There is a lot of noise in the news today as state and federal officials butt heads over how to handle the "crisis" on the US/Mexico border. This topic is highly contentious, and far more complicated than most commentators want to admit. We are trying to condense an array of issues into one simple binary: walls, or open borders? Of course this polarizing dichotomy only serves to escalate political divisions.
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I have a lot of opinions on the various issues involved, from human trafficking and the drug trade to labor laws and welfare. I may address those matters in the future. First and foremost on my mind is the many Christians leaping onto the Republican bandwagon of calls for razor wire and fences. If you call yourselves Christians, why not ask what Christ says instead of what Trump says? Even if you don't call yourself a Christian, I urge you to consider the Judeo-Christian perspective as everyone leaps to moral judgement.
All scriptural passages below are from the World English Bible because it is a project to place the scriptures in the public domain. If I have erred in my copying, please let me know so I can correct it.
Old Testament
This is just a selection from the Torah/Pentateuch, but these commandments are also repeated every time Israel is reminded of God's commandments by later prophets.
You shall not wrong an alien [also translated as sojourner, foreigner] or oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. You shall not take advantage of any widow or fatherless child. If you take advantage of them at all, and they cry at all to me, I will surely hear their cry; and my wrath will grow hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless. (Exodus 22:21-24)
If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God. (Leviticus 19:33-34)
‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, fatherless, and widow.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ (Deuteronomy 27:19)
I am well aware that modern theologians are divided as to how much and how many of these Old Testament commandments apply to modern issues, but this theme is absolutely pervasive. While the oldest commandments include tithes and offerings, charity to the poor, and the Year of Jubilee, none of this should be considered an endorsement of the modern welfare state. That's a topic for another post. More relevant is Samuel's warning when Israel demanded a king and all the trappings of then-modern political structures.
He said, “This will be the way of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them as his servants, for his chariots and to be his horsemen; and they will run before his chariots. He will appoint them to him for captains of thousands and captains of fifties; and he will assign some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest; and to make his instruments of war and the instruments of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers, to be cooks, and to be bakers. He will take your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, even your best, and give them to his servants. He will take one tenth of your seed and of your vineyards, and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants, your female servants, your best young men, and your donkeys, and assign them to his own work. He will take one tenth of your flocks; and you will be his servants. You will cry out in that day because of your king whom you will have chosen for yourselves; and Yahweh will not answer you in that day.”
But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.” (1 Samuel 8:11-20)
When has this warning ever proven false? What has changed since Samuel's warning when Israel demanded a king?
New Testament
The core of my conflict with Christian Nationalism ais the actual teachings of Christ Himself. As noted by @creatr in a recent post, "Christ" means "Anointed One," or "King." As Christians, we are to have no king but Christ. Jesus is a living rebuke to the ways of a fallen world, and an example for us to follow. I question any Biblical interpretation which assumes man's governments are legitimate and their borders are to be respected. According to the story of the temptation in the desert, Jesus completely rejected political authority.
Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’” (Matthew 4:8-10)
Jesus did not challenge Satan's claim to hold the reins of global political power. Instead, He flatly rejected the offer as contrary to God's will.
In the usual interpretation of the tribute penny story, we are usually told this means we should obey political authorities. This may be prudent to avoid conflict, but I contend nothing is Caesar's. I suggest it was not a commandment to obey political powers, but rather a deeper challenge to their legitimacy. A king is an imposter, a fraud, a usurper. In the context of the story, the Pharisees and Herodians sought to trap Jesus into incriminating Himself so the Romans would kill Him, or into discrediting Himself as a true prophet so the Jewish multitude would reject Him. His answer instead exposed his accusers. The coin they presented was likely a denarius which declared Caesar to be the son of his deified predecessor, making the coin itself a graven image of a gentile idol with a blasphemous inscription. In any case, are you a disciple of Caesar, or Christ?
“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?’
“The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
“Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’
“Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-45)
Yes, the media and politicians will present every immigrant as a suspect for child trafficking, drug smuggling, espionage, sabotage, or myriad other crimes. Is this accurate, though? How many are really doing anything truly criminal? Are most of them not instead among the least of these?
I know, I know. A lot of people will say they're here to siphon off America's welfare programs, take our jobs, infect us with diseases eradicated long ago in First World nations, and so forth. This is all either outside the scope of Christian concerns, or dead center in the bullseye of who we are called to serve.
But Jesus summoned them, and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)
The Kingdom of God is not something we can manifest politically, but instead a calling to subvert the expectations of the world. We are to serve, not rule. And national borders are irrelevant to us.
Your Turn
Believe me, I know this is well outside the mainstream theological descriptions of politics, culture, and Christian duty. We are to follow the narrow way, not false prophets. Weigh the words of politicians, pundits, and yes, bloggers like me, against scripture.
For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don’t use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:13-14)
I know politics has infected everything, but if you are a Christian, whose commandments come first? Remember, a man cannot serve two masters. As my Muslim friends might say, any truth here is God's, and any errors are mine. If you believe any of these verses and passages are misinterpreted or taken out of context, please correct me if I am wrong. We are to be iron sharpening iron, after all.
Distinction between actual refugees and criminal invaders. Having lost one of my own daughters to fentanyl, I am in favor of stopping drug cartels and human trafficking. There will soon be no refuge for anyone in America as criminals keep pouring over the border. I follow Jesus. I also have locks on my doors.
Drugs are a tragedy, and I certainly don't want to minimize the death and devastation they wreak. However, I would argue prohibition laws and strict enforcement are what created the fentanyl epidemic, the broader opioid epidemic, the methamphetamine epidemic, violent drug gangs, and incentives for the wider circles of crime rippling around the drug market today.
Prohibition incentivizes concentrated forms of prohibited goods, whether distilled alcohol or synthetic opiates. The lack of open markets creates an environment for adulteration of goods.
The root problem isn't drugs. It's human suffering. We need to address the suffering with compassion, not enforce prohibitions with authoritarianism. As with the broader border issue, our response needs to be different from the State and it's violence. Beware the Politician's Syllogism. "Something must be done, and this is something, so therefore this is what must be done."
Librarians are also on the front lines seeing poverty, broken families, and addiction. I know people who suffer from addiction. We have tried the political response for decades. It's time to try something better.
I think fo years back and even till now, there has been constant rapid fight against the Christians which I strongly believe the society has been a bit unfair to the religion to an extent
I actually feel like there is always a kind of fight against Christians all the time
It is something we all know. I’m not a Christian but we all know it is obvious
I am not an American and I don't have much say on the matter, but I think as Christians, the border should not be barred completely. Immigrants should be allowed though there should be some kind of supervision to see who and who comes in. That's my opinion on the matter. Thanks for writing.
What would such supervision entail, and who has the authority to impose such supervision?
I suppose it would be the American government just to make sure people that will cause trouble, like criminals or terrorists do not get past.
OK, but governments (including the US) routinely declare peaceful people to be "criminals" or even "terrorists." And you are still just assuming they have the authority to claim territory and enforce access. Where does that come from?
It's just my point of view I could be wrong. There's no need for further argument. The control can only be done by a just government, and no government of the world including that of the US is just in this sense. They only do right things when it suits them. Again, I could be completely wrong. Thanks for sharing your point of view on this very sensitive matter.
There's a flip side to this question, which you may want to consider:
https://cauf.substack.com/p/weapons-of-mass-migration
TL;DR - I think you're asking the wrong question. Mass migration is rarely organic, it is usually in direct response to some major event (e.g. the volcanic winter of 536 AD, kicking off the early mediaeval migration period, which Cauf didn't mention), or outright directed by governments (like all the ones he did).
How is any of that relevant to my theological thesis?
Cauf approaches it from an entirely secular angle I know, but it got me thinking about the differences in religious doctrine, and how the different groups may not be able to coexist based on that alone. Honestly, I don't even know what questions to ask here, but I know this is about more than just immigration.
Edit: I figured it out. How should Christians respond to a religious war against them, not just from the outside, but from the inside? Suppose, for example, a large group of people move into your community and start saying some un-Christian things in church, with the intent of corrupting the faith? Do you gatekeep, and if so, how?
Second edit: when I say "church," I don't mean a dedicated religious building, I mean any gathering for spiritual study. In fact, forget my original question, it was late, my mind has been a bit foggy from lack of sleep the past few days. This really isn't about arbitrary physical boundaries anyway, this is more about ideas. One reason to be wary of massive movements of people is the ideas they spread, so how do Christians keep bad ideas in check, both within and without? I hate to get all mediaeval here, but what is the proper approach to heresy? By the way, it's not just Christianity that needs an answer; all three of the Abrahamic religions have been infiltrated by esoteric cults.
Well, looking to the Bible and the instructions of Christ, we are to turn the other cheek, return good for evil, and bless those who curse us. Those who bring false doctrines are to be confronted with Scripture. The worst possible punishment is essentially shunning those who insist on being disruptive to the congregation. Feel free to show otherwise of course.
But this whole matter is hardly analogous to the issue of immigration, and the political discussion is a separate topic entirely. The church should serve as an antithesis to political coercion and pride. The goals are different. The means are different. Our kingdom is not of this world and our ways are not the ways of man. We strive to be better.
I was afraid you'd say that. I will forward this to Alexander Semenyuk, maybe we can get a slightly different perspective here. I had mentioned to him in a conversation that I had intended to do a deep dive into Orthodox philosophy, since I own a copy of The Philokalia but haven't read it yet.
Christians, Buddhists, or Muslims, I'd rather starve to death in my birth country than crossing the border to the so called greener pasture. We have a rich neighboring country too but I will never work there even if the salary is like 3 times the current average. Heard too much about passive aggressive bullying. Even if I marry a man from so-called rich neighboring country, my future kids if I have any must serve in the military for 2 years and life is just so much more stressful. I'm kind of angry that my grandpa passed away right before he earned enough to return to his country of origin. We are now trap in a place that is not exactly welcoming to us. Maybe that's the reason I'm drawn to nomadic lifestyle in multiple different countries. People are friendlier once they know we won't be there for long. Christians in America should consider making the effort to improve the economy in Mexico if they want to prevent people from crossing the border. Tall, electric fences won't do the trick in the long haul. Also, legalize marijuana in Mexico so that they have a source of income. Make them financially secure so that they are motivated to stay within the confines of their own walls. This alone is hard to achieve because Christians associate money with the root of all evil which is counterproductive. Our creepy neighbor is a lot like Mexico because some worship the devil and practice black magic.
You haven't heard of the peculiar "prosperity theology" types, have you? There are many who follow a doctrine which states wealth is proof of God's blessings, and poverty is His judgement. It's utterly perverse in its twisting of Jesus.
As for politics, there is a correlation between prosperity and the scope of political control. I assert a political class requires a host upon which it can feed, and the healthier the host, the bigger the parasite can become. The US proclaims itself the "land of the free," but we have confiscatory taxes, heavy regulation, corporate cronyism, trade restrictions, and other massive economic interventions, to say nothing of the national fiscal system.
A free economy, voluntary association, and non-interventionist foreign policy would be real progress, but despite the rhetoric, we are speeding away from that politically.
Conscription is slavery. A national debt is selling future generations into indentured servitude just to pay off the interest through taxes. And border policy is sold as protecting the people, but it only served to restrict opportunity on both sides of the border.
Thank you so much for your detailed reply. Learned a lot. Yes, I have heard about the prosperity theology in recent years. However, we have a more sinister problem to deal with that is cult churches. They wield enormous power due to massive wealth. They encourage members to donate away all their life savings and then stay childfree. Pig butchering scams and job recruitment scams too contributed to numerous suicidal cases after victims lost all of their hard earned life savings.
We have those here in the US, but usually not connected to religion. More often it's related to insurance, investment, and crypto scams masquerading as legitimate businesses. Part of the library plan includes hosting financial literacy programs so people can hopefully learn to spot common forms of financial fraud. Megachurches are suspicious mainly because they funnel money into the pockets of the pastor. If your preacher drives a nicer car than anyone in the congregation, something is sketchy. But it's not usually in the form of those bug fraud one-and-done schemes. It's a perverse long-term wealth siphon draining the pockets of people who truly believe they are tithing to God while the pastor pays off a Mercedes.
*the love of money.
Such a loaded question for sure.
As a Christian, the easy answer is....Love your neighbour. It's pretty clear, even if we dont want to look at the old testament examples, that Jesus clearly stated we are to love everyone. Period.
But then you get into the geo-political spectrum and things get....Suspect. I don't have enough knowledge to be for or against the topic. But I do know....Ephesians 6:12.
So your fellow man, is never the enemy. That's what THE enemy wants. For us to hate each other.
"For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."
Quite right. To my mind, the world of politics is anti-Christ. It sets us against our neighbors. it demands we covet, hate, and murder. We erect idols of nationalism. We are to be a beacon of truth, hope, and love against such forces, not complicit in its evils.
Amen to that.
My kingdom is not of this world.
I cringe when politicians start throwing God into the mix.
Curiously, I was recently re-notified of this excellent post of yours...?
Well worth re-reading! Keep the faith!
😄😇😉
Sorry, I just edited it with the image from Pixabay while I was working on the secular arguments followup draft, and I suppose it helpfully alerted you to being mentioned again.
No problem!
Gave me occasion to re-blog it!😄
I have been listening to a lot of the podcasts from LCI, and the emphasis on how the church differs from and often diametrically opposes the State is such a unique and refreshing view after so many years in churches with varying degrees of status quo bias and latent christian nationalism. Libraries are suffering the consequences of authoritarian religious conservatives now, and I feel a lot of frustration as people who claim to represent Christ are embittering people they could be trying to reach instead. Politics as we know it is antithetical to evangelism. And I see the same misguided attitudes toward immigrants as people who profess Christ instead follow secular rulers.
So, I just looked up and subscribed to LCI Podcast on my pod app...
Could you please recommend one or two episodes in particular that I might listen to in order to "get a flavor" of what LCI is about?🙏😃
Thanks!
I was referring to the various podcasts hosted on the Libertarian Christian Institute.
Ah, OK...
The dangers of abbreviations!🤣