consultant with thirty national Christian, Jewish and Muslim national religious leaders working for Israeli-Palestinian peace. He lives in Everett. He can be contacted at ronyoungwa@gmail.com.