Bryan Fischer #fundie barbwire.com

[On Donald Trump's call for a total ban on Muslim immigration to the United States:]

Two questions must be asked. Are such bans constitutional? And more importantly, are such bans biblical?

[...]

There is no constitutional right, of course, to immigrate to the United States. It is a privilege, not a right. And we the people have given to Congress authority to set parameters for immigration for our protection, our cultural unity, and our national security.

So while it may not be politically correct or politically feasible to implement Trump's proposed ban, it is not unconstitutional. It is a political and cultural question, not a constitutional one.

For those of us who are evangelicals, there is a second question, which is of greater importance than the first. We not only want to know if an immigration ban is constitutional, we want to know if it is biblical. Did God himself ever impose such an immigration ban?

The answer is yes. With the fledgling nation on the edge of the promised land, God instituted a permanent ban ("forever") on immigration into Israel from two nations, Ammon and Moab.

[...]

Ammonites and Edomites were not allowed to immigrate because of their historic animosity toward the people of God and their commitment to weaken them and defeat them. Where such conditions exist today, a similar ban on foreign immigration would have biblical precedent.

Now obviously exceptions could be made and were made on a limited basis. Ruth, for instance, was allowed to immigrate into Israel from Moab. Ruth rejected the ancient hostility of her people toward Israel and embraced its culture and its God. “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:17). In other words, she happily assimilated in every way, included in religious matters, to her newly adopted nation.

She was not only welcomed, but found a place in the line of descent that led to the birth of the Savior of the world.

The bottom line: a ban on immigration from nations which have demonstrated abiding hostility toward the United States is both constitutionally permissible and biblically permissible.

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