Church, state need to help refugees
In the Syrian refugee crisis, there has been a lot of moralizing on the proper U.S. response. Should we “bring ’em all,” “bar ’em all” or do something in between?
For people considering the appropriate Christian action, two things are important to remember: First, in the biblical division of responsibility, care for the “least of these” is the duty of the church, not the state; the state’s duty is the protection of the citizenry. Second, while it is right for Christians to take in the alien, even at significant personal cost and risk, it is not right – and, in fact, it is not loving their neighbors – if doing so puts their neighbors at risk.
Instead, both church and state can fulfill their biblical duties if the church is prepared to care for, support and take in as many refugees as the state will allow under a process optimized to minimize the risk of admitting as many refugees as quickly as possible.
Regis Nicoll