If we have learned only one thing this week from the chaos in Washington over immigration, it should be this:
Don’t ever use the Bible (or any other scripture for that matter) to justify your secular, administrative, governmental thoughts or actions toward other human beings. Because of the ambiguous and contradictory nature of the Bible, most any scripture one selects to bolster one’s opinions or deeds will surely come back to bite one in the ass.
Take the specific case of Jeffrey Beauregard Sessions to justify government sanctioned child cruelty. He cited Romans 13:1 to defend the U.S. government’s policy on separating families. To quote:
“Everyone must obey state authorities, because no authority exists without God’s permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God.”
Yet, it you read further, to Romans 13:8, you will find the admonition to follow the law, meaning God’s Law, not man’s. To quote:
“Be under obligation to no one — the only obligation you have is to love one another. Whoever does this has obeyed the Law.”
This was part of Sessions’ undoing in the matter of separating immigrant children from their parents. I would hazard the guess that most true believers in the Christian faith put the words of Jesus first, when he said that the greatest commandment was to love God, and the second greatest was to love one another as oneself.
The founding fathers had it clearly thought out. Religion and government should not sit side by side holding hands in administering a nation. Mingling the two blurs lines of distinction. Theocracy is too fickle to allow for a fair administration of man-made law.
This is not to say that it isn’t incumbent on us to use our moral compasses when interpreting law or policy. Morality and ethics are an important foundation upon which to construct legislation. But a book as provocative as the Bible has no place in the implementation or interpretation of that legislation.
Religion in general, in my opinion — and I’m no theologian — is a human construct meant to bring a sense of order, explanation and comfort to humankind. Because human beings have lived and thrived in so many diverse places under so many diverse influences, their religions have taken different forms, and have assembled different codified laws by which to live. What all have in common is a moral compass of universal truths. And the truths are as simple as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. As simple as justice for all.
We don’t need Bible scripture to guide us in governmental machinations. It simply muddies the waters.
Set your Bible aside, Jeff Sessions. Don’t let it catch you in the trap of Romans 13:1, which was used in days gone by to justify slavery and the separation of African children from their parents.
We have guidance clear enough from our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, and our Pledge of Allegiance to steer us through this debacle.
