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By Allan Wall
07/23/2014
When Nancy Pelosi said that illegals should be treated like the “baby Jesus,” the former Speaker became the latest liberal politician to opportunistically use Christianity to guilt trip Americans into giving away their country. [Pelosi: Border Children Should be Treated Like Refugee Baby Jesus, Breitbart, July 22, 2014] Unfortunately, the former Speaker the American Thinker called an “occasionally devout Catholic” is not alone, as evidenced by the widespread use of the deeply dishonest slogan “Who Would Jesus Deport?” [Nancy Pelosi’s ‘Baby Jesus’ Argument, by Jeannie DeAngelis, July 23, 2014]
“Who Would Jesus Deport?” is widely deployed by open borders advocates in articles, cartoons, t-shirts and even its own Facebook page. And as you might guess, those asking the question already have an answer — certainly not illegal aliens. The loaded question is designed to force American Christians into supporting destructive policies out of misplaced morality.
Elvira Arellano, an illegal who made a great show of holing up inside a church to avoid deportation and used her anchor baby son Saul as a prop, tried to cast herself as a Christian martyr using the slogan. Here’s a photo of Elvira back in 2006 wearing a “Who Would Jesus Deport?” t-shirt.
Things to know about immigration activist Elvira Arellano, MySanAntonio.com, May 7, 2014
Though some are simply misguided idealists, many of the activists who use this slogan are less concerned with living a Christian life than with using the faith as a way to get Americans to sabotage their own interests. A typical example is the Evangelical Immigration Table — financed in part by atheist globalist George Soros.
Of course, “Who Would Jesus Deport?” is an extension of the famous question, “What Would Jesus Do?” Coincidentally, “Who Would Jesus Deport” forms the same acronym (WWJD) — and it’s basically the same argument.
As a Christian, I disagree somewhat with “WWJD” — especially the careless way it is used. Naturally, Christians should follow Jesus Christ — as I John 2:6 states, “whoever says he abides in him [Christ] ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
However, the questions “What Would Jesus Do?” or “Who Would Jesus Deport?” aren’t calls to lead to a Christian life — just slogans. A Christian should think about the real world consequences of catchphrases that owe more to marketing than theology. He should also think about what Jesus really came to Earth to do.
The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ, God the Son, was incarnated as a man to accomplish a mission — to die for us and be resurrected.
Therefore, there are many things in this life that Jesus did not do, not because they were wrong, but simply because they weren’t part of His mission to preach the Good News.
Jesus Christ was not a government official. If a contemporary Christian is a government official, he can’t say “I’m going to do my job as a government official just as Jesus did.” There may not be specific examples from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John about how to perform a specific task.
Nevertheless, although Christ was not in government, he did recognize governmental authorities, both Jewish and Roman. His famous distinction between rendering to God and rendering to Caesar teaches his followers to recognize the difference between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdoms of Men. Though the Kingdoms of Men are certainly not identical to the Kingdom of God, under God’s authority they serve providential purposes.
Some things that governments do (or should do) include protecting the country’s borders and, yes, deporting illegal aliens. These are not specifically Christian duties, but they’re not anti-Christian either. They are simply functions of human governments.
The folks who ask loaded questions can’t imagine Jesus deporting illegal aliens, so they conclude nobody should deport illegal aliens. (Or at least, the United States shouldn’t, because I don’t hear them complaining when other countries do it.)
But deporting illegal aliens simply wasn’t part of Christ’s mission on Earth (though today’s plutocrats should take a hard look at what He did to the moneychangers in the Temple). That doesn’t mean He forbids deportation. .
The real question is not “Did Jesus Deport Illegal Aliens?” The real question is “Do human governments have the authority to control their borders and deport illegal aliens?”
There is nothing in the Bible or Christian doctrine that denies such authority.
In fact, in Acts chapter 17, the apostle Paul, in his discourse to the Aereopagus, states that God “…hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation..” (Acts 17:26, KJV)
The Greek word for Nation used in the text is ethnos (ἔθνος), from which derives our English word “ethnic”. We find in this verse a justification for ethnic-based nation states with definable borders.
Besides, open border fanatics are very selective in their moral indignation. They claim the United States mistreats illegal aliens but have nothing to say about how the governments of Mexico and Central America cynically export their own problems to the gringos.
Wouldn’t it be of more relevance for Christians to focus their concern on Latin Americans who abandon their families? Or on Latin American parents who send their children alone to travel thousands of miles? Or on criminals who kidnap, abuse, and kill illegal aliens?
Or, most important of all, on the responsibility of Christians in other nations to improve life in their own homelands?
Sadly, actually solving problems instead of bashing the gringos doesn’t bring the same favorable media attention — or donations from George Soros. It’s much easier and more popular to criticize ordinary Americans who simply want their laws to be enforced.
One exception is Samuel Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. I criticized Rodriguez in previous articles as an amnesty supporter. Nevertheless, during the present crisis, Rodriguez has publicly appealed to Mexicans and Central Americans not to send their kids to the United States. (See the video Faith Leaders Preach Tough Love to Migrant Parents,The Christian Broadcasting Network, July 10, 2014).
Bravo to Rodriguez for that, and credit where credit is due. We ought to see more of that, but sadly, we don’t.
My advice to patriotic American Christians is to stand firm. Don’t be bamboozled by pious-sounding sound bites that don’t add up. Demanding that our government fulfill its duty by controlling our borders is not evil or anti-Christian. It’s the best thing for our country — and in the long run, it’s better for the people in Mexico and Central America.
It’s not righteous to use migrants for your own selfish purposes like Pelosi or Soros. Real compassion means recognizing our duty to our neighbors and our country — and understanding that actually helping Latin America will take more than self-congratulatory slogans.
American citizen Allan Wall moved back to the U.S.A. in 2008after many years residing in Mexico. Allan’s wife is Mexican, and their two sons are bilingual. In 2005, Allan served a tour of duty in Iraq with the Texas Army National Guard. His VDARE.COM articles are archived here; his Mexidata.info articles are archived here; his News With Views columns are archived here; and his website is here.
This is a content archive of VDARE.com, which Letitia James forced off of the Internet using lawfare.