Grace Cathedral

Grace Cathedral

Article | June 15, 2018

There is No Justification in Scripture for Separating Families

Blog|The Rev. Dr. Ellen Clark-King

As you may have read, Attorney General Jeff Sessions cited scripture yesterday in justifying separating migrant parents from their children at the border. Sessions cited Romans 13: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities for there is no authority except that which God has established.”

When our holy scripture is being abused to defend an immoral and unjust policy it is the duty of all Christians to rise and speak out. We cannot allow such blasphemy to go unchallenged or we become complicit in the wrongs that it is being used to uphold.

It is true that the Bible does speak about obeying lawful governments, but this can hardly be thought to be its core message. Far above duty to earthly authority comes our duty to God and to God’s laws, the most fundamental of which is to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. There is no universe in which obeying the government takes precedence over obeying God’s law of love.

In this Year of Truth make sure you know which truth to follow and make sure you act to make this following more than lip service. Call your representatives, give to law firms supporting refugee children and look out for further opportunities to act through Grace.

 

Editor’s Note: After all services on Sunday, June 17, we will be writing letters to Attorney General Jeff Sessions to protest the administration’s policy to separate immigrant parents from their children at the border  and to challenge his justifying the policy with Holy Scripture  in a speech on June 14.  Since the policy went into effect in April, some two thousand children have been separated from their parents.

We will offer a templated letter you can sign, as well as blank paper, if you wish to write your own, and we will mail the letters from Grace Cathedral.  What better way to celebrate Father’s Day than taking action to help keep fathers and their children together?  

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