Biblical Justifications

Somewhere long ago I read the words, “Laws do not change men’s hearts.”  Just recently the Attorney General, Jeff Sessions,  now also chief theologian of the Trump administration, quoted a passage of scripture to support the policy of separating immigrant children from their families as a deterrent to future immigrants.  “I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order,” the chief theologian said.  “Orderly and lawful processes are good in themselves and protect the weak and lawful.”  Later on, the Trump administration’s chief theologian’s statement was confirmed and affirmed by White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, now professor of New Testament Exegesis (the task of exegesis is to understand the divine-human intention locked within the biblical text), who said, “It is very biblical to enforce the law.”  The passage read by Sessions was Romans 13:1-2.  Taking a passage out of the Bible (and out of historical and literary context)  to prove a point is called “proof texting” and has been used “religiously” by the religious for centuries!  Such a practice distorts the biblical message.  The first two verses of the 13th chapter of Romans used by Mr. Sessions to support the administration’s policy, for example, did not include verse ten of the same chapter, which suggests that laws (those commandments prohibiting killing, stealing, adultery, and coveting) “are all summed up in the one rule, ‘Love your neighbor.’  Love cannot wrong a neighbor; therefore the whole law is summed up in love.”  Curious enough, it was comedian Stephen Colbert who reminded the White House chief theologian and the professor of New Testament Exegesis of this verse 10!

Romans 13:1-2 was quoted by loyalists who urged the American colonists to obey King George III of England instead of resisting.  The resisters used the same passage to suggest that Paul was not referring to despotic rulers like George!  The passage was cited as a support for the Fugitive Slave Act, thereby making slavery lawful because runaway slaves were to be forcibly returned to their owners in the South.  It was cited by both priests, ministers, and politicians in the 1960’s during the Viet Nam War protests and during the Civil Rights Movement under Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  You can use biblical proof-texts to prove, confirm and affirm anything you are of a mind to prove, confirm and affirm—but by so doing you will be distorting the biblical message.

Laws do not change men’s hearts.  We have passed many laws about equal rights, and yet many have found ways to circumvent the laws.  We have passed laws about voting rights, but politicians have used gerrymandering to abridge those laws.  We have laws galore—some are good and just; some are bad and unjust—and while the law may help bridge societal and governmental gaps, they do not change men’s hearts.  What does change a man’s heart, I wonder?