Friday, June 15, 2018

Cleaver: Where in the Bible does it say place immigrant children in harm's way?

(From Fifth District Congressman Emanuel Cleaver)

Last month, the Trump Administration began to enforce their “zero tolerance” policy for individuals illegally entering the country. Many of these families arrived at the border seeking asylum. Since that mandate, undocumented children have been routinely separated from their families. It has been reported that nearly 1,800 families have been separated at the U.S.-Mexico border since the policy was implemented.

In one case, federal agents told two female immigrants they were taking their daughters away for a bath, then never returned with them. Another mother reports having her child taken away from her while breast feeding. This is happening in the United States of America in 2018. According to media reports, more than 500 immigrant children have been separated from their parents in just one U.S. border town since the policy was announced in May.

As a father of four, I cannot imagine having my children taken from me for simply seeking a better life for my family. Separating children from their parents in this manner is inexcusable – and in no way reflects the values of this great nation. Earlier this week, we celebrated flag day. The flag is a symbol of the American values we as a nation hold so dearly. That all men and women are created equal, that we all have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that freedom shall always triumph over tyranny. Ripping children away from their families is antithetical to what our flag should represent.

The U.S. Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, used religion to justify this cruelty citing the Apostle Paul in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government. But where in the bible does it say place immigrant children in harm’s way?

Religion has illimitable power. It has inspired people to kill as well as heal. It has been used to justify almost everything, good or evil.

When the words of the Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Church in Rome, Chapter 13, are used to justify ripping children from the arms of their mothers on our southern border, Christians of all political spectrums should be appalled. These same words were used to justify slavery when slave owners quoted from Ephesians 6:5, “slaves, obey your earthly masters,” and World War II German Government officials used it to defend their atrocities against Jews during the Holocaust.

I would like to close with this reminder from Matthew 18:14 “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them…”

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr. Cleaver, you hit the nail on the head and one has to only wonder where our church leaders are concerning this removal of children from parents. Seems to me we are recruiting a whole new cadre for hate against America and her ideals. That is to wonder; do we have any human ideals left with the election of this new dictator. The new norm seems to mirror the occupation of Nazi's in Europe when church leaders remained mum when the Jews were taken away in box cars. It only seems prudent for church leaders and congressional leadership to step in and apply the semblance of sanity and humanity to this situation.

Anonymous said...

Cleaver states that as a father, he can't imagine having his children taken from him for simply seeking a better life. I'm sure most people arrested for theft, forgery, and maybe assault, were committing an act they thought would provide them something that would make their life easier. Yet, if they have children, and are now in jail, they "have been ripped away from their children" for committing an illegal act. Hmmmmm....

Tracy

Anonymous said...

Perhaps parents should enter the country legally with their children. Or stay where they are. These are real solutions to this problem that don't require laws to be broken.

Anonymous said...

So, leave the Bible out of it. Are people to be held accountable to obey the law or not? Do we get to pick which laws to obey? This isn’t an essay question, a simple yes or no would work.

I don’t know this politician but I’m thinking he could sell snow to an Eskimo.

Anonymous said...

Oh, the church leaders are only to be involved when there is a threat to gun rights or defending the immoral, unethical acts of those doing them. If there is a "R" beside the name, then you can invoke the NRT version of the bible (New Republican Translation) to justify any and all perceived "wrong doings". If democrats had done this, the same folks saying "keep the bible out of it" would be dusting off their bibles and screaming scriptures. Praise the Lord and pass the ammo!