More Misinformation from the Media:
While the Bible has plenty of contradictory passages, scripture scholars and religious leaders . . . widely agree God’s central message to the Israelites is to protect and defend the stranger. . . . Christian leaders frequently draw from biblical sources to make a moral case for why we need just and compassionate immigration reform that includes an earned pathway to citizenship. . . . The Southern Poverty Law Center notes that Sessions has extensive ties to both anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim extremist groups. . . . [Sen.] Sessions might want to find fodder in the Bible for his reactionary positions, but the fact is he is isolated and out of with more than a millennium of Christian thought and discipleship. . . . The senator has a right to his views, but dressing them up in Christian clothing is an insult to those who take Jesus seriously. – Jeff Sessions Needs a Sunday School Lesson on Immigration, John Gehring, Religion News Service, 1/6/17
Fact Check: This article attacks Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) for defending immigration control from a Christian perspective. Contrary to Gehring’s claim, no systematic reading of the Old Testament would conclude that its central message “is to protect and defend the stranger.” The central message is that Israel was to maintain her religious and national integrity—specifically by refusing to mix and blend with neighboring nations.
The commandments to protect strangers must be seen in that context. Strangers (foreigners) were allowed to dwell in Israel, either temporarily or long-term, on the provision that they respected the laws of Israel. On that basis were granted respect and protection. Thus there is no analogy between those strangers and illegal aliens today—and certainly no moral imperative to reward their lawbreaking with the prize of our citizenship. A biblical scholar who delineates these issues well is James Hoffmeir, author of The Immigration Crisis, Immigrants, Aliens, and the Bible.
Compassion unbalanced by the virtues of justice and prudence brings sentimental permissiveness and ultimately chaos. This is where mass uncontrolled immigration will carry a nation. It is antithesis of the biblical order in which affirms the division of mankind into nations—each with its own character. The contemporary movement to erase borders and blend humanity into one is simply an updated version of the rebellion against God at Babel recorded in the book of Genesis.
It is a cause championed today by anti-Christian secular humanists and the cultural Marxists who espouse the doctrines popularly known as political correctness. Unfortunately, some Christians who lack discernment have allowed these worldly ideologies to cloud their thinking. Interestingly, Gehring cites the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as it were a legitimate source, rather than the purveyor politically correct bigotry that it is. Most specifically it shows its anti-Christian colors by ludicrously labeling Christian organizations such as the American Family Association as “hate groups.”
Neo-Babelism is the doctrine truly at odds with a millennium of Christian thought. Theologians ranging from St. Thomas Aquinas to John Calvin have affirmed the legitimacy of nations, and by corollary their right—as ancient Israel—to preserve their identity and character. Those who take Jesus seriously are not typically deluded by the gospel according to St. Marx.