Many countries, including the United States, are presently involved in national debates over immigration policies. Some people are pushing for very loose immigration laws, while others want them to be more stringent. As usual, the divide is generally along ideological lines (liberal versus conservative), with social liberals arguing the loudest in favor of more open immigration policies. Naturally, illegal aliens also argue for loose standards, for they wish to vindicate themselves and make it easier for their friends an family to enter the desired country.
Interestingly, religion has recently emerged as an additional force in these debates. Some religionists make a moral argument in favor of more open immigration laws. They claim that the United States has “a moral obligation” to admit foreigners into its country, particularly those who face hardships in their own country. Certain Bible passages are used to advance the open-border argument, but as we shall see, these passages are stretched beyond recognition and misapplied. Furthermore, other Bible passages and principles are simply ignored. A few basic things need to be understood.
- The Bible acknowledges the principle of national identity and sovereignty. On the first Pentecost following the resurrection and ascension of Christ, devout Jews had gathered “from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5). Revelation 5:9 and 7:9 speak of the redeemed from “every nation.” The word “nation” is from the Greek word “ethnos,” which distinguishes people based upon language, culture and geographical location. God Himself provided the catalyst for distinct national identities when He confounded the one language of the people into many (Babel, Genesis 11). United by their own peculiar language, each people then found their own distinct country and developed their own distinctive culture. According to Romans 13:1-4, the primary God-ordained function of a nation’s government is to protect its citizenry from evil-doers. This would obviously and logically include controlling who enters that nation’s borders! Romans 13 authorizes a nation to develop its own rules and guidelines for admittance into its country. Rather than citing (and horrendously misapplying) various “hospitality” passages, let the open-borders religionists first read Romans 13:1-4 and 1 Peter 2:13-15!
- Much of the more recent immigration controversy relates to refugees from predominantly Muslim countries. It should be noted that in order for immigration to work, there must be assimilation. Immigrants must accede to the laws of the country that they wish to enter. Failure to do so will result in chaos and anarchy, which is the opposite condition of what Paul prescribed in 1 Timothy 2:2 and Romans 13. Since Islam is not just a religion, but a religious ideology, no true Quran-believing Muslim can fully assimilate into the United States, for no Quran-believing Muslim can fully subscribe to the US Constitution! The Quran is filled with teaching that negates and contradicts several of the basic freedoms protected by the Constitution. To the true Muslim, the Quran is the constitution! This is why sharia law is practiced in many Islamic countries and cultures.
- One’s duty to love his neighbor (Matt. 22:39), help the injured (Luke 10:30-ff), exercise hospitality and help the needy (Romans 12:13; Hebrews 13:1-2) is just that: “one’s” own duty! It is not “hospitality” when a government takes money from one group of people in order to arbitrarily dispense it to another group. The instructions in these passages are not given to governments, but to individuals! If it is “hospitality” to take money from one person and give it to another, then thieves are the most “hospitable” people on earth!
- Those who are pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage have no business citing Bible passages against those who believe in national law and sovereignty. It is hypocritical. If they are concerned about human rights, let them condemn the killing of those who are the most vulnerable in society — the unborn!
—Tim Haile