Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the White House on Thursday cited the Bible as justification for the Trump administration’s policy of forcibly separating children from their parents if they cross the southern border illegally.
“Illegal entry into the United States is a crime — as it should be. Persons who violate the law of our nation are subject to prosecution,” Sessions said at a meeting in Fort Wayne, Ind., where he spoke about President Trump’s hardline immigration stance.
“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 them for the purpose of order,” Sessions said, according to video of the address on PBS.
Sessions threw the Good Book back at religious leaders who a day earlier had called the policy “inhumane” and “immoral.”
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Galveston-Houston diocese in Texas on Wednesday told the US Conference of Catholic Bishops that separating mothers from their children was “immoral.”
Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of the Boston diocese added it was “harmful” and “unjust.”
But Sessions remained unapologetic — and the White House later backed him up, with spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a mother and evangelical Christian, telling reporters that the Bible tells people not to break the law.
“Our policies that can result in short-term separation of families is not unusual or unjustified. American citizens that are jailed do not take their children to jail with them,” Sessions said in Indiana.
“And non-citizens who cross our borders unlawfully — between our ports of entry — with children are not an exception. They are the ones who broke the law; they are the ones who endangered their own children on their trek.”
Meanwhile, House Speaker Paul Ryan said earlier that he opposed the administration’s policy.
“We don’t want kids to be separated from their parents,” he said, but added that the policy was being dictated by a court ruling and that legislation was needed to fix the problem.
The court decision he referred to was a 1997 agreement called the Flores settlement, which required that the feds in many cases release immigrant children in their custody.
The settlement does not require the government to separate families who arrive together, and previous administrations did not interpret it that way.
But Trump and Sessions, an immigration hardliner, have declared a “zero tolerance” policy on illegal immigration and ordered that kids be taken from their parents as a deterrent that was supposed to scare migrant families from attempting to enter the US.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi slammed Trump’s policy as “barbaric” and said the administration should “stop the practice on a dime.”
Separating families as parents are being detained “is not what America is, but this is the policy of the Trump administration,” she said.
“What is it that they don’t get about how stupid, and wrong and immoral” the policy is, she said.
“This is not normal. It’s barbaric. It has to stop. I don’t know why there aren’t uprisings across the country.”
Thousands of children have been ripped away from their parents and sent to detention centers, with many confined to massive tents on military bases.
#1: Deckard To: All (#0)
Hitler And The Nazis' Use Of Romans 13
Deckard posted on 2018-06-14 18:27:38 Reply Private Reply
#2: GrandIsland To: Deckard (#1)
Shut your libtard shat flaps.
GrandIsland posted on 2018-06-14 19:19:33 Reply Private Reply
#3: Stoner To: GrandIsland (#2)
Agree completely !!!!!
Stoner posted on 2018-06-14 20:12:25 Reply Private Reply
#4: rlk To: Deckard (#0)
rlk posted on 2018-06-14 22:20:10 Reply Private Reply
#5: CZ82 To: Deckard (#0)
Let me guess good old Frankenstein Nancy doesn't realize separating the kids from their parents has been US policy for about 10 years now, and that she probably voted for it??
CZ82 posted on 2018-06-15 06:52:24 Reply Private Reply
#6: Deckard To: CZ82 (#5)
I don't recall her ever misusing a bible quote to justify it.
This really is no different than Bush claiming that God told him to attack Iraq.
Do you not see the danger of government using religion - any religion to justify their actions?
Deckard posted on 2018-06-15 07:10:58 Reply Private Reply
#7: CZ82 To: Deckard (#6)
A lot of politicians do that even though they have no idea where an actual bible may be located or where their local church is, it's all about fooling the rubes.
CZ82 posted on 2018-06-15 07:18:02 Reply Private Reply
#8: Deckard To: CZ82 (#7)
BJ Clinton was an expert at that.
Deckard posted on 2018-06-15 07:30:15 Reply Private Reply
#9: misterwhite To: Deckard (#6)
Misuse? The quote is quite clear.
"13 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves."
misterwhite posted on 2018-06-15 07:48:29 Reply Private Reply
#10: Deckard To: misterwhite (#9)
So...when fed.gov decides to confiscate guns from American citizens, we must obey and give them over?
American colonists rebelled against the British government....you and your ilk would call them criminals.
Deckard posted on 2018-06-15 08:39:30 Reply Private Reply
#11: misterwhite To: Deckard (#10)
We didn't give that power to our federal government. So, no.
misterwhite posted on 2018-06-15 08:43:13 Reply Private Reply
#12: Liberator To: misterwhite, ALL (#9)
YES, EXACTLY. MISUSE. Your quote isn't quite clear because you've omitted the NEXT key verse. NOW Romans 1-3 makes it clear that a "governing authority" which subverts justice is advancing evil, it is NOT legit and does not fall under this "legal" umbrella of God's Word.
Here is the very NEXT line of the text of Romans (1-3) which bring into light a crucial facet of of context:
The actual context: ONLY a righteous government commands obedient to God’s Word is legitimate. NOT governments that are a "terror to good works".
TO REPEAT -- if "governing authoritahs" are rebelling against God and advancing and promoting evil, there is no compulsion or obligation to follow their lead.
In fact it is incumbent upon US to reject an evil government that promotes evil acts because it is CONTRARY to God's Law with respect to "Governing Authorities."
Liberator posted on 2018-06-15 11:08:08 Reply Private Reply
#13: Liberator To: GrandIsland, stoner (#2)
Yeah..and didn't these Third World parasites and criminals send their kids packing into the US alone to begin with??
IF they were so worried about "being together as a family", then why isn't THIS simple point brought up?
Liberator posted on 2018-06-15 11:11:17 Reply Private Reply
#14: Liberator To: rlk (#4)
For those who can't or won't accept that common sense approach, the Bible backs up this rejection of theft and sovereignty by rejecting a gummint that is rebellious, outlaw and promotes evil.
This is an important point because SOME Statists are using Romans 13 to claiming God commands us to obey evil, tyrannical governments.
Liberator posted on 2018-06-15 11:16:31 Reply Private Reply
#15: GrandIsland To: Liberator (#13)
The left has no traction without SYMPATHY... and they won’t get an ounce of that shit from me. Fuck them. Don’t enter illegally, don’t break the fucking law, don’t act like a potato, don’t be a weak pussy... stand up, be self sufficient and obey our laws. Starting with 3rd world brown chalupa assholes.
GrandIsland posted on 2018-06-15 18:18:33 Reply Private Reply