Chris Warner is our bishop. His wife is (hopefully I get the term correct) a deacon serving at our parish, and much beloved by my own wife (who it's worth noting is a naturalized immigrant). I say this to show that I've got some idea of where he's coming from.
Having read his piece twice, I don't think there's anything really wrong with it as a pastoral statement. We could spend all day quibbling over whether or not Egypt and Judea were different countries within the Roman Empire, and "marginalized" is maybe not a great word to use, but other than that...
If I had to write a few bullet points to our ACNA leadership for their consideration, it'd be these:
- The overwhelming majority of foreigners* present in the United States don't fit into the Biblical categories of refugee (person fleeing to the nearest safe country) or sojourner (person temporarily present in a foreign nation). What do our Christian duties toward them entail, beyond the commandment to love them as thy neighbor?
- If genuine refugees are rare in the United States, what work should ACNA members do to care for them in other places?
- I've heard many Christians say some variant of "God's bringing the nations to us to evangelize", which if true would conveniently allow them to get the satisfaction of "mission work" while sleeping comfortably in their own American bed at night. What should we do to guard against this lazy way of thinking?
*It's worth digressing to note that US immigration laws align to some extent with the Biblical categories of refugee (also asylee) and sojourner (temporary worker / tourist / student) - and also to note the degree to which those provisions are abused.
"Asylum" seekers are coached (much like "trans" teenagers) to recite unverifiable stories of the situation that they're fleeing, and "tourist" visas are frequently overstayed.
There are certainly cases of Mexicans fleeing to the United States to escape drug cartel violence, or Cubans fleeing Communism, and there might even be some Canadians escaping religious persecution. But the overwhelming majority of those who've entered or stayed in the United States are from other countries that don't border ours, and calling them "refugees" waters down the term as to make it meaningless.
Herod killing babies is what prompted Jesus to invade Jerusalem in 70AD by the hand of his tools, Rome, and tear the whole place to the ground and slaughter Israel.
I dunno. Why don't you try digging up Herod's rotten corpse and ask him how his border patrol policy worked out for him.
You’re right about the part where the holy family fled to another province. The key understanding is that they were still the same citizens of the same empire, regardless of where they lived.
Hard left Christians think a single world united under one human government would be just the best thing ever. Because then there would be less war! I don’t believe they’ve read 1984. Or Revelations.
we don’t need to import anybody here permanently. If there are people who need refuge from a bad situation, nothing stopping us from assigning some portion of the planet as a refuge for tiny numbers of people who need rest and peace. For example, those 7000 Syrians, who were slaughtered the other day.
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
John 10:30-33
King James Version
30 I and my Father are one.
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
The King of Glory and His Kingdom
A Psalm of David.
24 : 1 The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell therein.
If Jesus is God, they both own everything in the world and they are wealthy. Wherever Jesus walked, he owned it; food? He created it.
32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
My dude they were simply moving to another province so they could continue to live their best lives. Their citizenship status didn’t change. They literally weren’t invading another country along with a sizeable percentage of other persecuted families. They didn’t try to change the politics of Egypt. They left rapidly.
If this doesn’t compute, tell me: do you think it would be more or less beneficial to eliminate borders altogether?
Chris Warner is our bishop. His wife is (hopefully I get the term correct) a deacon serving at our parish, and much beloved by my own wife (who it's worth noting is a naturalized immigrant). I say this to show that I've got some idea of where he's coming from.
Having read his piece twice, I don't think there's anything really wrong with it as a pastoral statement. We could spend all day quibbling over whether or not Egypt and Judea were different countries within the Roman Empire, and "marginalized" is maybe not a great word to use, but other than that...
If I had to write a few bullet points to our ACNA leadership for their consideration, it'd be these:
- The overwhelming majority of foreigners* present in the United States don't fit into the Biblical categories of refugee (person fleeing to the nearest safe country) or sojourner (person temporarily present in a foreign nation). What do our Christian duties toward them entail, beyond the commandment to love them as thy neighbor?
- If genuine refugees are rare in the United States, what work should ACNA members do to care for them in other places?
- I've heard many Christians say some variant of "God's bringing the nations to us to evangelize", which if true would conveniently allow them to get the satisfaction of "mission work" while sleeping comfortably in their own American bed at night. What should we do to guard against this lazy way of thinking?
*It's worth digressing to note that US immigration laws align to some extent with the Biblical categories of refugee (also asylee) and sojourner (temporary worker / tourist / student) - and also to note the degree to which those provisions are abused.
"Asylum" seekers are coached (much like "trans" teenagers) to recite unverifiable stories of the situation that they're fleeing, and "tourist" visas are frequently overstayed.
There are certainly cases of Mexicans fleeing to the United States to escape drug cartel violence, or Cubans fleeing Communism, and there might even be some Canadians escaping religious persecution. But the overwhelming majority of those who've entered or stayed in the United States are from other countries that don't border ours, and calling them "refugees" waters down the term as to make it meaningless.
BTW, the lead image is NOT satire. Those who made it years ago were actually serious.
Herod killing babies is what prompted Jesus to invade Jerusalem in 70AD by the hand of his tools, Rome, and tear the whole place to the ground and slaughter Israel.
I dunno. Why don't you try digging up Herod's rotten corpse and ask him how his border patrol policy worked out for him.
Does that compute?
Yes.
You’re right about the part where the holy family fled to another province. The key understanding is that they were still the same citizens of the same empire, regardless of where they lived.
Hard left Christians think a single world united under one human government would be just the best thing ever. Because then there would be less war! I don’t believe they’ve read 1984. Or Revelations.
we don’t need to import anybody here permanently. If there are people who need refuge from a bad situation, nothing stopping us from assigning some portion of the planet as a refuge for tiny numbers of people who need rest and peace. For example, those 7000 Syrians, who were slaughtered the other day.
John 14:9-11
New King James Version
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
John 10:30-33
King James Version
30 I and my Father are one.
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
The King of Glory and His Kingdom
A Psalm of David.
24 : 1 The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell therein.
If Jesus is God, they both own everything in the world and they are wealthy. Wherever Jesus walked, he owned it; food? He created it.
32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
Well cool. That's good to know. Herod was killing babies, and even THAT didn't make them refugees.
What else could Herod have gotten away with and still they wouldn't have been refugees?
God damned tyrants everywhere want to know. Their eyes are gleaming with the potential.
My dude they were simply moving to another province so they could continue to live their best lives. Their citizenship status didn’t change. They literally weren’t invading another country along with a sizeable percentage of other persecuted families. They didn’t try to change the politics of Egypt. They left rapidly.
If this doesn’t compute, tell me: do you think it would be more or less beneficial to eliminate borders altogether?