An Alternative Border Response

Recently several people posted a link to the July newsletter of Dr. James Dobson in which he writes an open letter addressing his recent visit to our southern border. It was posted and even sent to me by people whom I respect and love, so I tried to read the letter with an open mind. I was hopeful that Dobson’s visit would stir in him some compassion that I have perceived to be missing in the past. As I read, I continued to be hopeful:

“The "refugees" arrive exhausted and ragged from walking hundreds of miles. Among them are large numbers of children, many of whom are unaccompanied by a caring adult. Last year, 382,000 aliens were apprehended for illegally crossing into this country and almost 100,000 of them were minors. Some of the kids have been abused along the way. Many of them carry lice, scabies or other diseases. Currently, the facility I visited is experiencing a flu epidemic, and there are no additional beds on which to lie. Some of the women have been raped.”

Dobson rightly describes a situation that is overwhelming and heartbreaking. He communicates his own sense of sadness, frustration and anger at the situation. But as his letter continues, it takes a disappointing turn. Dobson is unable to resist the urge to turn this into a political issue and use it as a platform to proclaim Donald Trump as “the only leader in America who comprehends this tragedy and is willing to address it.” He also uses the opportunity to vilify the Democrats, especially Chuck Schumer. While I have little respect for Schumer, this mess is far too complicated to single out a single leader for blame. It is equally disingenuous to single out Trump as the only leader who understands the magnitude of the problem. I will agree that there are virtually no leaders willing to actually lead on this issue, but that has been the case for decades.

For as long as I have been paying attention to our nation’s political system, which dates back to the Reagan era, the immigration issue has been largely ignore and given only lip service. Every president (not to mention hundreds of senators and representatives) has entered office with some promise of immigration reform. All of them have failed to do anything meaningful or helpful, even when their own party has controlled both the house and the senate. In most cases the situation is quickly shelved, and politicians masterfully divert our attention away from the issue. In this sense Trump has been different. He has not been afraid to speak out on immigration and he has not shied away from discussing his proposal for a solution. I would also agree that democrats have no credibility in pointing fingers at Trump or Republicans. Most of those pointing fingers had the opportunity to take action when Obama was president and both the house and senate were controlled by their party. They failed. They kicked the issue down the line, just like Republicans and Democrats before them. This is an issue that has stained the hands of politicians on both sides of the aisle for decades, many of who are still in office lamenting the inaction by the other party. None should be pointing fingers. No one has any right to pat themselves on the back and no one has the right to shift the blame elsewhere.

Unfortunately, the standing of evangelical Christian leaders is not much better. The tide is changing, but there is still the old guard, like Dobson, who has dug in and refused to budge. While his letter reflects some genuine emotion, it fails to deliver a Biblical position of compassion. Instead he continues the tried and failed nationalistic dogma that protecting our own interests is more important than advocating for the oppressed. His conclusion lands clearly on the side of America first and scripture second. In fact, scripture is noticeably missing in his letter. Advocating for a clearly Christian point of view is noticeably absent. What is present is continued support for Donald Trump and a border wall to keep everyone out. There is no call for compassion. There is no call for justice. There is no advocacy for the oppressed. There is no sense of mercy.

We should not be surprised, I suppose. His letter starts with, “I was invited by White House staff to visit our southern border.” This was not an independent fact-finding mission. This was a trip orchestrated to promote a political agenda and Dobson eagerly fell in line. After describing horrific conditions, the misery and abuse of women and children, the overwhelming work required of border patrol, the immense lack of basic supplies, his final solution is a call to support Trump and the building of the border wall. How does that make sense from a Christian perspective?

Apparently, that makes sense to many of my friends on the evangelical right, but it makes no sense to me. Somehow evangelicals have found incomprehensible marriage between protection of our country at all costs even when it hurts the most vulnerable in the world, and biblical teaching, but I have not. Instead their reasoning sounds an awful lot like the a faith of fear described by David French. The Bible, both Old Testament and New Testament, is filled with pleas, commands and warnings about caring for the alien, the immigrant, the oppressed, the suffering, the refugee, the hurting. There are no nationalistic prerequisites. They are not “if-then” statements. There are no qualifiers. I understand that those in governmental office have an obligation to serve and protect our country and to put our country’s interests first, but that is not an obligation shared by Christians. I know that statement will make the blood of many boil, but I see no Biblical precedent that indicates that we should value our country more than having compassion and justice for the oppressed, regardless of their origin. I find no scripture that qualifies our response based on our own safety and security or excuses our neglect of mercy based on our nationality or theirs. I would be happy to have my mind changed if I can be shown that my point of view is scripturally incorrect, but most supporting the border wall don’t use scripture to defend their point of view.

If you have been willing to read this far, I would encourage you to read a different perspective on the border situation from the National Association of Evangelicals. I would encourage you to listen to different evangelical perspectives and open yourself to the idea sometimes scripture and political right do not align. When they don’t, we as Christians are not bound by political affiliation, or patriotic duty. We have only one allegiance that matters. Unlike Dobson, the NAE has attempted to find steps forward that are both Biblical and reasonable. Instead of operating from a basis of fear and nationalism, they choose instead to proclaim the truth of scripture and promote actions of compassion and mercy. These proposals may not be perfect, but I see them as being more in line with the spirit of Biblical teaching than simply finding ways to keep others out of our country unless they have something to offer us.