The ends cannot justify the means, because, for Christians, there is no "end." It doesn't matter what the "right" goal or outcome from a particular policy might be, if it's abusive or un-loving or harmful to peace, it's wrong. "We can't get to ________ without _________" is not a valid argument for doing the wrong thing.
I'm pretty sure I've written about this very thing recently, but I can't find it, so I assume it would be hard for you to track down as well. The idea that we have some obligation to offer alternatives for what the government is doing just flies in the face of Christian action. We're taught and trained to be "citizens" of the US from an early age - most of the time in ways we don't recognize. One of them, though, is this obligation we feel to provide a government solution to everything.
We must have an opinion not just on immigration or gun control or taxes, but on how the government can regulate these things within the Constitution. Why? Why do we feel that obligation? We're not elected officials? We don't have to pass laws or defend them in court? We feel an obligation because we've bought into the American narrative of democracy. A good Libertarian will always tell you, the US isn't actually a Democracy, but a Republic - which means we elect people to speak for us, rather than actually speaking for ourselves. We're not actually part of the process, as much as the narrative says otherwise. The only thing that keeps a Republic from becoming an Oligarchy is the consent of the people.
Outside of that, though, why does the government response to anything dictate our understanding of it. I believe people deserve healthcare and education and a warm place to sleep and nutritious food and meaningful work. I don't have to provide some blueprint for the US government to provide those things (if it even ever could), because politics is more than elections and laws. Politics is the way a society functions, the way people engage with each other. It encompasses everything. Yes, laws and government are part of that, but they are not "politics." Politics is much bigger.
The Bible is pretty clear that there's no special treatment for God's people - the "us" and the "them" are one and the same, in our attitudes and actions, at the very least. There is no argument from citizenship or safety in the Church of Jesus Christ, because citizenship in God's Kingdom doesn't come with any special rights or privileges; there is no promise of safety (in fact, actually a promise of the exact opposite).
I get that not everyone is a Christian and that citizens of the United States have different rights and expectations. I know no earthly government can or will operate on a Christian perspective. I would never argue for such a thing. Just because not everything a government does is inherently evil, though, doesn't mean, however, that Christians should compromise their beliefs or principles to accommodate or participate in the empires of the world. A "Christian nation" is just a myth and we've got to put myths to bed - you can't play both sides.
Immigration is only complicated if you're working from a Constitution or the electoral realities of a nation state. If you're a Christian, those things are quite simple. The problem only arises when you try to hold them together. Christians should have already made a choice - if you haven't, now's the time.
Applaud the good done by the nations of the world, oppose the bad; there is no obligation to offer a compromise - indeed, a compromise does not exist.
2 comments:
Well said. Thanks!
The problem is that immigration IS complicated, even for Christians. And it's not complicated because Christians worship the state. I mean, some Christians do worship the state, and that's wrong. But that's not what makes immigration complicated.
Our relation to the state is similar to our relation to our families. We don't choose our parents or our homeland. But we have them just the same. Stating that we are a part of God's family doesn't resolve every issue that arises within our families. And stating that we are a part of God's nation doesn't resolve every issue that arises within our earthly nations.
Isn't it complicated when Jesus says that we must hate our fathers and our mothers while also saying that we must honor them? What does he mean? Clearly there are some nuances and meanings here that must be reasoned out. It won't do to just say we must hate our mothers because that's what Jesus said. When mom tells us to eat our veggies we can't just say, "I hate you mom. I'm a part of God's family. And there's freedom in God's family to eat or not eat veggies."
We are definitely taught to be citizens form a young age. But we also ARE citizens from a young age. In the same way we are taught to be children of our earthly family from a young age, and we also ARE children of our earthly family from a young age. To borrow from Chesterton, we respond differently when we hear that a woman has cancer than we would if we heard that that woman was our mother. It is the same response for our nation. We may feel a kind of anxiety when we hear that Russian troops are on the border of Ukraine. But we would feel entirely differently if they were on the border of Montana.
For whatever reason, humans are divided into different groups. God himself created our families and split us as a people at Babel. And even though he brings us together into his great kingdom as one family and one nation, we still live within these strictures in this lifetime.
There are many things that seem like they should be simple for Christians, but are actually pretty complicated. And they aren't complicated because Christians are committed to some kind of idolatry or another. Have you ever given to a beggar? Jesus commands us to do so. Did you consider how that man may spend the money you gave him? Is he an alcoholic? What if you knew he was? What do you do when he asks you for money? Is it complicated? Is it complicated because you are committed to some kind of financial idolatry? No. It would be wrong to say that "If you're a Christian, those things are quite simple." They are only simple if you choose to ignore the things that make them complicated.
I understand you are committed to doing what is right. But doing right isn't as straightforward as you make it out to be.
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