Monroe Dispatch - No Struggle, No Progress

U.S. Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, III really put his foot in his mouth recently as he tried to defend President Trump’s immigration problem, by only making it worse. By now, the world is witnessing the kind of depths that conservative leaders are relying on to “Keep America safe” by locking up children who come across the border with their parents/guardians. President Trump has instituted a “zero tolerance” policy at the border with Mexico in an effort to keep out anyone that comes to this nation for valid reasons.

No, they all are not rapists, murderers and drug dealers as Trump had said when he was campaigning. America is not a “crime free” nation, but our way of life is something that those people who are fleeing from other countries, know that there is something better. There was a time when this nation said that people from other nations could make their way here to “live the American dream”. America is an exceptional nation we have been told, blessed as no other nation in the history of man has been blessed. Those words have come from many religious and political leaders alike, as they try to frame America as “God’s country” where freedom rings from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Atty. Gen. Sessions and President Trump seem to be doing all that they can to dash the hopes of people yearning for a better life.

President Trump’s policy on immigration is meant to deter people from coming to America by arresting them “on the spot”, and then to separate the children from their parents. No, the Democrats have nothing to do with Trump’s policy because this is what Trump directed Sessions to do. There are Republicans throughout the nation that don’t approve of what the President is doing, but there are far few of them that will challenge the President. Sessions says that those immigrants are breaking the law by coming across the border illegally. That is not entirely true. Many are seeking asylum according to this nation’s own laws, yet they are arrested and sent to Lord knows where. Nevertheless, it is the spectacle of having children taken from their parents, no matter their age, without hearing from them, or knowing their location. All of this in the name of “making America” safe, rings hollow. However, Sessions pulled his “ace” from his sleeve when he said that people who violate the law should heed the wisdom of Paul the Apostle from Romans 13, to “obey the laws of government”. It’s funny how he didn’t cite more of Romans 13, because the scripture teaches that those that enforce the laws have a deeper responsibility. Those that admonish us to obey the laws of man are not immune to those same laws. Romans 13 teaches us that the “rulers are ministers of God”, who are not to do evil or be a terror to those that do good. Is it not good for parents to provide for their children? Jesus showed us that laws could be amended to do good, as he clearly showed us with the woman caught in the act of adultery.

Sessions and President Trump do not have morality on their minds. This is all about political gain, to keep the base satis ed, many of whom voted for him and read the same scripture. Sessions, being a Sunday school teacher, perhaps should have known better. We can’t expect President Trump to understand biblical scripture, as he quotes scripture less than any president this writer has seen. The Attorney General needs to read Romans 12:1- 2, 13, 15, and Romans 13:10 if he truly wants to understand the plight of oppressed people who are seeking a better life. Romans 13 was used to justify the existence of slavery by religious and political leaders, as it was used to justify the separating of black families, and to “capture” those who ran away trying to escape the brutal conditions of slavery. Rulers who use the scriptures that go against God’s Will, are themselves “terrors” to those that do good, as God is not mocked. Good rulers need not fear. Remember, the world is watching. So is God.