{"id":4130,"date":"2013-08-09T12:27:17","date_gmt":"2013-08-09T16:27:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/?p=4130"},"modified":"2013-08-09T16:16:50","modified_gmt":"2013-08-09T20:16:50","slug":"evangelicals-not-united-immigration-reform-kelly-monroe-kullberg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2013\/08\/09\/evangelicals-not-united-immigration-reform-kelly-monroe-kullberg\/","title":{"rendered":"No, Evangelicals Are Not United on Immigration Reform"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The Rev. Michael Wilker \u2014 who hosted 300 evangelical leaders at his Church of the Reformation, very close to the capitol in Washington DC, for an Evangelical Immigration Table Day of Action \u2014 published an op ed<\/a> in the Washington Post where he reiterated these words from the gathering:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are announcing the Gospel that welcomes the stranger and we will denounce those that block immigration reform.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019ve not taken a position on the current immigration reform efforts, but an honest observer on either side of the issue has to admit that\u2019s a nifty manipulation of religious language, a deft slide from the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a denunciation of those who raise questions about a specific legislative effort. \u00a0I don\u2019t know who spoke those words, and it\u2019s been difficult throughout this entire evangelical immigration reform campaign to tell the difference between the Evangelical Immigration Table and the way it\u2019s spun and promoted in liberal media. \u00a0But Rev. Wilker goes on to write: \u201cChristians \u2014 evangelicals, Roman Catholics and mainline \u2014 are united and urgently calling for immigration reform that preserves families from detentions, deportations, and other forms of separation. \u00a0We stand together, with our allies of many faiths, for reform that includes a roadmap to earned citizenship for 11 million aspiring new Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

And yet\u2026well, Christians aren\u2019t exactly united on this, are they? \u00a0Or at least, if they\u2019re united in their shared conviction that all immigrants are created in the image of God and deserving of compassion and justice, they\u2019re not united on what exactly this means\u00a0legally<\/em> and\u00a0legislatively<\/em>. \u00a0I personally would like to see \u201ca roadmap to earned citizenship,\u201d but I\u2019m not sure categorically \u201cdenouncing\u201d those who feel differently is right.<\/p>\n

In any case,\u00a0Michael Patrick Leahy wrote about this<\/a> at Breitbart and invited other evangelicals to respond. \u00a0I\u2019ve been publishing a series of essays (the latest one here<\/a>) from the Evangelical Immigration Table, and I too invited other opinions. \u00a0Well, Kelly Monroe Kullberg, founder of the Veritas Forum, author of the bestselling\u00a0Finding God at Harvard<\/em>, and acting president of Christians for a Sustainable Economy, has been quite vocal in her criticism of the EIT. \u00a0She shared an email I am posting below. \u00a0As always, guest posters\u2019 opinions are their own (I differ from Kelly on some points), and bear in mind that I am posting this alongside no fewer than three essays supporting the immigration reform effort.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

<\/a>From Kelly Monroe-Kullberg:<\/p>\n

Christians agree on the call to love, but at times they disagree on the nature and implications of love and kindness. \u00a0God invites all of us to be citizens in his kingdom wherever we happen to find ourselves on this curious blue planet. \u00a0But he also places us in families, tribes and nations, and gives us biblical wisdom about shaping a thriving culture. \u00a0Like gardening, growing a culture requires discernment and vision.<\/p>\n

Nowhere in Scripture do we see blanket asylum, blanket amnesty, or blanket immigration. \u00a0Rather, when we take into account the full counsel of scripture, and not merely convenient selections, what we find are both\u00a0welcome<\/em> and\u00a0walls<\/em>. \u00a0The people of God extend welcome to a well-meaning Ruth or Rahab (the sojourner, or ger<\/em> in Hebrew, is something like a convert, someone who comes lawfully, as blessing) \u2014 but the scriptures also show Nehemiah leading his nation in the building of walls to cultivate the good and to set themselves apart from the ways of the \u201cforeigner\u201d (the nekhar<\/em> or zar<\/em>) who does not respect the laws, customs and values of the country visited. \u00a0Any culture is unwise to embrace incompatible values, as economist Thomas Sowell often reminds us in his writings, and yet sections in this bill will ease asylum even for America\u2019s enemies (see Sections 3401, 3502, 3504 for example). \u00a0Yes, we should care for the stranger, but we should also care for those who are struggling and suffering in our midst already, and for the enduring sustainability of our economy and our culture if it is going to continue to be a force for good.<\/p>\n

But the point here is not merely that the \u201cGang of Eight\u201d immigration bill does not reflect balanced biblical teaching\u00a0(for more, see our EBI letter here<\/a>). \u00a0The point is that the behavior and tactics of the \u201cevangelical leaders\u201d who have promoted the Evangelical Immigration Table as a united evangelical front in favor of the current immigration reform effort has been deceptive and manipulative. \u00a0If I\u2019m wrong, I\u2019ll be the first to throw a party.<\/p>\n

Consider the process.<\/p>\n

This Spring, I was one of the \u201cevangelical leaders\u201d who received a message from Carl Ruby of the National Immigration Forum (NIF). \u00a0It invited us to click one button to endorse a set of principles. \u00a0The principles were simple, such as God\u2019s love for all people, including immigrants. \u00a0Yes, of course God loves all people. \u00a0I agreed with most of the principles, but I was skeptical of the process. \u00a0A healthy dose of skepticism seems wise in this case, since atheist globalist and open border advocate George Soros (of the Open Society Institute) is the largest donor to the NIF, and the NIF for years has spun out amnesty and open border projects. \u00a0I knew too that Soros has funded longstanding efforts through Jim Wallis and Sojourners to engage in \u201cmessaging and mobilizing\u201d around issues like immigration reform, and I had observed that Wallis (not coincidentally) helps Carl Ruby and others campaign for immigration reform through poaching Bible verses and presenting a partial view of the whole counsel of Scripture.<\/p>\n

So I wasn\u2019t surprised when, on May 2nd, an\u00a0ad hoc<\/em>\u00a0group called the Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT) sent a letter to Congress falsely representing the \u201c170 evangelical leaders\u201d who had clicked a button endorsing a set of general principles as though they endorsed the 1000-plus page Gang of Eight bill (S. 744). \u00a0In context, it was abundantly clear that the letter was intended to boost the passage of S. 744, even though the \u201c170 evangelical leaders\u201d had agreed to no such thing.<\/p>\n

So I asked a few friends who were listed among the 170 whether they knew that they had been enlisted in endorsing a bill. \u00a0No<\/em>, they said, we had no idea<\/em>. \u00a0Have you read the bill? \u00a0What bill?<\/em> some asked. \u00a0Did you know that George Soros stood behind the NIF, which stands behind the EIT? \u00a0No, no one told us that<\/em>. \u00a0Did you know that sections of the bill make asylum easier for people like the Boston Marathon bombers? \u00a0No, we didn\u2019t know that<\/em>. \u00a0Have you seen the 30-year net economic projections on what this bill would imply for American economic sustainability? \u00a0No.<\/em><\/p>\n

You get the drift. \u00a0Eric Metaxas, author of the great Bonhoeffer biography, was one of the leaders to visibly part from the EIT.<\/p>\n

And now those of us who question the bill and question the tactics with which it has been advanced are being denounced. \u00a0It would be comical if it were not so tragic. \u00a0I wonder if rebuke belongs more to those who design such a campaign in the name of God.<\/p>\n

Perhaps this could be a soul-searching moment to those who\u00a0align with the likes of Soros without studying his tactics and his goals. \u00a0It\u2019s good to take a stand for what\u2019s on God\u2019s heart and mind, but we must do so with discernment. \u00a0We cannot allow our names to be used without asking questions about the men behind the curtain. \u00a0Soros\u00a0and his allies have an interest in border and culture manipulation \u2014 not in the Bible, American sustainability, or the Church. \u00a0For decades, Soros\u2019s team has weakened Judeo-Christian cultures by funding anti-Christian policies such as pansexuality, abortion, and the legalization of prostitution and drugs. \u00a0They were among the first funders of Obama\u2019s campaigns for Senate and President, and they fund ACORN,\u00a0Al Franken,\u00a0Van Jones, the Center for American Progress (Obama\u2019s policy tank), La Raza, and many efforts to weaken borders and escalate debt. \u00a0Soros profits from chaos. \u00a0Perhaps we should pay attention?<\/p>\n

I would suggest that the EIT signers take their names off the EIT website until they\u2019ve considered the whole counsel of Scripture and read the 1,200-page \u201cGang of Eight\u201d bill, which is full of ambiguities and problems as well as some good ideas like securing borders. \u00a0(Of course this won\u2019t happen because few have the time to read this, or to circle back to the EIT. \u00a0All we were asked to do was to click one button).<\/p>\n

With the full weight of Obamacare falling upon us soon, the last assault that beleaguered Americans need is another massive, mysterious tome of legislation that we have \u201cto pass in order to know what\u2019s in it.\u201d \u00a0God loves us all, and the Bible does not teach such folly, such unkindness. \u00a0This is a time for extreme wakefulness, wisdom and leadership.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Rev. Michael Wilker \u2014 who hosted 300 evangelical leaders at his Church of the Reformation, very close to the capitol in Washington DC, for an Evangelical Immigration Table Day of Action \u2014 published an op ed in the Washington Post where he reiterated these words from the gathering: \u201cWe are announcing the Gospel that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":4131,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[178,23,1264,371],"tags":[177,1353,1265,606,607,1206,244,1363],"class_list":["post-4130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-evangelicalism","category-illegal-immigration","category-immigration-2","category-social-justice","tag-evangelical-politics","tag-evangelicalism","tag-george-soros","tag-illegal-immigration-2","tag-immigration","tag-immigration-reform-2","tag-jim-wallis","tag-social-justice"],"yoast_head":"\nNo, Evangelicals Are Not United on Immigration Reform - Philosophical Fragments<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Rev. 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The son and grandson of ministers, as a young boy he spent far too many hours each night staring at the ceiling and pondering the afterlife. \u00a0 In all his work he seeks a better understanding of why people do, and do not, come to faith, and researches and teaches in religion and science, faith and reason, theology and philosophy, the origins of atheism, Christology, and the religious transformations of suffering\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/author\/tdalrymple\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"No, Evangelicals Are Not United on Immigration Reform - Philosophical Fragments","description":"The Rev. 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