I was listening to John Frame a while ago and he made a case for homeschooling that I’ve heard some variations of but not with the undergirding that makes Frame’s view understandable (maybe even plausible).
Category: current affairs
I’ve arrived at the point of this series where I’m expected (of myself, of course) to systematize all I’ve covered and come up with immigration reform in America. I’ve looked at the subject about every which way: I’ve examined the problems; I’ve worked through a thought model based on the Old Testament; I’ve looked at reasons for civil disobedience; the reality of Christians under rulers and the further reality of Christians as rulers; I’ve explained the importance of conscience; and finally I looked at the reality of living in a world where sin still reigns—so a solution is expected, right? In this post I’m going to first explain what I think would be an ideal situation with immigration reform, then I’ll follow with something more realistic on the national level, and then I’ll end with what I think Christians should be realistically doing now.
Yes, this is part of my immigration series, and no I will not examine forms of democracy. I won’t explain the nature of the constitutional republic (which protects the individuals) and how it operates via a representative democracy either. I’m not even going to touch on the nuances of power balance (technically) ensures that no group in the United States has absolute control. If you want an exact overview of United States democracy, you can read through these documents.
I will say that a representative democracy imbues its people with certain powers that make them ultimately responsible for much of what goes on within our countries policies. Sure, a majority rule with constitutional protections of individuals is the modus operandi, but the powers of the people are vast. Lincoln rightly called the United States a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
A very busy week ago, I was struggling with the Christian’s response to the illegal immigration issue. I must apologize up front: this post is long. There was no way that I could divide this post into three posts without breaking the thought-flow, so I didn’t. Instead, I split it up with headers so that you can follow it piece-meal, if you have to.
I previously raised some surprising issues of civil disobedience which were: (1) Paul’s refusal to obey the Philippian magistrates (Acts 16:37); (2) Paul escaping arrest at Damascus (Acts 9:23-25; 2 Cor 11: 32, 33). I didn’t mention another surprising case and that is (3) Esther (Esther 4:13-16; 5:1).
Christians love Scriptural commands; it makes things easy. We weigh in on an issue by citing a verse (or five) and we’re done—ding! Next problem?
So it is with immigration. We surf through our New Testament and then pause, sighing thankfully that there is a verse that seems to deal with illegal aliens, or at least strangers: “The stranger that you invited inside, fed, and clothed his nudity…it was me, Jesus. When you rejected that stranger and left him imprisoned; you rejected me, Jesus1.”
Well, we blush; it’s not as good as an explicit command. The passage is totally about interaction at the personal level and it doesn’t offer anything in the way of “thou shall”—especially not on the national level.
Ignoring the other post-worthy problems up above, I think there’s a proper goal in finding what Scripture says in regard to immigration. Surely, not for the purpose of finding a new law (wrongheaded, that), but for the purpose of discovering operating principles.
For that, we need to construct a thought model.