Attorney General Jeff Sessions says the Bible justifies his actions on immigration

It is no secret ("Build a wall!") that the Trump administration believes that too many people are entering the country, both illegally and legally. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been a cabinet officer that has tried to slow down, or stop, such immigration, with apparent enthusiasm. The Trump administration has drastically cut the number of refugees that will be accepted, and is in the process of deporting previously admitted refugees.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant body in the US, have both recently passed resolutions rebuking the Trump administration, especially for separating young children and their parents at the borders. Other Christians, in groups, and as individuals, have also done so. (See here for Franklin Graham's recent statement.) As they should have, such rebukes have been based on the Bible.

Attorney General Sessions has reacted. His argument is that the Bible teaches that we should obey, and enforce, the law, for the good of the overall society, implying that the recent resolutions of religious bodies and individuals, supporting immigrants and refugees, are not really based on the Bible, but that his actions and policies are.

Really? Consider:
1) In general, Sessions is right. We need to enforce traffic laws, and put bank robbers in jail, for the good of society. But some laws, and/or the penalties for violating them, are unjust. Laws that supported the institution of slavery were unjust, for example. Many people, including some Republicans in Congress, believe that laws that require young children to be separated from their parents are unjust, and even violate basic human rights. President Trump commuted the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who was serving a life sentence for a minor drug offense. As far as I know, he didn't say that her sentence was unjust, but perhaps a belief that it was influenced his decision.

2) Some laws are subordinate to higher, and more important, laws. If my wife is desperately ill, and I violate speed limits to get her to the emergency room, I wouldn't expect to be charged with speeding. In fact, if an officer knew what was going on, I would expect that officer to precede me to the hospital with siren and lights on.

It is true that the Bible generally indicates that we should obey the law. See Romans 13:1-5, and 1 Peter 2:13-17. But some laws are more important than others. In dialog with the religious rulers of His day, Jesus and these rulers said that the most important laws from the Old Testament were the two great commandments, namely to love God, and to love other people.

3) The Bible gives directions about how to treat immigrants, aliens and refugees, with kindness and generosity. See here for several Biblical statements on such matters. One such direction was that the Israelites were to provide sanctuary for refugees from another nation, and a nation which had sometimes gone to war with them.

Sorry, Mr. Sessions. You aren't acting and speaking Biblically on this issue.

Note: In many cases, law enforcement personnel must choose which laws to enforce. There are so many laws, covering so many aspects of life, and limited resources to enforce with, that it would be impossible to discover violations of all laws, and punish the law-breakers. The Justice Department, and other branches of the current administration, appear to have chosen to rigorously enforce laws relating to immigration, while other types of laws are not. All administrations have to make such choices, but which laws are attended to says something important about the law-enforcers.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 519

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Image source (public domain)