Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Politics and Religion
Was Jesus a refugee? It doesn’t frickin’ matter

Was Jesus a refugee? It doesn’t frickin’ matter

Last updated on: December 26, 2019 at 5:57 pm by Jane the Actuary

Was Jesus a refugee? It doesn’t frickin’ matter 2019-12-26T17:57:38-06:00 Jane the Actuary

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

By Rebecca Harms from Wendland, Germany (Ungarn September 2015) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Imagine this dystopian scenario, if you will:

Puerto Rico negotiates a status which is even more autonomous than its current “commonwealth-ness” but not quite that of an independent country. (Let’s say the territory wanted to get itself out of the Jones Act restrictions that increase the cost of goods shipped onto the island.) Then, the country’s government becomes less respecting of civil rights and, because of the semi-autonomous status we’ve granted it, the federal government considers itself unable to intervene.

Then let’s add in a dollup of sci-fi, for instance, the episode from The Orville in which they find themselves on a planet where an extreme form of astrology lands every child born during a month corresponding to a certain astrological sign into a concentration camp.

Should we in the United States welcome the unluckily-born ones from Puerto Rico? Duh. Would it matter whether they were “refugees” or merely “internally displaced”? No, of course not.

Does that have any bearing on whether the United States should open its borders to immigrants from overseas who have crossed through country after country on their way here, who are seeking economic prosperity rather than preservation of life and limb, and in cases where the peril that the would-be immigrants face is not so clear-cut, or could be avoided by leaving for a different region in their own country? What’s more, does a receiving country have an obligation to permanently resettle those who are deemed to be “true refugees” or merely to provide for their material needs until such time as they can return to their home country?

This is a matter of prudential judgment, and even the Pope admits that the call to “welcome the stranger” may be appropriately be balanced with the need to watch for the well-being of the people of the receiving country.

And none of this is altered by the answer to the question of “were the Holy Family refugees?”

Joseph was warned by an angel to leave Bethlehem for Egypt, leaving one part of the Roman Empire for another, just as he had previously moved from Bethlehem to Nazareth and back again. Was Egypt sufficiently separately-governed as to count as a “separate country” and to give the family the label “refugee”? Did they arrive in Egypt bedraggled and in need of charitable support? Was Joseph unable to speak the local language and need translation services? Or did his carpentry expertise and the cultural and linguistic ties mean that he was able to easily integrate himself into the local community?

Likewise, was the Holy Family poor? We have precious little evidence; pretty much all we know was that they offered two pigeons rather than a lamb for Mary’s purification at the temple. But I’m not seeing anything online that explains what the income cut-off is below which a family was considered poor enough not to offer a lamb — especially under such circumstances as having travelled recently and perhaps being short of cash. Did only the poorest of the poor offer the pigeons? Did only the wealthy offer lambs? If there’s a consensus, it’s not easily findable?

Other than that, it’s now become routine to find at this time of year explanations that the narrative of the Holy Family being turned away from house after house (or hotel after hotel) is charming but not in line with what 1st century Judea would have looked like, with “the inn” really being “guest room” and “manger” meaning that they would have slept in the “still a part of the house” barn (which is, incidentally, what you’d see if you visited a German open-air museum). And one might make a case for “Jesus was born into poverty” in the sense that pretty much everyone except landowners and tax collectors in this backwater province of the Roman Empire were poor, but that doesn’t really matter.

So again: “Jesus was a poor refugee.”

Should we help the poor? Should we aid refugees?

On the one hand, duh. Of course, we should.

But at the same time, many of Jesus’s followers expected a literal liberation from the Roman oppressors and were disillusioned when it became clear that he was not going to do that, that he was not going to use his divine power to shatter Roman rule in one stroke, or to lead an army into battle.

And it seems to me that altogether too many people are making the same mistake in 2019, by claiming that Jesus’s message was one of social justice and banding together to fight against oppression, perhaps not violently attempting to overthrow an unjust regime, but focused on the battle against oppression nonetheless, rather than a call to personal repentance. It’s not a prosperity gospel of “God wants you to be rich,” per se, but it still doesn’t sit right with me.

So that’s my “2nd day of Christmas” rant.

Oh, and Merry Christmas!

Uncategorized

Christmas

Previous Post

December 17, 2019

Some thoughts on Uber, Shipt, the Gig Economy, and the Employee vs. Contractor debate

Next Post

December 29, 2019 Is anti-Hasidism more acceptable than antisemitism?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Actuarial/Retirement Issues Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 December 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 August 2021 June 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In Revelation, how many elders sit on thrones around God's throne?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Twelve Twenty-four Seventy Seven