Evangelicals: What is your stance on immigration?

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DarthMetaKnight
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12 Apr 2018, 10:18 pm

Hi all.

I'm making this post just in case there are any evangelical Christians still here. I've noticed that some evangelical Christians have decided to side with Trump, despite his many gaping flaws.

What does the Bible say about Immigration? Well ... check out this verse.

"Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt."
- Exodus 22:21

Now, let's look at which countries are the most Christian by population percentage. Is #1 America? No. Not even close.

Percentage of Americans Who Are Christian: 71%
Percentage of Romanians who are Christian: 98%
Greeks: 98%
Zambia: 97.5%
Democratic Republic of Congo: 95.7%
Peru: 95.6%
Guatemala: 95.2%
Mexico: 95% (Are Mexicans really that bad if they are so Christian?)
Poland: 94.3%
Ecuador: 94.1%
Colombia 92.5%

When I was younger and I left Christianity, I initially thought that the same information which deconverted me would also deconvert others. Over the years, my maturity has taught me that this is not the case. Some people are just closer to God than I ever was for some odd reason. I've come to terms with that. That's why I have generally given up on atheistic evangelism.

Here's what I haven't given up on: I haven't given up on the concept of moral consistency. I believe that, regardless of what you believe in, you should still be willing to learn and you should accept the implications of your moral code. Furthermore, I have firmly demonstrated that I am not a Democrat loyalist, nor am I any sort of party loyalist. I am loyal only to what I think is factually correct and to what I feel is morally right. I have no respect for party loyalists of any kind, which is why I have very little respect for the evangelicals who still lazily let the Republican Party do all of their thinking for them.

If you want to come up with a political system that embodies the message of the Bible, you need to look outside the mainstream parties, as well as the traditional left-right political spectrum. I have read the Bible. It's complicated, but, long story short, the Bible zig-zags back and fourth between what we could call right-wing and what we would call left-wing. The Bible is socially conservative and economically progressive for the most part, but that is still an oversimplification.

That brings me to the issue of immigration. Trump is man who hates people ... who come from a country that is more Christian than the United States. Christians are supposed to believe that God is a universal ruler who is above all other leaders, whether they be kings or presidents. Therefore, it makes no sense for a Christian to have any sort of party loyalty. In fact, many Christian leaders in the past have even argued that patriotism is a sin. That's why Hitler sent Jehovah's Witnesses to gas chambers.

So ... are you going to stand by as the President of the United States blatantly goes against the teachings of a book that (according to you) is flawless in every way?

Think about that.


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Mikah
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13 Apr 2018, 2:40 am

DarthMetaKnight wrote:
I'm making this post just in case there are any evangelical Christians still here.


I haven't seen many around now that you mention it.


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DarthMetaKnight
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13 Apr 2018, 5:25 pm

I just find it odd how so many evangelical Christians put so much effort into trying to disprove evolution, and yet put so little effort into condemning the political right from a Christian perspective.

I'm actually pretty impressed by the effort that "creation scientists" put into what they do. They will try so hard to look like actual scientists. They will write huge "science" books. They will come up with truly bizarre theories to justify their beliefs. For example, Kent Hovind argues that the world prior to the Great Flood had a floating shield of ice around it. The YouTube user NephilimFree has even argued that the flood waters sprayed out from within the earth ... and this created the craters on the damn moon.

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Lunar_bukkake_hypothesis

Imagine if these fundies put the same amount of effort into international sociology. Imagine if they were condemning the Republican Party. They could potentially save their reputations.


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Kraichgauer
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13 Apr 2018, 5:26 pm

There have always been a few evangelicals floating around WP - they tend to come and go, like anyone else - but I don't think they constitute much of the membership.


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Kraichgauer
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13 Apr 2018, 5:28 pm

DarthMetaKnight wrote:
I just find it odd how so many evangelical Christians put so much effort into trying to disprove evolution, and yet put so little effort into condemning the political right from a Christian perspective.

I'm actually pretty impressed by the effort that "creation scientists" put into what they do. They will try so hard to look like actual scientists. They will write huge "science" books. They will come up with truly bizarre theories to justify their beliefs. For example, Kent Hovind argues that the world prior to the Great Flood had a floating shield of ice around it. The YouTube user NephilimFree has even argued that the flood waters sprayed out from within the earth ... and this created the craters on the damn moon.

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Lunar_bukkake_hypothesis

Imagine if these fundies put the same amount of effort into international sociology. Imagine if they were condemning the Republican Party. They could potentially save their reputations.


That's f**king insane!


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DarthMetaKnight
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17 Apr 2018, 12:36 am

Wow. The Christian conservatives on this site simply aren't responding.

Me: "Hey! Shouldn't devout Christians be a bit more respectful towards countries that are more Christian than America is?"

*crickets*

Lesson Learned: Christian conservatives do not actually see Christianity as the most important thing on the planet. They actually place their nationalism above Jesus in terms of importance.

I will continue to see Christian conservatives this way until I see evidence to the contrary.


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Mikah
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17 Apr 2018, 6:30 am

You did say evangelicals and as noted, there aren't many around at the moment.


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Pepe
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18 Apr 2018, 11:47 am

Mikah wrote:
DarthMetaKnight wrote:
I'm making this post just in case there are any evangelical Christians still here.


I haven't seen many around now that you mention it.


Same...
Rationalism probably scared them off...<shrug>

P.S.
That was the longest I have seen WP go off-line... 8O



DarthMetaKnight
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18 Apr 2018, 3:38 pm

Pepe wrote:
Rationalism probably scared them off...<shrug>


This shows us how hypocritical and weak they are.

Right-wingers constantly joke about how pathetic "safe spaces" are. This is actually a fairly valid criticism of the modern left. I don't like safe spaces because, although I am a leftist, I'm not a politically correct leftist. I believe that racist/sexist/homophobic statements should be scientifically refuted, rather than supressed.

When conservatives meet a leftist who is unbound by party loyalty or political correctness, they can do nothing. They typically flee to their hypocritical right-wing safe spaces like r/conservative and Conservapedia.

Lesson Learned: If you are a leftist, do not cling to party affiliation or politically correct language policing. Those things are not protecting you. They are anchors holding back your full potential. The conservatives are largely right about political correctness, and the masses will continue hate the left until the left becomes re-acquainted with freedom of speech.


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Pepe
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18 Apr 2018, 7:11 pm

DarthMetaKnight wrote:
Pepe wrote:
Rationalism probably scared them off...<shrug>


This shows us how hypocritical and weak they are.

Right-wingers constantly joke about how pathetic "safe spaces" are. This is actually a fairly valid criticism of the modern left. I don't like safe spaces because, although I am a leftist, I'm not a politically correct leftist. I believe that racist/sexist/homophobic statements should be scientifically refuted, rather than supressed.

When conservatives meet a leftist who is unbound by party loyalty or political correctness, they can do nothing. They typically flee to their hypocritical right-wing safe spaces like r/conservative and Conservapedia.

Lesson Learned: If you are a leftist, do not cling to party affiliation or politically correct language policing. Those things are not protecting you. They are anchors holding back your full potential. The conservatives are largely right about political correctness, and the masses will continue hate the left until the left becomes re-acquainted with freedom of speech.


Well said...
Inexplicably, I am starting to feel aroused... 8O



DarthMetaKnight
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18 Apr 2018, 7:27 pm

Pepe wrote:
Well said...
Inexplicably, I am starting to feel aroused... 8O


You have figured out the modern Republican political strategy, which means that you know precisely how to counter it.

A feeling of sexual arousal is normal in these circumstances. It's like you are playing Magic against a very powerful mono-white deck ... and you suddenly draw this.

Image


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Mikah
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18 Apr 2018, 8:08 pm

No Evangelicals want to step in, if they are even reading, so I'll ramble some quick points from the jaded Anglican viewpoint. Maybe I'll write more when I am not so tired.

- Christianity is not, unlike Islam, a political creed, it's a personal one. Instructions like these are meant for day to day life, not political decisions.
- The problems of nations, nation-states, democracy and immigration on this scale are not covered in the Bible, as it predates most of these things. We have to use our brains.
- In the same way educated Christians can reject socialism (despite instructions to be kind and generous to the poor), Christians can reject immigration.
- The country or territory is not yours to give away.
- Moralising is not the same as being moral, it's often nothing more than masturbation. Taking a "refugee" or migrant into your house and supporting him/her is a good and moral thing to do. Calling for your country to take immigrants or voting on that basis, is not. It is to call for other people, your countrymen and their communities to be good on your behalf and shoulder the burdens of immigration. It is not a moral act by the standards of many moral codes, let alone Christian morality.

- Consider the following acts.
1. Giving your bed to a homeless man
2. Giving your brother's bed to a homeless man, while keeping your own
3. Giving your neighbour's bed to a homeless man, while keeping your own
4. Voting to give the bed of some random guy 500 miles away to a homeless man, some guy you will never meet and keeping your bed so you can nurse your raging moral erection knowing that you helped some poor homeless at no real cost to yourself.
Only one of these is moral, DMK.


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Kraichgauer
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18 Apr 2018, 9:57 pm

Mikah wrote:
No Evangelicals want to step in, if they are even reading, so I'll ramble some quick points from the jaded Anglican viewpoint. Maybe I'll write more when I am not so tired.

- Christianity is not, unlike Islam, a political creed, it's a personal one. Instructions like these are meant for day to day life, not political decisions.
- The problems of nations, nation-states, democracy and immigration on this scale are not covered in the Bible, as it predates most of these things. We have to use our brains.
- In the same way educated Christians can reject socialism (despite instructions to be kind and generous to the poor), Christians can reject immigration.
- The country or territory is not yours to give away.
- Moralising is not the same as being moral, it's often nothing more than masturbation. Taking a "refugee" or migrant into your house and supporting him/her is a good and moral thing to do. Calling for your country to take immigrants or voting on that basis, is not. It is to call for other people, your countrymen and their communities to be good on your behalf and shoulder the burdens of immigration. It is not a moral act by the standards of many moral codes, let alone Christian morality.

- Consider the following acts.
1. Giving your bed to a homeless man
2. Giving your brother's bed to a homeless man, while keeping your own
3. Giving your neighbour's bed to a homeless man, while keeping your own
4. Voting to give the bed of some random guy 500 miles away to a homeless man, some guy you will never meet and keeping your bed so you can nurse your raging moral erection knowing that you helped some poor homeless at no real cost to yourself.
Only one of these is moral, DMK.


But if we Americans are the Christian nation evangelicals say we are, then we ought to walk the talk as a Christian nation.


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18 Apr 2018, 10:17 pm

:evil:

Kraichgauer wrote:
Mikah wrote:
No Evangelicals want to step in, if they are even reading, so I'll ramble some quick points from the jaded Anglican viewpoint. Maybe I'll write more when I am not so tired.

- Christianity is not, unlike Islam, a political creed, it's a personal one. Instructions like these are meant for day to day life, not political decisions.
- The problems of nations, nation-states, democracy and immigration on this scale are not covered in the Bible, as it predates most of these things. We have to use our brains.
- In the same way educated Christians can reject socialism (despite instructions to be kind and generous to the poor), Christians can reject immigration.
- The country or territory is not yours to give away.
- Moralising is not the same as being moral, it's often nothing more than masturbation. Taking a "refugee" or migrant into your house and supporting him/her is a good and moral thing to do. Calling for your country to take immigrants or voting on that basis, is not. It is to call for other people, your countrymen and their communities to be good on your behalf and shoulder the burdens of immigration. It is not a moral act by the standards of many moral codes, let alone Christian morality.

- Consider the following acts.
1. Giving your bed to a homeless man
2. Giving your brother's bed to a homeless man, while keeping your own
3. Giving your neighbour's bed to a homeless man, while keeping your own
4. Voting to give the bed of some random guy 500 miles away to a homeless man, some guy you will never meet and keeping your bed so you can nurse your raging moral erection knowing that you helped some poor homeless at no real cost to yourself.
Only one of these is moral, DMK.


But if we Americans are the Christian nation evangelicals say we are, then we ought to walk the talk as a Christian nation.


Not to mention, as far as Christian nations go, Armenia beat everyone else who makes that statement since they were the first to do so. Oddly, many rednecks call Armenians "sand n****rs" when Armenians are one of the actual Caucasian ethnic groups.



Mikah
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18 Apr 2018, 10:30 pm

Kraichgauer wrote:
But if we Americans are the Christian nation evangelicals say we are, then we ought to walk the talk as a Christian nation.


As I just tried to explain, it is not moral according to any code I recognise nor Christian to force the burden of immigration upon others, doubly so as the burden often falls upon impoverished and fragile communities, triply so when you aren't affected by immigration yourself, as is the case for so many pro-immigration moralisers.


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18 Apr 2018, 10:54 pm

Mikah wrote:
Kraichgauer wrote:
But if we Americans are the Christian nation evangelicals say we are, then we ought to walk the talk as a Christian nation.


As I just tried to explain, it is not moral according to any code I recognise nor Christian to force the burden of immigration upon others, doubly so as the burden often falls upon impoverished and fragile communities, triply so when you aren't affected by immigration yourself, as is the case for so many pro-immigration moralisers.


There are a ton of Muslim immigrants where I live. I've never found them to be much of a problem.

Okay. You've made your stance. To you, Christianity and politics are separate from one another.

Tell me: Have you ever opposed abortion or sexual freedom on religious grounds?

... or do you only support the separation of church and state when I bring up the left-leaning parts of the Bible?

That's the point that I am trying to make. Anyone who uses the Bible to push for "sexual morality" should also use it to push for internationalism. I'm calling out dominionists on their hypocrisy.

If you reject dominionism, just say so. If the dominionists come back to WP, I'll link them to this thread.


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