The Quote Below—More Misinformation from the Media
“On Sept. 14, about 50 Venezuelan immigrants landed on Martha’s Vineyard, a wealthy and largely Democrat island off the southern coast of Massachusetts. They were enticed with promises of jobs and shelter in Boston. The two chartered flights—paid for by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—never landed in Boston. . . .
“This is just the most recent background for this editorial. Followers of Jesus have even deeper and older background that must inform our response to immigrants, regardless what government policy may be.
“A very close second is Jesus gave his life for immigrants no less than he gave his life for you and me, because God loves immigrants no less than God loves you and me.
“The Bible gets more specific and actually commands specific treatment of ‘foreigners,’ ‘strangers’ or ‘sojourners.’
“Twice in Exodus, God commands the Israelites: “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him” (Exodus 22:21). “You shall not oppress a stranger” (Exodus 23:9).
“Leviticus 19:33-34 reads: ‘When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself. . . .’
“These commands never were abrogated. Instead, they were solidified in Jesus’ command to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, followed by his two parables about the Good Samaritan and the least of these. . . .’
“Christians in government—Republican, Democrat or otherwise—must never use immigrants to make political points. Christians must not support, defend or encourage such use of people. . . . One way I’ve heard Christians encourage or defend the flights to Martha’s Vineyard is with derogatory jokes about the residents of the island. . . .
“In the United States, Christians are able to influence government and society through direct communication with elected officials and through voting. We can and should do that, but that’s easy. . . .
“We can learn from and participate with organizations such as Evangelical Immigration Table and National Immigration Forum. Both are centrist organizations that value the balance of law and grace.” . . ..– What To Do with Immigrants, Eric Black, Baptist Standard, 9/21/22 [Link]
Fact Check of Above Quote: This author appears see the Bible through the lens of liberal humanism, with its insistence that all humans (except conservatives) are equally good, equally loved by God, and completely interchangeable. There’s also a dash wokeness, which suggests that some people on the intersectional victim scale, like our border crossers, are a tad more equal than others.
The Bible, however, posits no fundamental equality of humans, except to say that they are all sinners and equally in need of salvation. Otherwise, the God of the Bible is partial to those who follow Him and not so partial to those who don’t. He loved Jacob and hated Esau. He makes distinctions among men, one of them being the division of mankind into nations. He used one of these nations, Israel, to bring His Son into the world.
Consequently, the ideology of open borders and the erasure of nations is anathema to biblical principles. Thus, our nation has the moral right to preserve its character by controlling immigration as we see fit. Foreigners who break those laws should face enforcement, and they should not be immune to criticism. The lawbreaking and fraud they practice contradict biblical morality.
The Bible verses the writer cites have nothing to do with illegal immigration, which appears to be his focus. Biblical scholar James Hoffmeir observers that the foreigners, strangers and sojourners were people legally admitted by Israel on the condition that they obey her laws. As part of the agreement, Israel—by divine injunction—offered justice and fair play to those foreigners.
In America today, illegal aliens and their supporters show no respect for American law—or Americans. Here, citizens must obey the law, but uninvited foreigners do not—and they receive various benefits despite their unlawful presence.
Illegal immigration goes largely unchecked because powerful interests want it, specifically Republicans who want cheap labor and Democrats who want cheap votes. Greed and lust for power are not Christian virtues. The leftist bias of the author seems evident in his endorsement of the National Immigration Forum (NIF) as a “centrist” organization. The NIF in fact is a radical-left group which has resisted virtually every proposal to secure our border. The Evangelical Immigration Table is a front group of NIF. Both organizations have received funding from George Soros, the globalist multibillionaire who has made it his life’s mission to undermine national sovereignty everywhere.
Students of the Bible will recall that sinful men tried to become one people at Babel, and that God intervened to divide them. As the same sinful project proceeds today under the guise of “globalism,” Christians should beware.