Heaven’s Immigration Policy
I was driving recently and the car in front of me had a bumper sticker that said “Heaven has a wall and strict immigration policies — Hell has open borders”. I shouldn’t be surprised when people display their ignorance for all to see — I live in the USA, after all — but this statement is above and beyond the norm. And it has apparently been featured on several church marquees.
I’m not sure where to start with this. I guess the first thing to say is that I get my Christianity from the Bible, which does not say that the final destination of human beings is “Heaven” or “Hell”. We will not be in the sky or in a cavern. The final destination of those who follow the teachings of Jesus will be Zion, the Holy City, which will be located on a renewed Earth, not in the clouds. The City will be made of pure gold, which will somehow be “as transparent as glass” and will have walls, made of a variety of precious stones. Each of the four walls will have three gates — hence the song “Twelve Gates To The City” — and each of the gates will be made of pearl, one pearl for each gate. Some might take this description as literal, but many Christians, including myself, read these odd building materials as metaphors. The Holy City will be glorious and beautiful, and no one will hoard gold or gems.
The twelve gates “will never be shut by day — and there will be no night there”, Rev. 21:25 — all my descriptions here are from Revelation. So the gates will never be closed, which makes the walls around the City more decorative than anything else. It does seem that some people will be prevented from entering — “the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars” will be in “the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” This last bit is one of the Biblical sources for the modern idea of “Hell”. The accepted view is that anyone who is consigned to Hell will be there forever, but this belief isn’t held by all Christians, mainly because eternal punishment for temporal sins seems pretty unjust and unmerciful, and contradicts the Biblical portrait of God. I believe that everyone will be reunited with God eventually — I’m a Christian Universalist. Whether some souls spend some time in a place of punishment or not is a question I don’t feel obligated to answer.
“Heaven”, if that means the Holy City of Zion, will have a wall that is pretty, but not effective for keeping anyone out. “Hell”, as traditionally presented, will be a prison and will therefore not have “open borders”. The slogan is wrong all around.
The Bible does have some things to say about immigrants and immigration -
“You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” — Deut. 10:19
“Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.’ Then all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’” — Deut. 27:19
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.” — Zech. 7:9–10
“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” — Matt. 25:35
I could go on. The United States, despite what some people say, is not, and never has been, a “Christian” nation — as a Christian, I don’t want it to be one — so there is no reason that US law should adhere to the Bible. But anyone who claims the Bible as their guide for morality would do well to welcome immigrants, since that’s what the Bible says to do.
I’ve never heard anyone suggest that the USA have a wall on its northern border. Everyone who gets worked up about immigrants wants to build a wall on the southern side. It seems that the real issue is not immigration, but the color and culture of the immigrants. In other words, it’s just racism. Jesus was a Jew who was born in western Asia, and had brown skin. His white followers would do well to consider that.
I experience doubt about God occasionally. Satan seems even less plausible to me than God. Then I think about how thoroughly and completely the fairly simple teachings of Jesus have been corrupted, and the existence of a powerful and malevolent entity that seeks the worst for humanity becomes easier for me to believe in. If Jesus was just some guy who got killed for saying some stuff, there wouldn’t be so much propaganda against His teachings, inside and outside of the “church”.
In any case, I agree with what He said, and will continue to try to follow His teachings. I encourage anyone who is interested in what He said to ignore bumper stickers, and read the Bible.