Rev. William Barber: Jeff Sessions Using Religion to Justify Family Separations Is “Biblical Heresy”

https://democracynow.org – More than 300 Catholic bishops have blasted the Trump administration’s immigration policies, calling for an end to the separation of migrant children from their parents and condemning Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s policy of ending the right of domestic violence survivors to seek asylum in the United States. On Thursday, Sessions quoted the Bible to justify his department’s immigration policies. Sessions was speaking to an invitation-only crowd in Fort Wayne, Indiana. “I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13 to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained the government for his purposes,” stated Sessions. Critics seized on his reference to Romans 13, noting it was a favorite passage of defenders of the Confederacy used to justify slavery. We speak to the Rev. William Barber.

Bible Verses on the Treatment of “Foreigners”

Ruth 2:10: Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”

Job 31:32: “The alien has not lodged outside, For I have opened my doors to the traveler.

Deuteronomy 10:19: “So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

Leviticus 19:34: ‘The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 25:35: ‘Now in case a countryman of yours becomes poor and his means with regard to you falter, then you are to sustain him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you.

Hebrews 13:2: Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Deuteronomy 14:29: The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

Deuteronomy 24:19-21: When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. “When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow. “When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not go over it again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow.

Deuteronomy 26:12-13: When you have finished paying all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow, that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. “You shall say before the LORD your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and also have given it to the Levite and the alien, the orphan and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed or forgotten any of Your commandments.

Deut 10:18: He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreign resident, giving him food and clothing.

Bible Verses on oppressive government

Isa 60:17: For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for the stones iron; I will also put peace in the place of thy government, and righteousness in the place of thine oppressors.

Micah 7:3: They are determined to be experts at doing evil; government officials and judges take bribes, prominent men make demands, and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them.

Luk 20:20: And they kept watch on him, and sent out secret representatives, who were acting the part of good men, in order that they might get something from his words, on account of which they might give him up to the government and into the power of the ruler.

Lev 19:15: You shall not do injustice in judgment; {you shall not show partiality to the powerless}; you shall not give preference {to the powerful}; you shall judge your fellow citizen with justice.

2 Sam 23:3: The God of Israel spoke; the Rock of Israel said to me, “The one who rules the people with justice, who rules in the fear of God,

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