Recently, without intending to, I’m sure, the Attorney General of the United States generated a teaching moment on the improper use of Holy Scripture. He spoke in favor of our government’s policy toward immigrants and asylum-seekers, which included taking young children from their parents and not saying where they were being held.
He sealed his argument by quoting Paul’s Letter to the Romans, chapter 13 verses 1-7, a passage that urges absolute obedience to government authorities because such authorities are put there by God.
Some scholars say these verses may not have been written by the Apostle Paul, but were spliced in later by a copier who wished to uphold the power of Rome. Be that as it may, the verses recite the theory of government in the Roman Empire.
The Roman Emperor was said to be divinely appointed and was designated Son of God. Later, throughout Europe, these verses were used to uphold the divine right of kings to exercise total authority over their subjects.
Our Declaration of Independence is directly opposed to this notion. It appeals to unalienable rights which are ours by birth and cannot be taken away by any authority. The Revolutionary War was fought over that conviction.
So, in quoting from Romans 13, Attorney General Sessions stands with the royalists and King George III in opposition to principles laid out in the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Our Constitution places authority in the will of a free people and holds that one of our unalienable rights is the right to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances. American history is a long argument against those who would deny us this right.
It’s disturbing that our Attorney General appears to claim divine right authority for the policies and actions of the present administration in Washington, thereby contradicting the very Constitution he has pledged to uphold.
Furthermore, the Bible, on the whole, supports migrants looking for new homes, and it condemns plucking children from their families. The Christmas story ends with the Holy Family fleeing to Egypt to escape terror in their homeland. In that telling, ancient Egypt was closer to Biblical teaching than the current United States.
What the Attorney General did is called proof texting. Proof texting does not proceed from Biblical meanings but begins with pre-established positions and finds Bible verses to back them up.
But the Bible is a big book set down by countless hands over many centuries, so you can find a verse or two to back up just about anything you want. Thus, a proof text is a pretext.
Thankfully, many religious groups have condemned our government’s separating children from their parents. Even evangelist Franklin Graham, a staunch supporter of our President, drew the line at this point. He, like most of us preachers, is a frequent proof texter, but, to his credit, he condemned the evil policy the Attorney General espoused.
Yes, tearing children from their parents’ arms is wrong no matter how many Bible verses a powerful government official quotes in an attempt to justify it.
So let’s state a general principle here: quoting scripture to justify cruel policies or harmful actions is fraudulent use of a holy book.
And of this, Mr. Sessions, we find you guilty.
Bob Jones is the former minister of the Guerneville and Monte Rio Community Church.
