Apparently the Attorney General and the White House Press Secretary have cited the Bible in defense of a "Zero Tolerance" policy that separates immigrant children from their parents. Since teaching the Bible is what I do, I thought I'd weigh in. Here we go... 1/8
It's hard to come up with a justice related issue in the Bible that's more prevalent than the insistence from the Torah, the Prophets, Jesus, and the Apostles, that we must care for least among us; and significantly, special consideration is give to "the foreigner among you."
If you want to play the chapter-and-verse proof-text game, I can do that.
"The wicked snatch the fatherless child from the breast." -Job 24:9
In this text, snatching a child from her mother's breast is presented as an example of indisputable evil.
Consider this pivotal story from the Old Testament: As the book of Exodus opens the Hebrews are the cheap labor source for Egypt. But the Egyptians are worried there are too many of these foreigners. So a law is passed to permanently separate children form their parents. (!)
For those citing Romans 13 as biblical warrant for "enforcing the laws of the land," I have two things to say.
1. The man who wrote Romans 13 was executed by the gov't for not submitting to the governing authorities out of obedience to Christ. 2. The Nazis loved Romans 13.
Now let's consider Jesus.
When Jesus was asked about inheriting eternal life Jesus pointed the inquirer to loving God with all your heart and loving your neighbor as yourself. When asked, "But who is my neighbor?", Jesus gave the parable of the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10:25f)
At the end of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, "Whatever you wish others would do to you, do also to them, for this is Law and Prophets." Jesus then concluded his sermon by talking about popular roads that lead to death and ill-constructed houses doomed to fall. Selah.
If you want to argue that the blatantly cruel policy of taking children away from refugee parents seeking asylum is necessary to keep America from having too many brown people, then just say so. But don't you dare think that you have Jesus or the Bible are on your side!
