Opinion

Liberals Are Now Interested in What the Bible Says (Not Really)

The hypocrisy of the Left is astounding. The Bible has now become the favorite go-to source for ethics. Who would have thought that such a thing could happen? Jesus had a lot to say about hypocrisy. Here’s an example:

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments” (Matt. 23:1-5).

This isn’t to say that there’s no hypocrisy on the right side of the political spectrum. But the hypocrisy that’s coming from liberals on the immigration issue is beyond anything I’ve seen. The same people who are pointing to the Bible on child separation are the same people who demand the following:

  • You can’t impose your morals on other people.
  • There’s a separation between church and state.
  • Religion and politics don’t mix.
  • Christians should remain neutral.
  • The church should not be involved in politics.
  • Jesus said, “Do not judge.”

Myths, Lies and Half-TruthsWhen Christians bring up the topic of abortion, how it’s truly the separation of a child from his or her mother, the Left is outraged. “How dare you Christians impose the Bible on us.” But when the immigration issue was seized upon by the Left as a way to make Pres. Trump look bad and turn the American people against him, all of a sudden the Bible is full of wisdom. “What would Jesus do?”

“You know something strange is up when they start quoting the Bible on MSNBC,” Laura Ingraham noted on her show. Strange indeed. Ali Velshi of MSNBC took issue with Jeff Sessions’ use of Romans 13 by appealing to the Bible. That’s the Berean thing to do. Search the Scriptures to see if what someone says about the Scriptures is true (Acts 17:11). No one is immune from such scrutiny.

But Velshi and the folks at MSNBC have no use for the Bible when it comes to abortion, same-sex sexuality, government theft, and other subjects of a moral kind.

Velshi said the following while holding a big Bible, a book he does not believe:

We actually did dig through the Bible to find passages that lent themselves to the current border practice of separating migrant children from their parents. I want to begin with Matthew chapter 19, verse 14. But Jesus said, suffer little children and forbid them not to come unto me.

The word “suffer,” using the King James Version translation, means “permit.” It’s obvious from this passage that Jesus is not talking about immigration. Context is everything when it comes to interpretation. Here’s what Matthew 19:15, the following verse, says:

But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Jesus is talking about the kingdom of heaven, not the kingdom of the United States. Jesus is making a religious point regarding God’s kingdom. Can you imagine what would happen if ministers from around the country decided that they were going to the border and preaching “the kingdom to heaven” to all the people, children included, that are being held in the detention centers?

The ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation would be filing lawsuits by the dozens.

Velshi skips over Jesus’ comments regarding marriage as being between a man and a woman, thus, nullifying any so-called “marriage” between people of the same sex (19:3-6; also, Gen. 1:27; 2:24; 5:2; Eph. 5:31;).

Velshi cites additional verses.

Thus says the LORD, “Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place” (Jer. 22:3).

Governments are the oppressors who rob people through confiscatory taxation and redistribute their money to people who did nothing to earn it. Let’s not forget shedding the “innocent blood” of abortion and forcing people to use their artistic talents for certain behaviors and ideologies they disagree with.

Is the government doing “violence to the stranger” on the immigration issue? I haven’t seen any violence. We know there is a disproportionate amount of violence perpetrated by illegal aliens. People are entering the country illegally. They are breaking the laws of the United States. There are legal ways to enter the United States.

Hebrew scholar Tom Hobson writes, “The pro-illegal-immigration crowd wants to define oppression as broadly as possible. But the language, in context, does not permit us to equate oppression with enforcement of legitimate laws.”

We’re not even sure the children entering the United States are the children of the adults they’re with. Many of the children are alone. The places where the children have been held are not concentration camps or extermination centers.

If Israel had open borders, why did God call on Israel to rid the land of the Canaanites and the other “ites” that were in the land and have walled cities with gates? The Bible contains two lists of fortified cities, one for Naphtali (Joshua 19:35-38), and a list of cities Rehoboam fortified for Judah (2 Chron. 11:5-12).

Some strangers are good and some are bad. That’s why Israel built walls around their cities. Are we to believe that every person was let in? David E. Rockett points out the obvious:

Wise and careful fathers don’t offer their spare bedrooms to just anyone claiming to be a stranger, foreigner, immigrant … when they might be MS-13 … or worse. Wise judges also know their countries and borders can’t be reduced to a couple of superficial considerations. Complex systems demand we know more, much more about the immigrants and/or asylum seekers … and make subsequent wise judgements. Some libertarians and theonomists are prone to jump on narrow simplistic reductions for a “solution” to far more complex problems.

This word from Jesus comes to mind: “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matt. 10:16).

Velshi quotes Jesus again (Matt. 25:40). Notice that Jesus says “these brothers of Mine.” This is a fine point, but let’s assume it applies to everyone. Notice what follows:

[F]or I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me. Then they themselves also will answer, “Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?” Then He will answer them, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me” (25:42-45).

In fact, when children are separated from their parents (because they are being legally processed) or are alone (possible human trafficking), they are fed, clothed, and sheltered! Jesus’ words are being followed to the letter.

If a person is willing to break the law in one case (entering a country illegally), then he or she may rationalize that a nation’s other laws are also open for dispute:

If a person willfully breaks our immigration laws, they are much more likely to break our traffic laws (Why do I need a license? Why can’t I drive drunk?), our tax laws (why pay them?), and our criminal laws (armed robbery, murder – what’s the big deal?). Those who appeal to Joseph and Mary’s story forget why they ever went to Bethlehem: they were obeying an inconvenient law they could have easily blown off. And they fled to Egypt for reasons already permitted under current immigration law, that is, to escape the murder of their child. Joseph and Mary are models of the law-abiding immigrant, not the illegal immigrant.(Tom Hobson)

In an added note, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus returned to their country of origin when the threat was over.

It’s great that Leftists and Democrats are referencing the Bible. Maybe they will someday come to believe it. In addition, being challenged by what the Bible says and doesn’t say will make all of us more consistent.

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