Taxpayer-Funded CAIR Program Attempts to Recast Jesus as Political Prop

The name of Jesus is being used to advance am Islamic political ideology in Austin, Texas, and taxpayers are helping fund it.

CAIR-Austin is participating in a program titled “Jesus Was a Migrant” at the city-owned Asian American Resource Center. According to Breitbart, the event is part of Austin’s “Equity and Inclusion” programming and received a $1,500 grant through the city’s We All Belong initiative.

Austin Public Information Specialist Natalie Hulsey defended the funding, saying the initiative is dedicated to “strengthening belonging, celebrating diversity, and addressing hate, discrimination and bias.”

But Jesus is not an ideological prop for a government diversity campaign. He is the Son of God, the promised Jewish Messiah and the Savior who came to deliver humanity from sin.

Scripture says Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register for a Roman census. They were not immigrating to a foreign country. The family later fled to Egypt to escape Herod’s murderous order, but that temporary flight does not permit activists to strip Jesus of His identity and reduce His divine mission to a modern political slogan.

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Matthew 1:21 plainly declares, “You shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” Jesus did not come to validate an immigration platform, promote a government program or serve as a mascot for cultural activism. He came to seek and save the lost.

The event is especially outrageous because Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designated CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations last year.

“The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world,’” Abbott said.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has also sought to restrict CAIR and its local chapters from operating in the state.

Christians should be indignant when anyone takes the holy name of Jesus and attaches it to an agenda that obscures who He truly is. We cannot surrender His identity to politicians, activists or religious organizations seeking legitimacy for their own causes.

Even as we confront this false teaching, we must pray for those twisting the identity of Jesus. Our desire should be for them to encounter the true Messiah, repent and be saved. Prayer, however, does not require silence. We must expose deception and defend biblical truth.

Jesus Christ is not whatever the culture claims Him to be. He is the Jewish Messiah, the only Savior and the King of kings. Hebrews 13:8 declares that He is “the same yesterday, today, and forever.” No taxpayer-funded program can rewrite that truth.

James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact media@.