Bible was used as cudgel to induce false guilt

While I ordinarily agree with Michael Gerson's views, his May 30 column, "The massive failure of Christian political leadership," is a disappointment. In his effort to recruit his readers to his views on immigration, he resorts to misusing the Bible, claiming that it is the ground for those views.

Gerson says, "When it comes to verse after verse requiring care for the stranger, they (evangelicals) not only ignore this mandate but oppose it," creating the impression that the Bible is full of such "requirements." But he cites only two references, both of which he misinterprets.

Yes, the Hebrews were told, "When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born." This passage says absolutely nothing about immigration. It only addresses the matter of how foreign residents of Israel were to be treated. Evangelicals do not deny that all residents of the U.S. are to be treated equally.

Gerson then says, "Jesus employs compassion for an abused traveler as the test and definition of neighborly love." Again, evangelicals would certainly agree that when one encounters an abused traveler, we are to have compassion for him or her. And again, it is obvious that this verse says nothing at all about immigration.

The fact is that the Bible says nothing about illegal immigration; it had no occasion to do so since there was no illegal immigration problem at the time it was written. It is unhelpful to our efforts to solve this problem by using the Bible as a cudgel for inducing false guilt. It is difficult enough to bring this issue to a sound resolution without having the waters muddied by misleading appeals to the Bible.

Hans Schultz

Arlington Heights