March 5, 2017
Donald Trump
President, United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President,
Greetings. This is the sixth week and fourth letter in my
attempt to write to you every week of your Presidency. Two weeks, again, have
gone by without me writing to you. Sorry about that.
I write to you on weekends and my weekends are not spent at
plush Florida resorts, as most of yours are. My weekends are spent with family,
in volunteer service in the community, and in worship with my local church
(which I serve part-time as pastor). I squeeze in a half-marathon training run
or bicycle ride, but weekends are for me full of what, it seems to me, really
makes America great.
Family,
community service, and worship—not draconian policies on refugees and
immigrants—are what make America great. Family, community service, and worship—not
policies that unleash Wall Street speculators to take advantage of investors
and roll back basic consumer protections—are what make America great. Family,
community service, and worship—not weekends full of irresponsible Tweeting unfounded accusations and paranoid conspiracies—are what make America great.
On
weekends, my wife and I spend time together. We together connect with our young
adult children. I participate in leading a weekly dinner served to urban
neighbors living in poverty with permanent disabilities, felonies, and life
challenges that make work and normal life difficult. I lead weekly worship
services and share a Bible-based sermon for a small urban community of faith that
offers its facilities to address the needs of our low-income community.
I do
this—week in, week out—not for reward or recognition, but because this is my
faith and because it is what Christians and American citizens do. Because of my
concerns for your leadership and its impact on America, I also try to find time
to write to you. I found time this Sunday evening. I see you found time for
another unhinged Tweet storm and a few rounds of golf. My concern for you and
for America grows.
Sincerely,
John Franklin Hay
Indianapolis, Indiana
