Florida’s GOP website has been revamped with “Alligator Alcatraz” merchandise, complete with T-shirts, mugs, and even koozies. But the Rev. Jonathan Evans of St. Monica’s Episcopal Church says the topic is spiritual, not satirical.
"From a Christian perspective, looking back at the at our Old Testament stories, the people of God are immigrants", he said. "So, I find it appalling that Christians are on the sidelines being quiet or even cheering this kind of behavior on of Alcatraz, whatever alligator Alcatraz, whatever political theater term they want to call it."
Across town, Rabbi Howard S. Herman of Naples Jewish Congregation is having his own moment of reckoning. "There are some people who are quiet, but there are other people in my community who are who are fairly vocal about how wrong this is and that we need to, you know, band together in terms of resistance and try to resist what's taking place."
Rabbi Yitzchok Minkowicz of Chabad Lubavitch of Southwest Florida has been watching the protests in the media. He’s vocal too.
"You know [the] expression, you have two Jews, you have three opinions, right? So, everyone has opinions, and that's okay", he said. "In my opinion, these protests are unhealthy, unproductive. They accomplish nothing other than people getting themselves more worked up and working up other people and creating, you know, negative energy."
Two rabbis with the same faith, reading the same texts and arriving at opposite conclusions. The environmental concerns follow that same pattern. First, here's Herman.
"It threatens ecologically sensitive land. But, you know, I find I've lived in this state now for almost 10 years, and I find that the officials in this state could care absolutely less about anything to help the environment in the state of Florida."
Now Minkowicz:
"We're not dealing with babies. We're dealing with government, which is very responsible. I'm sure they did a due diligence. I'm sure if they picked it was okay. I mean, technically, you can find something wrong with anything. But the point is, government doesn't do irresponsible things. They check things out before they do that and I think it's important to respect them."
Groups like Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity have filed a lawsuit in federal court, arguing officials bypassed key environmental safeguards. Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed back, saying the groups are politically motivated and opposed to deportation policies.
Minkowicz quotes the Talmud:
"The Ethics of Our Fathers, which is part of the Talmud, which says clearly that people should respect the authority, because if not, people would swallow each other up alive."
Herman knows protesting might be futile, but says silence is worse.
"Even if getting together and protesting doesn't do anything, at least there's a show of a sense of morality that's opposed to what's taking place right now."
Evans calls on his community to reflect.
"What I ask us to do, is really consider if, from a Christian perspective, if you call yourself a Christian, to look up scripture about foreigners and foreigners strangers, that same word, what does it tell you?"
Religious leaders citing similar scriptures to reach opposite conclusions about the same moral crisis is almost enough to make you lose faith in something. But maybe that’s where Mary Tracy Sigman comes in. She’s a member of the Rissho Kosei-kai Buddhist group of Fort Myers and has found her own way through this moral maze.
"Rather than feel angry or despair over the alligator Alcatraz situation, our challenge is to feel compassion for all involved: the incarcerated, for those that guard them, feed them, care for them, for the Indigenous people that live nearby, for the precious land of the Everglades, and for those that created this situation."
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