“The report, titled ‘Closed Doors,’ found the number of Christians coming to the U.S. from countries named on a prominent persecution watchlist dropped from 32,248 in 2016 to 9,528 in 2022 — a decline of 70%.” - RNS
“ ‘This action is the first step in bringing admissions back to the historical average and our nation back to our own ideals as a beacon of freedom,’ said Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, in written comments.” - BPNews
“ ‘As evangelicals, we believe in the God-given dignity of every person in every nation,’ reads a press statement by evangelical Christian leaders, including Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, under the banner of the Evangelical Immigration Table.” - C.Post
Donald Trump’s stay on admitting certain immigrants has brought out a raft of evangelical critics, especially those who see everything as an immediate gospel issue. Arguing from the facts that (1) God says nice things about foreigners in the Bible (e.g., Lev 19:33–34) and that (2) we have to be nice to foreigners or we’ll never have an audience with them to share the gospel, these express astonishment that a Christian could ever support an immigration ban of any sort. How, we might ask, can the gospel be forwarded if we anger or injure those to whom we are sent with the gospel?
It’s a redirection of the selfsame arguments that pacifists have been using for centuries to oppose war—and just as misguided. The following are a few thoughts in response:
Discussion