Pastor Robert Jeffress took issue with 3400 church leaders who urged mercy for the young, undocumented immigrants known as “Dreamers” who have been protected by DACA. “God is not necessarily an open borders guy, as a lot of people would think that he is,” Jeffress claimed.
Despite Jeffress’ insinuation that protecting recipients of Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is akin to open borders, it’s really a matter of protecting young people who are already here, having been brought here by parents when they were children.
The choice of Jeffress, quite possibly the world's most hateful evangelical Christian, to discuss the evangelicals’ plea, put in a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan, was a clear indication of Fox’s intention to undercut it – while still holding itself up as a network of good Christians.
The discussion began with cohost Ainsley Earhardt reading excerpts from the letter:
As Christians, we believe that all immigrants are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), deserving to be treated with dignity.
[…]
From Abraham to Paul, many biblical heroes were themselves immigrants, including even Jesus… As Americans, we are proud that our country has affirmed this biblical principle of valuing and protecting immigrants while also protecting national security.
Not surprisingly, she left out the parts that read:
We have seen immigrants strengthen our great nation throughout its history, including their positive impact on our churches, our communities, and our economy. One group of immigrants who exemplify these benefits are young people brought to our country by their parents as children. We carry particular concern for the future of these Dreamers because they have much to offer America. They were brought here without their consent, and in most cases the United States is the only home they have known.
We know that these young people who stepped forward in good faith are not threats to America. By enrolling in DACA, they already have submitted to screening for criminal activity and potential threats to national security. As a country, we need to focus on real solutions for our broken immigration system that address safety, security and economic fairness. Deporting these young people runs counter to these priorities.
Instead, Earhardt introduced Jeffress by saying, “But our next guest says the Bible shouldn’t be used for immigration policy.”
That’s right: The guy who has used the Bible to justify starting a war with North Korea and assassinating its leader thinks the Bible is too compassionate toward immigrants for use as a guide on that subject.
JEFFRESS: I think that these leaders got one component of this immigration debate right, talking about Christian compassion. I mean, Jesus said we’re to love our neighbors as ourselves and that our neighbors are not just people like us, but people different than us. But while Christian compassion is one consideration, it’s not the only consideration in the immigration problem. I mean, the Bible also says that God’s the one who established nations and its borders. God is not necessarily an open-borders guy, as a lot of people would think that he is. And thirdly, the Bible says God has ordained government to protect its citizens. So when you are talking about a biblical solution to immigration, yes, we need to talk about compassion, but we need to balance that with government’s real responsibility to protect its citizens.
[…]
I think [the signatories] tend to lean on the side of compassion and don’t balance it like it should. For example, this week we had the pope, once again, lambasting President Trump for not doing enough for immigration. And I think these leaders and the pope are sincere, but they’re sincerely confused about the difference between the church and government. And so I think we need to keep those roles distinct.
Earhardt sympathetically called it “a tough topic” and closed the segment.
Watch Fox put support for Donald Trump over the teachings of Jesus Christ below, from the September 13, 2017 Fox & Friends.
(Some transcript excerpts via Media Matters)
Apparently God created nations and borders because God cares about things like that. But after creating these nations and borders God pretty much left things up to the individual governments to decide everything else.
Also God wants people to be compassionate toward others, but that goal takes a backseat to a government’s need to protect it citizens from undocumented persons. God has some weird priorities.