Our pseudo-conservative government officials have become quite fond of quoting the Bible to endorse their latest inhumane policies, most notoriously Jeff Sessions’ cherry-picked verse cited to justify kidnapping and imprisoning children. Quick-witted Sarah Sanders, always ready to back up her boss and his evil cohorts, cited the same passage when asked by a reporter where in the Bible it says it’s moral to take children away from their mothers. This was Sarah’s response: “I’m not aware of the attorney general’s comments or what he would be referencing, [but] I can say that it is very biblical to enforce the law. That is repeated throughout the Bible.” Really, Sarah? Gee, I’d love to chat with you about that sometime, but for now, this article will have to do.
Let me be clear from the beginning: I am a Christian, and the Bible holds a special place in my heart and my faith. I do not, however, believe the Bible should be the document that forms the basis for government; that document is the Constitution, which should of course be in harmony with the moral code. Jesus’ classic statement suggesting separation of church and state, and allegiance to both, is found in Mark 12, where a group of Pharisees who wanted to see Jesus arrested attempted to trap him into making an incriminating statement. They asked whether they should pay taxes to the government, to which Jesus made this famous reply:
Knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, ‘Why are you putting me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me see it.’ And they brought one. Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ (Mk. 12: 15-17)
The passage selected by Jeff Sessions and echoed by Sarah Sanders to browbeat citizens into submitting to whatever evil the government perpetrates is Romans 13: 1-7:
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; 4 for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority[a] does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. 6 For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is due them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
It would be inconsistent to interpret these words to mean that God has given governing officials carte blanche to do whatever they please and then commanded citizens to submit to every twisted, evil, or cruel dictate. A more reasonable interpretation is that God is in favor of humans creating governing bodies for the sake of harmony and security within the social order and is also in favor of citizens cooperating with those governing bodies to the extent that the emperor’s commands do not violate God’s laws of moral conduct. To argue that every individual government is ordained by God would be to say that God ordained Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein, and all of the other brutal dictators of world history. Contrary to popular evangelical claims, winning an election is not proof of God’s hand at work; if it were, those same people would have shown a whole lot more respect to our current “president’s” predecessor.
Civil disobedience is the practice of intentionally breaking laws that violate the moral code. Famous practitioners include Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. The Old Testament also includes a couple of examples. Daniel, the guy who survived the lions’ den, was awarded the position of third in command over the kingdom of Babylon because of his ability to interpret dreams and solve problems, both indications that, as the king says to him, “a spirit of the gods is in you.” Daniel, as one of three presidents, acted in such complete obedience to the king that he was poised for a promotion to be president over the entire kingdom. It’s pretty easy to see where the story goes next: the other presidents get jealous and set up a trap, and Daniel ends up in the lions’ den, much to the grief of the king who was trapped into signing an ordinance punishing anyone who prayed to God during the next 30 days. Daniel, whose loyalty to the king had been fierce enough to win him a high position, when faced with a choice between loyalty to the law and loyalty to God, remained faithful to God and accepted the consequences of his choice.
Henry David Thoreau puts it this way in his essay “Civil Disobedience”:
Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislature? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.
I think it safe to conclude that, Jeff Sessions’ and Sarah Sanders’ wisdom notwithstanding, Romans 13 in no way justifies turning away asylum seekers, denying them due process, or kidnapping their children. But even if they were correct (and they are NOT), no citizen or law maker is absolved of moral responsibility simply because a law requires an immoral action. Each of us is accountable for doing what we know to be morally right, regardless of what the law may require. Slavery was legal, helping slaves to escape was illegal; murdering Jews in Nazi Germany was legal, rescuing those doomed to death was illegal.
What then does the Bible say about how to treat immigrants? Actually, quite a lot. Humans have always been migratory creatures. Our most primitive ancestors were driven by survival needs: food availability, suitable climate, and safety. Come to think of it, modern humans are driven by pretty much the same things.
The book of Genesis alone contains at least four immigrant tales: Noah, Abram (later Abraham), Lot, and Jacob. Noah’s escape to the ark was driven by seeking safety from imminent danger; Abram/Abraham moved from his homeland to another land because of severe famine in his homeland; Lot escaped Sodom to avoid the destruction about to befall the place; Jacob left Canaan and moved to Egypt to escape the famine in Canaan and to reunite with his lost son Joseph.
Exodus, the second book of the Bible, tells the story of a great migration from Egypt back to the land of Canaan, as the Israelites sought to escape Pharaoh’s oppression and find a place of peace and refuge. So far, none of this sounds any different from today’s immigrants’ stories.
Ruth is another famous immigrant of the Old Testament. Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi, Naomi’s husband Elimelech, and their two sons Mahlon and Chilion moved to the Land of Moab because there was a famine in Israel. During the ten years they spent in Moab, Elimelech died; Mahlon and Chilion married Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah; then Mahlon and Chilion died. Having received news that the famine was over and there was once again food in her homeland, Naomi set out to go back home, and her daughters-in-law followed until Naomi urged them to think of themselves and their own security and go back to their mothers’ homes. Orpah conceded, but Ruth uttered the famous words you may have quoted during your wedding ceremony:
Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die–there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!
Jesus and his family were also migrants. When Joseph received word that Herod was about to search for his child to destroy the child, he took Mary and Jesus and fled to Egypt, where they remained until Herod’s death. When Joseph received word that it was safe to return to Israel, the family migrated once more to their native land, where they settled in Nazareth.
The Bible refers to immigrants as “aliens,” “foreigners,” and “strangers.” Again and again, Israelites are reminded that they too were strangers in the land of Egypt and that their own experience should cause them to identify with and feel empathy and compassion for those seeking refuge among them. They are admonished to treat the strangers among them as they wished to be treated when they themselves were strangers.
The citizens of Israel are commanded not to oppress the foreigners in their midst but to treat them with kindness, compassion, and love–just as they themselves would wish to be treated. They are told to assist the aliens and the poor in their land to find the necessities of survival, allowing them to glean in the Israelites’ fields. They are told not to deny justice to foreigners and to commit no violence against them. Those foreigners willing to be integrated into the culture and adopt cultural customs should be treated the same as citizens. When the inheritance was apportioned to citizens, the aliens in residence were to be allotted equal inheritances with the natives.
For perspective, throughout the Bible, there is the acknowledgment that some people will always be poor. Note throughout the following passages that the alien is consistently listed with the poor, the widow, and the orphan. In a patriarchal society, those whose male provider was deceased were doomed to live in poverty; likewise, one who left his homeland and the property which he had accumulated would likely experience at least an initial period of poverty and struggling to re-establish. There is no command to make the poor wealthy, but there are repeated commands to love the poor and the alien; to allow them the means of survival; and to extend justice, compassion, and kindness to them.
Here are a few of the passages about how to treat strangers, aliens, foreigners–arranged in the order in which they appear in the Canon. Before you dismiss them as irrelevant because they’re from the Old Testament or from (gasp!) Leviticus, just remember that Leviticus is the same book used to “prove” that God hates gay people and forbids having tattoos. Just saying.
Exodus 12:47-49
47 The whole congregation of Israel shall celebrate it. 48 If an alien who resides with you wants to celebrate the passover to the Lord, all his males shall be circumcised; then he may draw near to celebrate it; he shall be regarded as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it; 49 there shall be one law for the native and for the alien who resides among you.
Exodus 22:21
21 You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 23:9
9 You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
Leviticus 19:9-10
9 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 19:33-34
33 When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. 34 The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 10:17-19
17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, 18 who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. 19 You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 24:14-15
14 You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites or aliens who reside in your land in one of your towns. 15 You shall pay them their wages daily before sunset, because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them; otherwise they might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt.
Deuteronomy 24:17-22
17 You shall not deprive a resident alien or an orphan of justice; you shall not take a widow’s garment in pledge. 18 Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.
19 When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all your undertakings. 20 When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow.
21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. 22 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this.
Deuteronomy 26:12
12 When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year (which is the year of the tithe), giving it to the Levites, the aliens, the orphans, and the widows, so that they may eat their fill within your towns . . .
Deuteronomy 27:19
19 Cursed be anyone who deprives the alien, the orphan, and the widow of justice. All the people shall say, “Amen!”
Jeremiah 7:5-7
5 For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, 7 then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever.
Jeremiah 22:3
3 Thus says the Lord: Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place.
Ezekiel 16:49
49 This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.
Ezekiel 22:4, 7
4 You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made; you have brought your day near, the appointed time of your years has come. Therefore I have made you a disgrace before the nations, and a mockery to all the countries.
7 Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the alien residing within you suffers extortion; the orphan and the widow are wronged in you.
Ezekiel 47:22
22 You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the aliens who reside among you and have begotten children among you. They shall be to you as citizens of Israel; with you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.
Zechariah 7:9-10
9 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; 10 do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.
Malachi 3:5
5 Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.
Matthew 25:35-40
35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,[a] you did it to me.’
Luke 10:25-37
25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus.[a] “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” 27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”
29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii,[b] gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Hebrews 13:2
2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
I’m not saying the Bible should replace the Constitution as our governing document. I’m not saying every citizen should begin referring to the Bible as their standard of conduct. I am saying that those who do claim to believe the Bible–both law makers and private citizens, especially those who fancy themselves fine Christians–should show their belief by their actions. And they should try reading the whole thing before quoting irrelevant parts of it to justify their selfishness and cruelty.