Lopez: How America's churches are harboring criminals (A Promiscuous Love)

NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE ^ | 3/15/2006 | Kathryn Jean Lopez, NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE

[GarySpFc]

On the corner of a busy road in a New York City suburb recently, I noticed a sign outside a small Christian church welcoming day laborers — an apt image for the state of immigration in the United States today.

The day laborers the church is welcoming are, most likely, illegal immigrants. We all know they're here and you may, like the churchmen, also know where. You may be one. You may employ one. You may even pass a group of illegal immigrants waiting for a day job on the way to your own job. Needless to say many illegal immigrants are good people just like you and me (in many cases just trying to care for their families) except for a problem that can't be overlooked: They're in the United States illegally.

While attending a meeting of some 30 pastors of independent Christian churches in Southern California, writer Christine A. Scheller of "Christianity Today" was told by one of the pastors that not only is his congregation 50-percent illegal, but that among the group assembled, "We have a lot of pastors who are illegal." The attitude Scheller encountered among pastors was almost completely accommodating to lawbreaking. A former Texas pastor actually compared churches providing a safe haven to illegal immigrants to the Jewish asylums of World War II. The analogy is ludicrous on more than one level. For one: If enforcement of immigration laws were a priority in the United States, the aforementioned church sign would not be so transparent and unapologetic. If government were actually policing immigration, that sign would be read as: "Policia, aqui!"

Read the rest of the article at: Lopez: How America's churches are harboring criminals

[GarySpFc]

Let me show you Leviticus 19:34 in several passages and lexicons, and then maybe you will catch the correct shade of meaning for these passages.

‘When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. 34 The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God. ‘The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Le 19:33-34). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

‘Do not mistreat foreigners living in your country, 34 but treat them just as you treat your own citizens. Love foreigners as you love yourselves, because you were foreigners one time in Egypt. I am the LORD your God. The Everyday Bible : New Century Version. 2005 (Le 19:33-34). Nashville, TN.: Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Now a version which shows a slightly different reading:

And if a stranger dwells temporarily with you in your land, you shall not suppress and mistreat him.
34 But the stranger who dwells with you shall be to you as one born among you; and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. Amplified Bible

“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 jYou shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. ESV

sojourner, temporary dweller, new-comer (no inherited rights), cf. Ex 12:19 Lv 24:16 Nu 15:30 Jos 8:33 (opp. homeborn); of Abraham at Hebron Gn 23:4
Brown, F., Driver, S. R., & Briggs, C. A. (2000). Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon.

Sojourner is a man who (alone or with his family) leaves village and tribe because of war 2S 43 Is 164, famine Ru 11, epidemic, blood guilt etc. and seeks shelter and residence at another place, where his right of landed property, marriage and taking part in jurisdiction, cult and war has been curtailed,
The Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon of the Old Testament. Volumes 1-4 combined in one electronic edition. (electronic ed.). Leiden; New York: E.J. Brill.

The meaning of the passages is to help the traveler just as if he is a native. However, he is a temporary traveler (sojourner) in the land, and does not acquire all the rights of the native.

[Raycpa]

However, he is a temporary traveler (sojourner) in the land, and does not acquire all the rights of the native.

Two questions.

1) How does this differ with the status of the illegal alien? He doesn't have full rights. Did Mosaic law call for throwing them out? Did long term aliens get treated differently? When God gave his reasoning for treating aliens well, that the Hebrews were once aliens in Egypt they were there longer than "temporary"was God exaggerating and he should have qualified it as being only nice to temporary aliens ?

2) If the rules in Lev are only for "temporary" aliens, what rules are there for the "long term" alien or is this a distinction without a difference? Along similar lines, their are rules for aliens marrying, isn't there-wouldn't that contradict a solely temporary interpretation?

Also, please address the implications of "who is your neighbor/Samaritans etc" of the NT ?

[GarySpFc]

Firstly, I want to be perfectly clear that we are to love the sojourner as our own people. That is not up for discussion.

I have reviewed many sources, and attempted to carefully seek the Lord's will on this issue. The best source I have found to date is The Anchor Bible Dictionary from which the following is taken, and reprinted with permission. Please note the sojourner was expected to obey the law, and I hope I do not have to bring up the penalities for disobedience. I hope this answers your questions.

SOJOURNER [Heb gēr (גֵּר); Gk paroikos (παροικος)]. A foreigner who is traveling through a land or one who has taken up residence in that land. The key is that the sojourner has no familial or tribal affiliation with those among whom he or she is traveling or living.
The Hebrew word derives from the root gwr. It is a common Afrasian root which appears in Egyptian and in the Semitic languages Phoenician, Ugaritic, Old South Arabic and Aramaic as well as Hebrew. In all of these languages, the meaning is generally agreed upon. The nominal form of the root applies to someone who is not native to the area, and the verbal form means “to travel,” “to sojourn,” or “to stay in a foreign territory.” However, there is some variation in the way lexicographers have tried to capture the meaning of gēr, and suggestions have included “sojourner,” “foreign resident,” “stranger,” “foreigner,” “immigrant,” “client,” and “resident alien.” Sojourner is used most often because it conveys the idea that the individual is not a permanent member of the community in which he or she lives. The term client is frequently employed to indicate that the individual does not have full rights within a community and thus is dependent on a patron for protection.

:::snip:::

In biblical texts the term gēr is used in two basic ways: to describe the experiences of the Israelites themselves when they are living among foreigners; and to describe those non-Israelites who live among the Israelites. However, this distinction becomes confused when the claim is made that the Levites are gērı̂m (sojourners) among the Israelites. In all of these cases, there are certain expectations of both the native population and the sojourners.
In a number of places, Israelites are said to sojourn in a land. Abraham, because of a famine in Palestine, sojourned in Egypt (Gen 12:10), and, in one version of the “sister–wife” story, Abraham sojourns in Gerar (Gen 20:1). Apparently Lot’s criticism of the men of Sodom is seen as a violation of his role as sojourner (Gen 19:6–9). It appears that because of his status as sojourner, Abraham must make a specific request for permission to purchase land from the Hittites in Canaan in order to have a place to bury Sarah (Gen 23:4). In another version of the “sister–wife” story, Isaac is a sojourner in Gerar and is protected by Abimelech (Gen 26:3, 11). Gen 32:4 indicates that Isaac sojourned with Laban; Gen 36:6–7 tells of Jacob and Esau sojourning in the Canaan; and Gen 47:4 reports that Joseph and his brothers requested permission of the Pharaoh to sojourn in the land of Goshen. When the Israelites finally settled in Canaan, it was in the land of their sojourning, which God had promised to them (Gen 17:7; Exod 6:4). This understanding of the Patriarchs as sojourners is also found outside of the Pentateuch (cf. Ps 39:13—Eng 39:12; 105:12; 1 Chr 29:15).
The second way in which “sojourn” is employed is to describe foreigners who live among the Israelites. Often these foreigners are subject to the same laws as the Israelites (Exod 12:49; Num 15:16). Thus, the sojourner shall observe the day of atonement (Lev 16:29) and Passover (Num 9:14); shall refrain from consuming blood (Lev 17:10); shall not blaspheme the name of Yahweh (Lev 24:16); shall observe the statutes relative to the ashes of the red heifer (Lev 19:10); and shall receive equal treatment under the law (Deut 24:14). Only occasionally is there a law which makes a distinction between Israelite and sojourner (cf. Deut 14:21). The reason given for this equal treatment is that Israel was once a sojourner in the land of Egypt (Exod 23:9; Lev 19:33–34; Deut 10:19; 16:9–12).
While equal treatment for the sojourner is the norm, it is clear that the sojourner does not enjoy the same social status as that of the Israelite. This realization emerges initially when one sees the way in which the sojourner has to be singled out in biblical legislation. The sojourner is not a full member of Israelite society but someone of different and lower status. The same perspective appears when one looks at the reference to the sojourner in the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:10). The sojourner is listed after sons, daughters, servants, and cattle. This secondary status can be seen in that the most frequent context in which the “foreigners” are mentioned includes mention of widows, orphans, and the poor (Lev 23:22; Deut 10:18; 24:17, 19; Jer 7:6; 22:3; Ezek 22:7, 29; Zech 7:10; Ps 94:6; 146:9). Widows, orphans, and the poor are to receive special consideration by the Israelites because of their lack of means of support, and so too are the sojourners.
So, like the widow and the orphan, the sojourner is in a distinct social class, part of a group which requires special care and protection. The Israelites are expected to provide this care and protection for these foreigners who live among them, because they too were once foreigners sojourning in a strange land. As is stated in Leviticus 19:34, “The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am Yahweh your God.”
In the NT (and in the LXX) the Greek word paroikos is used to translate the Hebrew gēr and to convey the idea of a sojourner or resident alien. It appears only four times in the NT. In StephenÂ’s speech in Acts 7, he uses the word to refer to AbrahamÂ’s time as a sojourner (v 6) and MosesÂ’ sojourning in Midian (v 29). In Ephesians 2:19 the writer states that those who join the “household of God” will no longer be sojourners. In 1 Peter 2:11 the writer beseeches the sojourners “to abstain from the passions of the flesh.” These usages are consistent with those of the Hebrew Bible which see gēr as a sojourner in a foreign land.

[freedumb2003]

Attributing specious nonsense to Jesus in order to make a sarcastic point is vile

1. Are you saying Jesus suppoted law-breaking?

2. Supporting an illegal invasion of our country through the use of religion is treason.

[Raycpa]

Based on what you copied, how is it possible to justify throwing them out?

[GarySpFc]

They have forfeited their right to be sojourners in the area once they violated the laws of this society. There is simply no way to get around that, unless the love you espouse is based on feelings and not truth. True love is based on truth.