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September 6, 2010

Biblical view about aliens, citizens

Considering that the political right often claims their values based on biblical text, I thought it would be appropriate to draw attention to the Old Testament text found in Leviticus 19:33-34 (NRSV), which reads:

“When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

I do  not suggest that we should make immigration policy based on ancient sacred biblical text. But I do find it ironic that the spirit of this text is not in spirity with the views held by many conservatives toward undocumented aliens, and even more ironic that this text occurs in the very next chapter of Leviticus after the often-cited verse Leviticus 18:22 used to condemn gays.



Steven W. Mann, Ph.D.

South China

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