#willfulblindness

   In recent weeks I have struggled with figuring out how I should respond to the actions taken on immigration in May. Below are my thoughts and struggles with what is happening and our response as faithful Christians. My words are not a diagnosis of the practical world implications, but rather a direct response to an abuse of scripture. What we are witnessing is so much more troubling than this post could even encapsulate and so I chose to stick close to what scripture has to offer us. 

   Last month, the Trump Administration and Attorney General Jeff Sessions introduced a “zero tolerance” policy which has resulted in the separation of children from their parents as they cross the Mexico-American border. The administration has said that we must have strong border control laws in place and have enacted new policy to take a stronger position on border policy. Earlier this week, Jeff Sessions used a passage from Romans 13 to justify their decision and the President has continued to push his narrative that they are simply enforcing the law written by Democrats and that he really doesn’t want to do this to these people. We must ask ourselves a few things tonight. 1)Are these statements true? 2)What are the moral, ethical, and spiritual implications?  3)How should we respond? Let us begin with question 1.

1)Are these statements true?    Of course, the laws of any country are extremely complicated and challenging to read and analyze. There are rules written in one part of the law that is reliant upon rules from another part of the law before they can be implemented, let alone understood. At this point in our history, there are no laws that stipulate that children should be separated from their parents as they enter the US illegally. In fact, the long-standing policy of the justice department had been that those entering the country illegally for the first time would be charged with a misdemeanor offense. The new actions have come directly from the “zero tolerance policy”, that was implemented in May of 2018. This policy over the past 6 weeks has resulted in nearly 2,000 children being separated from their parents, including a nursing infant who was taken from their mother while she was nursing them. (https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/12/us/immigration-separated-children-southern-border/index.html) We have seen a former Walmart being converted into a detention facility. Now there are talks of setting up a tent city in the Texas Desert to house more children, where temperatures regularly reach 100 degrees or more. Though there have been past administrations that housed children in less than desirable spaces, this is the only time in US history where we have seen some actively separating children from their parents in such horrific fashion.

2)What are the moral, ethical, and spiritual implications?    This week we saw the Attorney General use scripture to support and defend these horrible and inhumane actions. There are many problems with this, none greater than cherry picking a single sentence out its larger context. The bible is a complicated and deep text that requires the utmost care when reading the words that it holds. It is this kind of blatant miss interpretation that led to the Nazi party convincing the churches in helping spread their message of hate, or the slave owners in the US justifying their human property, or more recently the hatred in the US of those who are LGBTQ. When we misuse and mistreat the holy scriptures to meet our own ends, we make a mockery of all that Jesus came to do in his ministry.

   When using Romans 13 to say that the people should follow any and all law that a country enacts, we miss the very nature of God’s relation to people. Cherry picking this passage overlooks much of scriptures theme of love and caring for the poor and the needy, who in this case are our neighbors to the south. Romans 12-16 continually repeat’s this directive that Christian people are to show great hospitality and love. This passage that was quoted is surrounded by passages that speak about love and having a love for others. It is extremely dangerous when we take a single sentence and make it fit whatever we want it to fit. For instance, we all believe that murder is wrong, well what if we were to have a law put into place that the government could execute anyone who speaks against them? As Christians, are we expected to simply say that this is what Gods will is? Are we supposed to submit to that? What if the government made a law that said that one day out of the year you were legally allowed to commit any crime that you want? Would that be ethical from the Christian perspective?

   Take into account that in Acts 5 the writer says "But Peter and the apostles answered and said, We must obey God rather than men.” It is true that we are to follow the rules and laws of our society, but we are not supposed to simply accept them blindly and we are not to follow them if they go directly against what God’s law says. So what does God say about immigrant families? (Below are the passages of scripture that reference immigrants and refugees. Look over them and I encourage you to go and read them in their context as well.)

Genesis 12:1 – The call of Abram:  “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”

Genesis 12:10 – “Now there was a famine in the land.  So Abram went down to Egypt to reside there as an alien, for the famine was severe in the land.”

Genesis 19 – Lot takes his family and flees Sodom.

Genesis 23 – Abraham is a stranger and an alien in the land of Canaan.

Genesis 46:1-7 – Jacob moves his family to Egypt to escape the famine and reunite with Joseph.

Genesis 47: 1-6 – Joseph brings his brothers to Pharaoh and they are welcomed and given jobs.

Exodus 1:8-14 – Joseph’s generation is gone, and the Egyptians oppress the Israelites.  “Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor.”

Exodus 1:15-2:10 – Pharaoh orders all the Hebrew boy babies to be killed, but Moses is hidden and is saved by Pharaoh’s daughter.

Exodus 12:37-39 – The Israelites were driven out of Egypt so fast they had no time to make provisions and had to bake unleavened cakes of bread.

Exodus 12:49 and Leviticus 24:22 – “There shall be one law for the native and for the alien who resides among you.”

Exodus 22:21 – Moses gives God’s law:  “You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien; for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.”

Leviticus 19:9-10 and 23:22 – Moses gives God’s law:  “You shall not strip your vineyards bare…leave them for the poor and the alien.”

Leviticus 19:33-34 and 24:22 – When the alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien.  The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt:  I am the Lord your God.”

Leviticus 24:23 – Moses receives God’s law:  “With me you are but aliens and tenants.”

Numbers 9:14 and 15:15-16 – “…you shall have one statute for both the resident alien and the native.”

Numbers 35 and Joshua 20 – The Lord instructs Moses to give cities of refuge to the Levites so that when the Israelites must flee into Canaan they may have cities of refuge given to them.

Deuteronomy 1:16 – “Give the members of your community a fair hearing, and judge rightly between one person and another, whether citizen or resident alien.”

Deuteronomy 6:10-13 – The people of Israel are made aware that the land had come to them as a gift from God and they were to remember that they were once aliens.

Deuteronomy 10:18-19 – “For the Lord your God...loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing.  You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

Deuteronomy 14:28-29 and 26:12-13 – Tithing was begun, in part, for resident aliens.

Deuteronomy 24:14   – “You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites or aliens who reside in your land...”

Deuteronomy 24:17-18 – “You shall not deprive a resident alien...of justice.”

Deuteronomy 24:19-22 – Leave sheaf, olives, grapes for the alien.

Deuteronomy 26:5 – A wandering Aramean was my ancestor…

Deuteronomy 27:19 – “Cursed be anyone who deprives the alien…of justice.”

I Chronicles 22:1-2 – Aliens were important in building the temple.

I Chronicles 29:14-15 – David praises God:  “We are aliens and transients before you…”

II Chronicles 2:17-18 – Solomon took a census of all the aliens and assigned them work.

Psalm 105 – Remembering their sojourn:  “When they were few in number, of little account, and strangers in it, wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people,...”

Psalm 137:1-6 – “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept…How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?”

Psalm 146:9 – “The Lord watches over the strangers…”

Ecclesiastes 4:1 – “Look, the tears of the oppressed—with no one to comfort them.”

Isaiah 16:4 – Be a refuge to the outcasts of Moab.

Jeremiah 7:5-7 – “If you do not oppress the alien…then I will dwell with you in this place…”

Jeremiah 22:3-5 – Do no wrong or violence to the alien.

Ezekiel 47:21-22 – The aliens shall be to you as citizens, and shall also be allotted an inheritance.

Zechariah 7:8-10 – Do no oppress the alien.

Malachi 3:5 – The messenger will bear witness against those who thrust aside the alien.

Matthew 2:13-15 – Jesus and parents flee Herod’s search for the child.

Matthew 5:10-11 –“Blessed are those who are persecuted.”

Matthew 25:31-46 – “…I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

Luke 3:11 – “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none…”

Luke 4:16-21 – “…Bring good news to the poor…release to the captives…sight to the blind...let the oppressed go free.”

Romans 12:13 – “Mark of the true Christian: “…Extend hospitality to strangers…”

II Corinthians 8:13-15 – “It is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need…”

Ephesians 2:11-22 – “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God.”

Hebrews 11 – “By faith Abraham…set out for a place…not knowing where he was going.”

Hebrews 13:1-2 – “…show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels…”

James 2:5 – “Has not God chosen the poor in the world…”

James 2:14-17 – “What good is it…if you say you have faith but do not have works?”

I John 3:18 – “…Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.”

I John 4:7-21 – “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God…”  We love because God first loved us.”

   Time and time again the Bible shows us immigrants/refugees and gives us the directive to love them because God has loved us first. The very nature of God is love and therefore our nature needs to be the same. The policy enacted in May is not loving and therefore is not Christian. It is one thing to say that we are going to enact policy based on our human wishes, but the Attorney General crossed a line by saying that God’s holy word would endorse such a selfish action. The Apostle Paul says that “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord...Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” He also says that “Love does no wrong to a neighbor.” We are to love without condition and show hospitality to any and all persons who are seeking a safe place to call home. That is our call and our mission. 

3)How should we respond?

   Scripture is clear that we are to be respectful of the authorities of this world, but it is also far more clear that we are to follow God’s law above any worldly law. In Acts 5, as stated at the beginning of this post, Paul makes it clear to Peter that we are to obey God instead of mankind. There is nothing inherently immoral or wrong with having a process and procedure for admitting entrance for those seeking asylum, but we also have a moral obligation to care for those who are in need. Jesus says that we love God and love our neighbor. The Bible does not leave room for us to interpret who we think our neighbors are but rather states that our neighbor is every person living in this world. Today the President said “The United States will not be a migrant camp and it will not be a refugee holding facility, it won’t be. You look at what’s happening in Europe, you look at what’s happening in other places, we can’t allow that to happen to the United States, not on my watch.” This kind of rhetoric completely misses the point of Christianity and our call as believers of Jesus to care for those who have no voice of their own.