Father James Martin: Trump administration's biblical references "insane," "close to obscene"

Source: CBS News

Father James Martin, S.J., a Jesuit Catholic priest and editor-at-large of the Jesuit magazine America, called the Trump administration's defense of its aggressive immigration policy of separating families at the U.S.-Mexico border "insane," "sinful" and "close to obscene." In response to the explosive headlines that have emerged this week, Martin told CBSN's Elaine Quijano on "Red & Blue" that "it couldn't be any clearer" that the Bible and Jesus embraced "welcoming strangers" -- especially in the parable of the Good Samaritan and the book of Matthew.



"I will 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 the government for his purposes," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said June 14. "Consistent, fair application of law is in itself a good and moral thing and protects the weak and protects the lawful."



"What Attorney General Jeff Sessions is doing is called cherry picking ... or proof-texting, where you take one sentence out of the Gospel without understanding the context," Martin said. "To use Romans 13 to justify tearing kids away from their parents is insane -- and to use biblical verses to justify what is a sinful action. It's really close to obscene."



Martin mentioned his time working with refugees in East Africa for a couple years and urged people and churches "to tell the stories of these people ... to describe why someone would feel moved to come to the United States and how these migrants and refugees are actually people with great guts to really want to find a new life with their families."

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/father-james-martin-trump-administration-biblical-references-insane-close-to-obscene-cbsn-interview-2018-06-20/

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Father Martin makes some good points which couldn't be included in just 4 paragraphs. Seeking asylum is not against the law, the bastard currently occupying the White House has twisted around the facts to make it sound like these people coming to our doorsteps and asking for a little bit of compassion are committing a crime.