I am going to break from my long standing rule about posting only about dog training and hunting related topics. As some of you may know, I am a bi-vocational pastor who supports my family of 5 by training dogs. I like to say it this way: I train dogs to make a living, but I pastor to make a difference. I felt like I needed to voice my opinion on an issue that is causing lots of turmoil in our country. I had a member of our church ask me my opinion on Trump’s Executive Order temporarily banning refugees from entering the United States. What I am writing here is my opinion and you can take it out leave it. This opinion does not affect my ability to train dogs and if you disagree, we can still be friends and work together! Here are some things to consider:
1. Trump was duly elected as president and as our President he has the ability to pass executive orders just like any other president. Keep in mind that Obama issued 277 executive orders during his two terms. Some of Obama’s executive orders involved temporarily banning refugees from Iraq such as the one he issued in 2011. There were no protests when Obama issued that executive order & people’s private property wasn’t destroyed.
2. People from other countries are not guaranteed the right to live in or visit the United States of America. All of the rights that are granted by the constitution apply to the citizens of the United States of America only. The inalienable right to “…life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is guaranteed only to those who are legal citizens of the U.S.A. There is no clause or paragraph in the U.S. Constitution that says “If you wanna come here, we are bound by law to let you come in.” It simply is not in the Constitution.
3. The Bible does not state that The United States must welcome any and all foreigners. When the Scripture talks about “loving your neighbor” and “helping widows and orphans”, it is not talking to nation-states like the USA but rather to individual believers who are committed to following Jesus. The Bible makes mention of how we are to treat the ” foreigners among us.” This would be referring to those who already live as people in a foreign land. It does not mean we have a legal obligation to open our borders with a blind eye to every refugee. You might argue that we have a “moral obligation” to help those. That moral obligation belongs with the individual, not to a nation state. By the way…for those who are outraged and say that we are “morally bound” to help refugees…how come they only care about their set of morals and not my morals regarding protecting the life of the unborn, the sanctity of the marriage and the family??
4. We are not a “Christian Nation.” I have heard this my whole life and have probably said it plenty of times. However, what I believe is that America was founded by TONS of men who were disciples of Jesus, but that doesn’t make America a “Christian Nation.” A nation can not be Christian anymore than a car, tree, or business can be a Christian. Christians are individual people who have repented of their sins and trusted Christ to save them from their sin. The Bible tells us that narrow is the path that leads to salvation and only a few find it. In fact, by Jesus’ definition, most people living in America are not Christians. This executive order is a matter of security! The terrorists in recent attacks are predominantly practicing Muslims, and our President believes that the countries he has banned pose a threat. Remember, the President has more inside intelligence on this than all of us reading this post put together.
5. Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in our country. If a Muslim were to follow the words of the Koran to the tee, he can not be a supporter of the values that America was founded on. The Koran teaches zero tolerance and one of the 5 pillars of Islam is to kill the “infidel”, which is anyone who is not a Muslim. That means people like myself, who are Christians. We all have freedom of religion (at least for now) in the United States. However, when your religion poses a physical, bodily danger to me or my family…we have a problem. Christianity, at its core, teaches us to love and not to murder unbelievers. There have been many people who have abused Christianity and misrepresented it to achieve their own goals. This is a tragedy and is unfortunate. A plain reading of the Bible vs. the Koran reveals there are 2 completely different end goals in mind.
6. This ban is temporary! The function of this ban is slow down the stream of people coming into our country from countries that are known to aid and abed radical terrorists. This pause will allow our country enough time to come up with a better and more thorough vetting process so we can know better who we are letting into our country and if they have ties to groups who want nothing more than to see Americans dead.
In conclusion, I would encourage you to remember that our President is the duly elected Commander In Chief whether you voted for him or not! He took an oath to protect and defend this country, and that is exactly what he is trying to do! I for one, think this is a positive step in the right direction and I look forward to many more executive orders to help right the ship! Instead of protesting and complaining, those of us who call ourselves Christians should be praying for our President (just like I did for Obama) as he strives to Make America Great Again!
