Jonathan Merritt on the Syrian Refugee Issue

[Lou]

Jonathan Merritt makes some salient points about how many evangelicals are running away from, rather than toward, the Scripture on this one. The money quote is the first sentence in the article:

"When I talk to conservative Christians about their stance on a hot button issue like abortion or gay marriage, they usually quote the Bible. But when I’ve spoken to them about admitting Syrian refugees, almost none of them do."

[William Thornton]

Merritt repeats points I read from conservative SBCers. There is a division among folks in my circle on this issue. I don't think it is Merritt's best stuff...rather tendentious.

Here is Baptist Press' article on the issue:

Religious liberals have their own difficulties on the matter of immigration, what with the sanctuary city nonsense.

The right path forward is somewhere in between the isolationist xenophobes and the 'fling open the borders' crowd.

In regard to the millions of displaced Syrians, we doggone sure ought to take in many of these and do what we can to help the vast majority of them who are still in the middle east. As far as US security, Syrian Christians, Kurds, and Shia Muslims should not present a great problem in being vetted.

[Lou]

William, I find very little with which to disagree in either your reply or the BP article you linked (other than, perhaps, your faulting Merritt for being tendentious--I can't imagine anyone opining on this or any other topic of interest without beginning with a certain agenda in mind).

I especially appreciate the distinction made between the government's role and the church's and individual Christian's role in this situation, as this is something I've discussed (actually, 'argued' would be the more accurate word) with friends & family. I think that our fear over the government not performing due diligence to keep us safe is making (some of) us unwilling to engage our own part of the equation.

At the risk of over-simplifying, I've created this 3-part maxim:

(1) Christians are called to show the love and compassion of Christ to the helpless and hurting, to the stranger and the refugee.
(2) It is the government's job to protect us and keep us safe.
(3) If the government fails to do its job to keep us safe, see (1) above.

[Tim Bonney]

[Sandy]

[Stephen Fox]

Couple bullet points.

Good Boston College proff today on NPR Here and Now adding some sanity to the anti-Obama xenophobes on this matter.

2. Just a matter of time before Jonathan Merritt joins a CBF Alliance or Episcopal congregation if he hasn't already.

3. I would be surprised to see a nation story on Ted Cruz connections to 2nd Baptist Houston and likely Jim Deloach framed in the Boston College Proff chat today. Cruz is near as close a radical fundamentalist; may have more in common with a radical Islamist headset than he does with a moderate Moslem.

On the whole Thornton is still playing too much a xenohphobe card re the immigration vetting issue

5. Rus Moore and SBC hierarchy, past due for them to begin to monitor influential religious right Baptist radio in Bama including Rick and Bubba and Crawford Broadcasting who are getting close to Father Coughlin of the 30's with their poison and vitriol. They both have a working relationship with Brook Hill Baptist where IMB head came from. and Rick and Bubba speak at a Babdiss church almost every weekend in Bama and Mississippi

[Haruo]

[ET]

[Tim Bonney]

The latest from The Donald is that he wants to register all Muslims.

99% of the time you compare someone's actions to Hitler on the internet that is considered "jumping the shark." But now that The Donald wants to register Muslims, yes the same thing Hitler did with Jews in Germany, it is no longer possible to jump the shark with Trump.

Can my Republican friends please do something and nominate someone else, anyone else, please!!

[KeithE]

[Sandy]

[Lou]

Here is some very interesting information posted on the Facebook page of a guy who is an attorney specializing in immigration law. (The privacy setting on that post is set to Public, so you should be able to access it even if you don't have a Facebook account.) In that post he tries to clear up some misconceptions about how the refugee resettlement program actually works, and a rundown of the vetting process that all refugees have to clear.

One eye-opener for me was his statement that refugees do not get to choose the country of their resettlement. From his 4th paragraph: "If you already have family (legal) in a country, that makes it more likely that you will go there to be with family, but other than that it is random. So, you can not simply walk into a refugee camp, show a document, and say, I want to go to America."



**EDIT**: As of my most recent check, the link is no longer active. The attorney might have changed the privacy setting for that post, or taken it down. In any case, it's now unavailable. Too bad, it was a great read.

[KeithE]

[Haruo]

[KeithE]

[Dave Roberts]

How utterly ludicrous that someone running for his or her life is looking for a paid vacation. I can't even justify an answer for such an assumption.

[KeithE]

[Lou]

[Sandy]

[KeithE]

[KeithE]

[Sandy]

ET's understanding of a sanctuary city is that they just welcome everyone, care nothing about security risks, and have a good ole fashioned hand clapping time over the warm fuzzies. I lived in one for quite a while. It's not the way conservatives portray it.

[Stephen Fox]

of Johnson's Ferry BC in Marietta Ga, a former prez of SBC and tight with Harry Dent's daughter Ginny from their days in Columbia SC is urging his church to sponsor a refugee family as is Lester Maddox nephew Baxter Wynn at FBC Greenville, SC