A Christian might bring forward the
strong teaching of Paul, especially in
Ephesians 2:11-21, that after the advent
of Jesus Christ the distinction between
native and foreigner, Jew and Gentile,
has been transcended: “So then you are
no longer strangers and sojourners but
you are fellow citizens with the saints
and members of the household of God.”
In the Hebrew Bible, many verses seem to
advocate a wide-armed welcome for
immigrants and foreigners. Here are a
couple of examples from Leviticus: “When
a stranger dwells among you in your
land, do not taunt him. The stranger who
dwells with you shall be like a native
among you, and you shall love him like
yourself, for you were aliens in the
land of Egypt—I am the Lord, your God”
(19:33-34). “If your brother becomes
impoverished and his means falter in
your proximity, you shall strengthen
him—stranger or resident—so that he can
live with you” (25:35).
That last verse appears to teach that a
“stranger” (in Hebrew, a ger) not only
should be welcomed and accepted but
supported and uplifted from poverty.
However we should compare Scripture
against Scripture so that we do not take
the meaning out of context. In context
we can apply its wisdom to the
immigration question.
This is a classical political issue.
Paul and Jesus taught ideas of
philosophy and governance for the ages
to come.
The Hebrew Bible is a document that is
very much concerned with the design of a
just and merciful commonwealth.
Hebrew scripture insists on the
continuing, indeed eternal relevance of
national identity. Even in the times of
the Messiah, “Israel will be the third
party with Egypt and with Assyria, a
blessing in the midst of the land, for
the Lord, Master of Legions, will bless
them, saying, ‘Blessed is My people,
Egypt; and the work of my hands,
Assyria; and My heritage, Israel’” (see
Isaiah 19:19-25).
As scripture relates, the nations of the
Earth once sought to create a world
state without borders–the story of the
Tower of Babel–and we know the Bible
doesn’t look kindly on that attempt. The
Scripture teaches that all things should
be done in order. God put things out of
order and in confusion to disable the
effort of constructing the tower.
Point two is
that the Bible sets up a demanding
standard by personal voluntary will that
he may shed one national identity and
embrace another.
This is the
inalienable right that Thomas Jefferson
advocated, expatriation as a God given
right.
(see below) It is intertwined with the
free will that God endowed every man at
birth. God is opposed to slavery. God
wants us to love Him and follow Him out
of our free will that is our inalienable
right.
Many have not considered the importance
and relevance of the story of Ruth, the
Moabite. She had a Jewish mother-in-law,
Naomi, whom she met when Naomi’s family
fled the land of Israel and moved to
neighboring Moab to escape a famine
(sound
familiar? - people searching for work
for food to eat, were they the first
migrant workers?).
When Ruth’s husband, Naomi’s son, died,
along with Naomi’s husband and her other
son, Ruth decided to return with the
older woman to Israel. Said Ruth, “For
where you go, I will go; where you
lodge, I will lodge; your people are my
people, and your God is my God; where
you die, I will die, and there I will be
buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and
so may He do more, if anything but death
separates me from you” (Ruth 1:16-17).
Notice that the main thrust of her
speech is the passionate joining of her
own fate with Naomi’s, and thus with
Israel’s. To this day, that remains the
primary criterion by which potential
converts to Judaism are evaluated. Ruth
thus became, according to Jewish
tradition, history’s most beloved
“proselyte” or “convert” to Judaism—a
status celebrated at the Jewish festival
of Shavuot, when her story is chanted in
synagogues. Ruth did not want to be
separated from the only family she had
left, Naomi her mother-in-law. Ruth had
grown to love Naomi and demonstrated her
love and loyalty.
The subject of
conversion isn’t quite so simple,
however. For there are actually two
sub-classes grouped under the category
of the “ger.” There is the ger, the
convert, like Ruth–a full member of
Israel. But there is another, the ger
toshav, or resident alien. Could this be
a Scriptural reference to a guest worker
plan, not yet a citizen, but a provision
of a path to citizenship? Was Ruth
permitted to work in the fields in this
new land (Israel) of Naomi where she was
now a foreigner?
The latter occupies a
middle ground between Jew (citizen) and
foreigner (illegal alien). It is this
individual whom Jews are, in the verse
we saw earlier, commanded to provide
for: “If your brother becomes
impoverished and his means falter in
your proximity, you shall strengthen
him—stranger or resident (ger v’toshav)—so
that he can live with you” (Leviticus
25:35).
This resident alien too must fulfill
criteria to join his new society,
agreeing to certain basic moral
propositions, including forswearing
idolatry, murder, and sexual immorality.
He is called a “resident alien” because
it is only having satisfied this
condition that a non-Israelite who
doesn’t formally convert may live in the
Holy Land. While inviting us to admire
and love a person who would give up his
citizenship in a foreign country to join
our own, the Bible also commands us to
give material aid, whatever is needed,
to any immigrant—if he agrees to abide
by an unwavering moral law.
Here is where the Bible may be hard for
a modern reader to accept, for
scriptural tradition expects that any
immigrant, any stranger, will meet
demanding moral criteria. It is a
discriminating welcome. The idea that a
sojourner would be allowed to live in
the land without having accepted one of
the two sets of conditions is
unthinkable: “They shall not dwell in
your land lest they cause you to sin
against Me, that you will worship their
gods, for it will be a trap for you”
(Exodus 23:33).
The emphasis on moral choices brings us
to the third and really key point about
the Bible’s perspective on the
immigration issue. The most important
word in Hebrew scripture is mitzvah,
commandment, given by God primarily to
an individual.
The Bible makes the assumption, a
controversial one today, that
individuals can handle the charge to
choose right over wrong. We are morally
responsible. In line with this view, it
asks would-be immigrants to make a
choice: either zealous citizenship, or a
streamlined moral system (compromised
legal system). Again this relates to the
inalienable right and free will for a
person to make the right choice. This is
the moral high ground that one has when
he chooses right over wrong, or in this
matter of immigration, zealous
citizenship over laws that are
compromised.
To expel immigrants, or to open borders
without discrimination, would be to
reject scripture’s assumption of moral
responsibility. Expulsion would be a
statement that we cannot realistically
ask foreign-born men and women to choose
our way of life. Those who support a
strong legalistic approach to this
matter quote Romans 13 and the
responsibility of the Government to
provide a rule of law to maintain this
order. To fling wide open the doors of
welcome to all would deny that we can
set high standards and stick to them.
The spirit of the law supports our legal
and moral system but provides liberality
in the application. Since we are not
perfect individuals, mercy is part of
the solution.
A reasonable, logical person understands
these differences. God said through
Isaiah, "Come let us reason together".
That is what is expected of reasonable
men in our "Great American Experiment".
It is our responsibility and our debt to
our Lord, our Society, and our children
to work through the differences on this
immigration issue, complex as they might
be.
Scripture creates a middle way between
extremes, a way that is challenging
nevertheless. The Scripture teaches
balance and President Bush may have
something like this in mind when he
advocates a guest-worker program, a
quasi-citizenship like the Bible’s ger
toshav. He promises that what he has in
mind is not simply to offer a blanket
amnesty to illegal aliens that would
make no distinction between the worthy
and the unworthy. For the President to
offer this compromise and solution
appears that he is consulting the
Scriptures on these vital questions and
searching for the middle ground and
balance.
The Christian and the Church should be
using this opportunity to show kindness
and balance. By practicing kindness and
balance, the person without Christ will
see the true, compassionate heart of
Christ. What would Jesus do? What will
you do?
Inalienable Rights
The government of the United States is
the result of a revolution in thought.
It was founded on the principle that all
persons have equal rights, and that
government is responsible to, and
derives its powers from, a free people.
To Jefferson and the other Founding
Fathers, these ideas were not just a
passing intellectual fad, but a
recognition of something inherent in the
nature of man itself. The very
foundation of government, therefore,
rests on the inalienable rights of the
people and of each individual composing
their mass. The Declaration of
Independence, written by Thomas
Jefferson, is the fundamental statement
of what government is and from what
source it derives its powers. It begins
with a summary of those inalienable
rights that are the self-evident basis
for a free society and for all the
powers to protect those rights that a
just government exercises.
Even though these rights are for
American citizens, the "Spirit of this
Law" was the prayer of Thomas Jefferson:
"I sincerely pray that all the members
of the human family may, in the time
prescribed by the Father of us all, find
themselves securely established in the
enjoyment of life, liberty, and
happiness." --Thomas Jefferson: Reply to
Ellicot Thomas, et al., 1807. ME 16:290
"I
hold the right of expatriation to be
inherent in every man by the laws of
nature, and incapable of being
rightfully taken from him even by the
united will of every other person in the
nation. If the laws have provided no
particular mode by which the right of
expatriation may be exercised, the
individual may do it by any effectual
and unequivocal act or declaration."
--Thomas Jefferson to Albert Gallatin,
1806. FE 8:458
"Expatriation [is] a natural right, and
acted on as such by all nations in all
ages." --Thomas Jefferson:
Autobiography, 1821. ME 1:12
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Thomas
Jefferson
"We hold
these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal; that they are
endowed by their Creator with inherent
and inalienable rights; that among
these, are life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness; that to secure
these rights, governments are instituted
among men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed; that
whenever any form of government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the
right of the people to alter or abolish
it, and to institute new government,
laying its foundation on such
principles, and organizing its powers in
such form, as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their safety and
happiness." --Declaration of
Independence as originally written by
Thomas Jefferson, 1776. ME 1:29, Papers
1:315
"[Our] principles [are] founded on the
immovable basis of equal right and
reason." --Thomas Jefferson to James
Sullivan, 1797. ME 9:379
"An equal application of law to every
condition of man is fundamental."
--Thomas Jefferson to George Hay, 1807.
ME 11:341
"The most sacred of the duties of a
government [is] to do equal and
impartial justice to all its citizens."
--Thomas Jefferson: Note in Destutt de
Tracy, "Political Economy," 1816. ME
14:465
"To unequal privileges among members of
the same society the spirit of our
nation is, with one accord, adverse."
--Thomas Jefferson to Hugh White, 1801.
ME 10:258
"In America, no other distinction
between man and man had ever been known
but that of persons in office exercising
powers by authority of the laws, and
private individuals. Among these last,
the poorest laborer stood on equal
ground with the wealthiest millionaire,
and generally on a more favored one
whenever their rights seem to jar."
--Thomas Jefferson: Answers to de
Meusnier Questions, 1786. ME 17:8
"Of distinction by birth or badge,
[Americans] had no more idea than they
had of the mode of existence in the moon
or planets. They had heard only that
there were such, and knew that they must
be wrong." --Thomas Jefferson: Answers
to de Meusnier Questions, 1786. ME 17:89
"[The] best principles [of our republic]
secure to all its citizens a perfect
equality of rights." --Thomas Jefferson:
Reply to the Citizens of Wilmington,
1809. ME 16:336
The Nature and Source of Our Rights
"The principles on which we engaged, of
which the charter of our independence is
the record, were sanctioned by the laws
of our being, and we but obeyed them in
pursuing undeviatingly the course they
called for. It issued finally in that
inestimable state of freedom which alone
can ensure to man the enjoyment of his
equal rights." --Thomas Jefferson to
Georgetown Republicans, 1809. ME 16:349
"Man [is] a rational animal, endowed by
nature with rights and with an innate
sense of justice." --Thomas Jefferson to
William Johnson, 1823. ME 15:441
"A free people [claim] their rights as
derived from the laws of nature, and not
as the gift of their chief magistrate."
--Thomas Jefferson: Rights of British
America, 1774. ME 1:209, Papers 1:134
"Under the law of nature, all men are
born free, every one comes into the
world with a right to his own person,
which includes the liberty of moving and
using it at his own will. This is what
is called personal liberty, and is given
him by the Author of nature, because
necessary for his own sustenance."
--Thomas Jefferson: Legal Argument,
1770. FE 1:376
"What is true of every member of the
society, individually, is true of them
all collectively; since the rights of
the whole can be no more than the sum of
the rights of the individuals." --Thomas
Jefferson to James Madison, 1789. ME
7:455, Papers 15:393
"Nothing... is unchangeable but the
inherent and unalienable rights of man."
--Thomas Jefferson to John Cartwright,
1824. ME 16:48
"I hold the right of expatriation to be
inherent in every man by the laws of
nature, and incapable of being
rightfully taken from him even by the
united will of every other person in the
nation. If the laws have provided no
particular mode by which the right of
expatriation may be exercised, the
individual may do it by any effectual
and unequivocal act or declaration."
--Thomas Jefferson to Albert Gallatin,
1806. FE 8:458
"Expatriation [is] a natural right, and
acted on as such by all nations in all
ages." --Thomas Jefferson:
Autobiography, 1821. ME 1:12
"Our ancestors... possessed a right,
which nature has given to all men, of
departing from the country in which
chance, not choice, has placed them, of
going in quest of new habitations, and
of there establishing new societies,
under such laws and regulations as, to
them, shall seem most likely to promote
public happiness." --Thomas Jefferson:
Rights of British America, 1774. ME
1:185, Papers 1:121
"Natural rights [are] the objects for
the protection of which society is
formed and municipal laws established."
--Thomas Jefferson to James Monroe,
1797. ME 9:422
"Can the liberties of a nation be
thought secure when we have removed
their only firm basis, a conviction in
the minds of the people that these
liberties are of the gift of God? That
they are not to be violated but with His
wrath?" --Thomas Jefferson: Notes on
Virginia Q.XVIII, 1782. ME 2:227
"Questions of natural right are triable
by their conformity with the moral sense
and reason of man." --Thomas Jefferson:
Opinion on French Treaties, 1793. ME
3:235
"It is a principle that the right to a
thing gives a right to the means without
which it could not be used, that is to
say, that the means follow their end."
--Thomas Jefferson: --Thomas Jefferson:
Report on Navigation of the Mississippi,
1792. ME 3:180
"The right to use a thing comprehends a
right to the means necessary to its use,
and without which it would be useless."
--Thomas Jefferson to William
Carmichael, 1790. ME 8:72
"The Declaration of Independence... [is
the] declaratory charter of our rights,
and of the rights of man." --Thomas
Jefferson to Samuel Adams Wells, 1819.
ME 15:200
"Some other natural rights... [have] not
yet entered into any declaration of
rights." --Thomas Jefferson to John W.
Eppes, 1813. ME 13:272
"I shall see with sincere satisfaction
the progress of those sentiments which
tend to restore to man all his natural
rights, convinced he has no natural
right in opposition to his social
duties." --Thomas Jefferson: Reply to
Danbury Baptists, 1802. ME 16:282
The Right to Life and Liberty
"The God who gave us life gave us
liberty at the same time; the hand of
force may destroy, but cannot disjoin
them." --Thomas Jefferson: Rights of
British America, 1774. ME 1:211, Papers
1:135
"Of liberty I would say that, in the
whole plenitude of its extent, it is
unobstructed action according to our
will. But rightful liberty is
unobstructed action according to our
will within limits drawn around us by
the equal rights of others. I do not add
'within the limits of the law,' because
law is often but the tyrant's will, and
always so when it violates the right of
an individual." --Thomas Jefferson to
Isaac H. Tiffany, 1819.
"That liberty [is pure] which is to go
to all, and not to the few or the rich
alone." --Thomas Jefferson to Horatio
Gates, 1798. ME 9:441
"In a government bottomed on the will of
all, the life and liberty of every
individual citizen becomes interesting
to all." --Thomas Jefferson: 5th Annual
Message, 1805. ME 3:390
"I would rather be exposed to the
inconveniences attending too much
liberty than to those attending too
small a degree of it." --Thomas
Jefferson to Archibald Stuart, 1791. ME
8:276
"Being myself a warm zealot for the
attainment and enjoyment by all mankind
of as much liberty as each may exercise
without injury to the equal liberty of
his fellow citizens, I have lamented
that... the endeavors to obtain this
should have been attended with the
effusion of so much blood." --Thomas
Jefferson to Jean Nicholas Demeunier,
1795. FE 7:13
The Pursuit of Happiness
"The Giver of life gave it for happiness
and not for wretchedness." --Thomas
Jefferson to James Monroe, 1782. ME
4:196, Papers 6:186
"If [God] has made it a law in the
nature of man to pursue his own
happiness, He has left him free in the
choice of place as well as mode, and we
may safely call on the whole body of
English jurists to produce the map on
which nature has traced for each
individual the geographical line which
she forbids him to cross in pursuit of
happiness." --Thomas Jefferson to John
Manners, 1817. ME 15:124
"Perfect happiness, I believe, was never
intended by the Deity to be the lot of
one of his creatures in this world; but
that he has very much put in our power
the nearness of our approaches to it, is
what I as steadfastly believe." --Thomas
Jefferson to John Page, 1763. ME 4:10,
Papers 1:10
"The freedom and happiness of man...
[are] the sole objects of all legitimate
government." --Thomas Jefferson to
Thaddeus Kosciusko, 1810. ME 12:369
"[It is a] great truth that industry,
commerce and security are the surest
roads to the happiness and prosperity of
[a] people." --Thomas Jefferson to
Francisco Chiappe, 1789. Papers 15:405
"The only orthodox object of the
institution of government is to secure
the greatest degree of happiness
possible to the general mass of those
associated under it." --Thomas Jefferson
to M. van der Kemp, 1812. ME 13:135
"I sincerely pray that all the members
of the human family may, in the time
prescribed by the Father of us all, find
themselves securely established in the
enjoyment of life, liberty, and
happiness." --Thomas Jefferson: Reply to
Ellicot Thomas, et al., 1807. ME 16:290
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