It's Gonna Be Biblical

This is a strange time in America. Politicians are referencing scripture in press conferences. The Bible became a trending topic on Twitter. A comedian read it on TV to the response of cheers and applause. I'm a little conflicted. I should be excited - a theology nerd and religious geek. I believe a better understanding of Biblical texts is a good thing even if the reader isn't a Christian. Yet I also lament to see divinely inspired words twisted to support immoral and inhumane acts of a corrupt government. The best way to overcome the misuse of scripture is to geek out with scripture. Strap yourselves in because I'm gonna pull the whole thing down.

image courtesy of Overture Films

For years, migrants caught illegally crossing the border have been detained. With families, if parents are criminally charged there's a chance kids will be taken into foster or family care. Previously, border crossers would go into detention with their kids to await a hearing from a federal judge. If the judge sends them to prison, then the kids would be separated from their parents. However, many first timers were sentenced with time-served then deported with their children, family never separated. Recently, the Trump administration adopted a zero-tolerance policy to deter all immigration. Now separated at the border; parents are immediately referred for federal prosecution and kids are designated "unaccompanied alien children." Families are immediately split, parents often unsure about why their kids are being taken, where they're going, and how long they'll be separated. Due to the influx of immigrants seeking asylum, the number of kids in ORR custody is overwhelming and housed in overloaded ORR facilities where there have been hundreds of claims of physical and sexual abuse.

This is only a small sliver of actual events and the story is (or should be) concerning for every American. A human rights atrocity being committed by our government. This debacle has justifiably angered many citizens from both ends of the political spectrum. Want to know who isn't concerned? The people who enacted the new policy. President Trump is blaming it on the minority party (who does not control any branch of government) for not repealing a non-existent law. AG Jeff Sessions said, "Persons who violate the law of our nation are subject to prosecution. I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government." Without giving any biblical evidence to support her claim, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said, "It is very Biblical to enforce the law."

Jesus wept.

In response to the pair of blasphemous theological amateurs, let's look at the passage AG Sessions used to support treating children like chattel. Romans 13 instructs ordinary citizens to follow the law, urging readers to submit to authorities for fear of punishment and a clear conscience.

The letter Paul wrote to the church in Rome speaks often about the law. In chapter 7, Paul explained the law only has authority over those who are still living and we (as Christians) have died to the law. He said the law aroused sinful passions, so we've been released from the law to serve God instead of "the old way of the written code." Paul continues to explain the difference between the law of spirit (God's law) and the law of sin (human law). In chapter 8, human law is described as powerless because it was weakened by the flesh, hostile to God, and does not submit to God's law. Finally, in chapter 13, the same chapter Sessions referenced, Paul wrote "Whoever loves others has fulfilled the law ... Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law."

The government in power during Paul’s life should also be noted. It was vile and violent, controlled by an emperor who routinely jailed, tortured, and executed Christians. Like Paul, most of the Bible was written by oppressed people under foreign occupation. The authors were governed by tyrants from Egypt, Babylon, or Rome. Instruction in the Bible includes commands for people living under corrupt leaders. It was written for people abused by those in power – not for the abusive people in power. Romans 13 tells people to follow the law, but it does not instruct governments to enforce the law. If there is any biblical advice offered to leaders, it is this: "Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people." Even Levitical law commanded the Jews to treat foreigners residing among them as native-born citizens.

While following the law is biblical, so is civil disobedience. The Bible recounts story after story of heroes who defied their governments. The mother of Moses and her midwives disobeyed an official decree to kill all newborn Hebrew boys. Moses murdered an Egyptian officer, repeatedly threatened the Pharaoh, and led a slave revolt. Rahab, the prostitute in Jericho sheltered Hebrew spies, hid them from government soldiers, and helped them escape arrest. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to eat the foods they were ordered to eat. When the law mandated them to bow down before a golden idol, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not comply. Daniel continued to pray after the law prohibited prayer. Esther kept her heritage secret from the king, violated his policy to advocate for her people, and plotted against the grand vizier. In the early days of the church, the apostles were arrested, and the courts mandated they stop talking about Jesus. Peter told the court "We must obey God rather than men." The apostles were severely beaten and ordered again to cease their ministry, but they never stopped preaching.

Even Jesus's ministry defied the law. He dined with hookers and con-artists. He touched lepers and other unclean people. He embraced Samaritans and other outsiders. He healed people on the Sabbath when it was against the law to work on that day. He refused to execute an adulteress in accordance with the law. He invited an insurrectionist to be a disciple. His followers violated tradition when they didn't wash their hands before eating. Jesus and the disciples were accused of stealing grain and being drunkards. The Romans found him to be contemptuous for calling himself the son of God because that was Caesar’s title. Jewish legal experts considered this claim to be blasphemous.

Sessions and Sanders can try all they want to use the Bible to justify evil. I'm not buying it. Hopefully, I'm not alone. Saint Augustine once wrote, "An unjust law is no law at all." If our government believes it is Biblical to enforce unjust laws, then I will stand in defiance of that government. I will follow the Committee on Religious Liberty who declared in 2015 "When a government enacts an unjust law, unjust because it violates the human dignity of the citizens or exceeds its authority, the citizens have a duty to disobey that law." I will abide by the multitude of biblical commands to love and care for orphans, widows, and foreigners. I will provide food and water to the hungry and thirsty, entertain strangers, clothe those who need it, relieve the sick, visit the prisoner, speak on behalf of those who have no voice, and advocate for the weak and powerless. I will love my enemy. I will love the unlovable. I will love the broken, the outcast, and the refugee. Because love is the fulfillment of the law.

Whatever it is that AG Sessions and Secretary Sanders is talking about, it isn't love. And it isn't biblical.

image courtesy of The Root