We, the steering committee of the Meals in the Greco-Roman World Seminar group, denounce the recent executive order by American President Donald Trump banning entry into the USA for people from certain predominantly Muslim countries, whether or not they are permanent residents of the USA. This ban goes against the ancient and venerable tradition of offering hospitality to the stranger in need as well as against modern sensibilities of decency and humanity. Especially since the meal is the symbol of welcome and hospitality, we feel an obligation to speak out. The texts and cultures studied by this group are unanimous that strangers be made welcome: Abraham offered hospitality to three strange visitors at Mamre (Genesis 19); Jesus was dependent on hospitality (Mk 2:15) and made it a focal point in his parables (Lk 10:34–35; 11:5–8); he called on his followers to provide food and shelter for those in need (Matt 25:35); early Christian letters remind readers, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers” (Heb 13:2); and Passover liturgies call on diners to remember having once been strangers in a strange land. This order has ramifications for the scholarly community, academics who would take part in ongoing discussion as part of our seminar and our learned societies, the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature, but also for the thousands of refugees fleeing terror and hoping for sanctuary from violence. We reject fear. We reject hate.

Signed,
The steering committee, Meals in the Greco-Roman World seminar group.
Dr Soham Al-Suadi, University of Bern
Dr Jan Heilmann, Technische Universität Dresden
Dr Lillian I Larsen, University of Redlands
Prof Susan Marks, New College of Florida
Prof Chan Sok Park, The College of Wooster
Prof Hal Taussig
Dr Meredith JC Warren, University of Sheffield