Does "love thy neighbor" come with an asterisk? Who qualifies as a "neighbor"? And just how much should we love them? Those are the questions being asked in the wake of President Trump’s ban on nearly all refugees into the United States, prompting Pope Francis to weigh in.
Refugee Program Paused
As one of his first actions after retaking office last month, President Trump halted refugee resettlement in the United States, prompting outrage and lawsuits from pro-refugee groups. The program was paused for 90 days as his administration determines whether welcoming refugees into America is “in the interests of the United States.”
(Trump did make an exception for one refugee group: Afrikaners, the white South Africans descended from Dutch colonizers, who Trump says now face race-based discrimination. This is notably a group of people from whom Elon Musk identifies.)
It’s no secret that Trump is an immigration hardliner, but he’s historically also been strict on refugee acceptance as well.
The formal creation of the United States’ refugee resettlement program was in 1980. President Trump in his first term dramatically lowered the refugee cap, setting a historic low of just 18,000 refugees in 2020 - an amount which was raised back to the more typical 125,000 when President Biden took office.
Pope Francis Comments
The pausing of the refugee program – and recent massive funding cuts to refugee groups – sent some of the United States’ most prominent refugee resettlement groups into a tailspin. It even prompted a response from Pope Francis, who drew parallels between modern refugees and Jesus Christ.
"Jesus Christ…did not live apart from the difficult experience of being expelled from his own land because of an imminent risk to his life, and from the experience of having to take refuge in a society and a culture foreign to his own,” the pontiff wrote. “I exhort all the faithful of the Catholic Church, and all men and women of good will, not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters.”
The plight of refugees is one of the causes closest to Francis’ heart; Last year, he stated that knowingly driving away migrants in need is a “grave sin” which causes untold suffering and needless deaths.
Trump Team Claps Back
Tom Homan, the new administration's "border czar", had harsh words for the pontiff.
“I’m saying this as a lifelong Catholic – I was baptized Catholic, my first Communion as a Catholic, confirmation as a Catholic. He ought to fix the Catholic Church and concentrate on his work and leave border enforcement to us,” Homan said.
“He wants to attack us securing our border? He has a wall around the Vatican, does he not? So he has a wall to protect his people and himself, but we can’t have a wall around the United States,” he continued.
“I wish he’d stick to the Catholic Church and fix that and leave border enforcement to us.”
But how does the wider world of faith feel about the issue?
Survey: Evangelicals Are Pro-Refugee
A recent poll found that some 70% of evangelicals – a group that overwhelmingly supported Trump in the last election – also favor accepting refugees into the United States.
The survey, conducted by Christian surveyor Lifeway Research, shows wide support from the Evangelical community for bringing refugees to the United States. 7 in 10 evangelicals strongly or somewhat agreed that the United States “has a moral responsibility to accept refugees.” 23% said they strongly or somewhat disagreed, and 7% were unsure.
Meanwhile, 64% of evangelicals said that Christians have a responsibility to “care sacrificially” for refugees and other foreigners. And a whopping 73% agreed that Christians have a “responsibility to care for refugees and others who are forcibly displaced in other countries."
Refuge or Refusal?
So what does that mean for U.S. policy? Some are still bullish that Trump will change his tune on refugee resettlement.
“Evangelical Christians believe that legal immigration has benefited our country, a conviction that President Trump has repeatedly expressed as well,” said World Relief CEO Myal Greene. "My prayer is that President Trump will heed the voices of evangelical Christians and restore the U.S. refugee resettlement program.”
What do you think? How should "love thy neighbor" be interpreted when it comes to immigration policy?
50 comments
-
Donald G Magel
The new Trump bible does not seem to include any of Christ's "woke" messages! Christian America has gone the way of the ethics of the Grand old Party. Gone and forgotten. The ant-christ is now their chosen one.
-
El Gringo
Reading these recent posts leaves me feeling sad. When I was growing up I felt like my church teachings were about love and acceptance. When I read these recent postings, I almost feel like I am at the last supper with everyone claiming they are the best, better than all the others. I joined this church because of the message that they were open to all faiths. My experience with other churches had not been to love one another, it was to be better than and judgmental toward others. I joined this church because I feel that this church is about this ideal of loving and acceptance and I am saddened to see so many people being judgmental towards others. If I am being judgemental, please accept my apology. I wish more people would add their opinion about the need to be more loving and receptive.
-
Pastor Lyn
I agree with you. I too joined here due to the fact everyone was welcome. But more and more I see hateful trolls who claim to be speakers for their God, but dang it, I don't wish to have anything to do with their God. I'm assuming since dumpster fire took over there are many Republican men who now feel free to troll decent people and spread their vile hatred here. This post alone brought out true colors. I will stick around, because I came here to help everyone no matter who they were. However, I will not have anything to do with, nor will I tolerate male hatefulness in my life. Any hate actually. It's like nobody attends school to actually learn anything anymore.
-
-
JT Sunrise
Rev. JTSunrise on Exclusion and the Gospel of Love
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” — Mark 12:31 “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink.” — Matthew 25:35
There are those who claim to stand for love and righteousness, yet their actions betray a narrow, self-serving patriotism. They impose policies that shut out the vulnerable and use selective compassion to justify exclusion. Such measures distort the sacred command of Christ and subvert the divine truth.
In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), Jesus taught that true neighborliness knows no bounds. The Samaritan did not hesitate to offer help to a stranger, regardless of background or circumstance. This is the unyielding mandate of our faith: to extend mercy and care to every soul, for every human being is created in the image of God.
Yet, today, certain political and social ideologies manipulate this command to narrow the definition of “neighbor.” They erect walls—both literal and metaphorical—designed to keep out those in desperate need, ignoring the clear instruction of our Lord. When policies deny refuge to the persecuted and when public sentiment is shaped by fear and division, it is a direct contradiction to the teachings of Christ.
The apostle Paul reminds us in Galatians 3:28 that, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” This truth calls us to a unity that transcends artificial barriers. To confine love to a select few is to betray the very essence of the Gospel.
We must stand firm and let our actions reflect the true love of Christ. When we care for the hungry, shelter the homeless, and welcome the stranger, we live out the gospel in a way that cannot be co-opted by narrow-minded ideologies. Our duty is clear: to reject any narrative that limits our compassion and to embody the radical, all-encompassing love that Christ exemplified on the cross.
Let this be a call to action: Do not allow the voices of division to silence the command of our Savior. Embrace the truth of Scripture, act decisively, and let your love be measured by the mercy you extend to those in need. Our faith is not a tool for exclusion—it is a force for universal compassion.
Rev. JTSunrise Celestial Nexus Church, Seattle, WA
-
El Gringo
I read these posts with a great deal of sadness. We are talking disparagingly about fellow humans. some are good and some are bad but we still need to show some compassion towards people who are suffering greatly. Maybe we can't help them all. This problem is extremely huge but we need to at least try to do as much as we can to help deal with this situation.
I think somewhere I read that we are all God's children.
-
Lionheart
Who really knows what gods children really means?
🦁❤️
-
Lawrence Pearce
Jesus and the god of the bible don't believe we are all children of God because Jesus called a Greek woman "a dog" in Mark 7.27 and the bible god told the Jews to kill all men, women and children in Palestine, even though they were living in peace and had never harmed any Jew. Joshua 8.
In Matthew 13, Jesus tells two parables that claim there are children of God (the wheat and the good fish) versus the children of evil (the weeds and the bad fish). He claims the angels will separate the two groups so the good children of God will be taken to heaven while the children of evil will be burned in a furnace of fire. https://biblehub.com/bsb/matthew/13.htm
-
-
Monica Arteaga
Love thy neighbor? Oh hell no! Especially when that neighbor filed a lawsuit against me, tore my siblings apart, is a narcissist & is only out to get what her greed can take away! Haven’t spoken to her in 10 years. Yet, God keeps taking the elderly parents of my good friends but not my neighbor (she’s 87). I have a feeling the Devil himself doesn’t want her either. Did I mention? She’s my mother! 😂
-
Lawrence Pearce
Have you tried a spoonful of cayenne pepper in a cupcake? I hear it drives the devil out of some people.
-
-
Rev. Carol M Anaski-Figurski
Cultivate kindness immigration reform could be as simple as a kiosk. Sanctuary in religious places needs to protect those who are living in America & trying to citizenries. Long live that Pope Francis & God bless the Pope. all these work visas could they be protected under sanctuary. People are working, paying taxes & reaching for the American dream a better life for themselves & their families. Plus generations.
-
Lawrence Pearce
Your own Vatican church has built 80 foot tall walls to keep out strangers, criminals and burglars. Here's a photo of the walls with people standing far below... https://www.livescience.com/64410-vatican-city-walls-explained.html
If you want to claim it's in the bible, you haven't read where Jesus called a neighboring Greek woman "a dog" and told her to go away, instead of showing concern for her as a human being who loved her daughter. Mark 7.27 That's not love, that's hate.
You also haven't read the book of Joshua where the bible god tells the Jews to "kill" ALL of their neighbors in the land of Palestine, so they can steal their houses, gardens, vineyards and olive groves. That's not love, that's genocide. So climb down from your pulpit and read the bible for the first time. You'll find it teaches hatred and mass murder, not love.
-
-
Nicholas J Page
I love my neighbours apart from the ones who have disrespected us for 20 years they behave worse than children but no.one cares.
-
ServantOfJudgement
I have a neighbor that's a fantastic soul, he and his family are all good as good can be.
I have another that's killed my dog, cut wires under my car, sole my Internet, poached animals on my land and throws garbage where they will.
Patience and long suffering comes to mind.
-
Lawrence Pearce
Contact your sheriff and file a report for each incident. Tell the sheriff to interview the problem neighbor and get the interview on video to share online. When your nasty neighbor realizes he has been reported and is being watched, he will probably make plans to move out.
How I got rid of a problem neighbor who would get drunk and fire his gun outside every Friday and Saturday night? I bought a "one million candlepower spotlight" that plugged into my car's electrical outlet. Then just before he usually stepped outside to fire bullets, I slowly drove past his house while shining the spotlight on his windows and cars to make sure he "saw the light" before I quickly drove away so he couldn't see who it was. He moved out within 30 days.
Walmart / Performance Tool Million Candlepower Spotlight Black. Performance Tool Million Candlepower Spotlight Black Light output 2000000 lumens Now $44.07
-
-
-
Pastor Lyn
A couple of you commenting in here can truly take a hike.
I won't even acknowledge what God may or may not want. I can't even believe this is a topic for conversation.
God and religion aside, if you can't be a decent human being to everyone and you cannot fathom being kind or charitable to those less fortunate without being told to do so by an invisible deity, you should not call yourself Christian. You are totally not a Christian and I know for a fact that most dump supporters have not even read the Bible, they have no idea what being a Christian means. They are only paying lip service to God and Jesus and trying to convince themselves and others that hate is what God wants...
All of this mess lends legitimacy to just eliminating religion all together. Can't even get humans to agree on what one friggin deity wants us to do.
Just be kind. How hard is it?
-
ServantOfJudgement
How many illegals do you think is an ok number Lyn?
Is 5 million too many for a country of 300 million? 20 million? 600 million illegals? 1 billion? 6 billion? Surely you have a number that's "too many".
-
Thunder
I wonder how many she's personally invited to live with her. For those who don't believe in secure borders, I challenge them to remove all the locks from their doors, and put out a sign inviting the local homeless to stay in their house.
-
Lawrence Pearce
So true. Removing the locks on the gates and doors of the Pope and all leftist "elites" who are hiding behind high walls would soon educate them on what illegals, thieves and criminals can do to them.
The Texas governor had buses drop off illegals in front of Kamala's mansion in DC, but since it was surrounded by a tall iron fence, she didn't get to experience their real life dangers for herself.
The time when Governor DeSantis flew illegals into Martha's Vineyard was a genius move. The leftist liberals immediately demanded the illegals be removed from THEIR island and they took action to get them out as fast as you could say "Kamala failed as border czar."
Their hypocrisy was exposed for the world to see... not only about the illegals that they claimed they loved so much, but also the fact they live in houses near the ocean where they falsely claim the rising waters will cover them in a few years! They don't believe any of the lies they tell the rest of us!
-
-
-
Lawrence Pearce
If you claim you love everybody but then you call certain people "dump supporters" are you not guilty of despising those people instead of loving them? Eliminate hypocrisies from your life by being consistent with your words. Don't tell someone "I love you" and then stab them in the back. That's not love, it's hate.
-
Matthew Mastrogiovanni
I want to help anyone, who doesn't want to hurt me.
-
-
-
Reverend Paula Copp
Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones! When the Catholic Church can control the abuses of its members, then they can start yacking about how to treat others.
-
Lawrence Pearce
Also when the Pope tears down the 80 foot high walls around his Vatican Palace, he might be able to criticize those who want walls to protect their lives and their property from criminals. Until then, the pope is a hypocrite.
Picture of the Vatican wall with people standing far below its top.. https://www.livescience.com/64410-vatican-city-walls-explained.html
-
-
Kevan B Copelin
Loving your neighbor is to the human what forgiving a human is to the spirit. Liken unto the first; love your neighbor as you love yourself. Christ does not say you must, or have to, hang out with the neighbors. Don’t cast your pearls before the swine. Discernment is a virtue and loving your God is foremost. Christ came not to save the world; through Christ the world might be saved. Loving the unlovable makes that happen.
-
Lawrence Pearce
According to the 'words of the Lord' written by the prophet Ezekiel, NOBODY can die for your sins except yourself. "The soul that sins shall die. The father shall not be punished for the sins of his son, nor shall the son be punished for the sins of his father. Everyone must answer for their own sins." - Ezekiel 18
This is where the basic claims of all churches and cults must stand or fall apart. What honest judge would let an innocent person die by execution so a convicted killer could go free to kill more people? Not one, so that's how we know that each person is punished for their own crimes or sins. Karma is real. Galatians 6.7
"Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant." Galatians 6.7
-
Lionheart
Bless your heart. Try not to believe everything you read in that book.
🦁❤️
-
-
-
Charles Jude Platt
Does it hurt anyone to be kind to another? We "Christians" today practise a bastardized principle of "love one another." I love the Felon in the White House & his lackey Musk. I pray some higher power to take both of them & ship off to the ends of our galaxy. Bye guys, love one another who knows?
-
Lawrence Pearce
Your mouth says "I love everyone" but your anger says "I hate Don and Elon." Choose one or the other.
-
Lionheart
Don’t worry, our president will take care of you to make your community safe, and to make sure your tax dollars are being well spent. You can thank him later when your left leaning prejudice has realigned by using logic, reason, and critical thought. It might be a struggle for you but I’m sure you can do it. 🤗
🦁❤️
-
-
Juan Rolón Rosario
Each person has the right to have an opinion and thinks what they want, but yes, certainly in ancient times God acted in one way, but then he acted in another way, since Jesus Christ was among us. The will of the Most High God is Supreme and Sovereign, but in the affairs of men the situation is more complicated, and much more so when politics is involved. The Command is clear, love your neighbor as yourself, that includes our neighbors that live in another country of course. Many accept it, others do not accept it. We all living in a world in conflict (not to mention that it has been since man was man from the bigining.) On a large scale the world situation is terribly difficult and what remains for us is to try to do the best we can to fix this society, of course we need help from Almighty God, Great Architect of the Universe.
-
Lawrence Pearce
No, the god of the bible does NOT say we have to love anyone in any other country. In fact he told the Jews to kill everyone who lived in Palestine so they could confiscate their homes, their gardens, their vineyards, their olive groves and everything else they enjoyed.
Geographically speaking, the Palestinians were their "neighbors" and Moses even married into one of those families, but the bible god told him and his fellow Jews to wipe them out, old and young, male and female, so they could steal their treasures.
Reread the book of Joshua and you'll learn what the bible god thought of the Jews "neighbors." It was diabolical and homicidal.
-
Thunder
Zionists today, Christian and Jewish alike, all believe in and justify their genocidal behavior using the Bible. That's a fact!
-
Lawrence Pearce
True. Netanyahu publicly stated a few years ago he wanted Gaza to be destroyed and all Palestinians removed, so the zionists could turn it into their summer luxury beach front resorts with casinos and hotels.
Looks like he will get his wish after he failed to rescue his fellow zionists at the rave when they were attacked by Hamas on October 7. There are some orthodox Jews and some Christians who denounce the zionists, but they are silenced by the paid off media
-
ServantOfJudgement
While atheists use science and law to justify they're genocidal behavior. Last century the atheist gobbled up over 120 million souls. Not bad huh?
Thunder, you'll find it to be a human problem.
-
-
-
-
Theresa C. Marquess
Let it be said that I do believe in God, a higher power, or whatever you choose to name him/her. Love one another? No, not literally, but it doesn't hurt anyone to show others kindness, courtesy, and be gentle toward others. It costs nothing to do this, and it is a better way to live. Of course, there will be others who disagree with that, and that is okay. It takes all kinds to make up our world. I choose to live my life gently. I've had enough of the other.
-
arawngraalrd
Love your neighbor as you love yourself, but don't make him dependent on Charity, as you do not wish to be dependent. Love is the essence, of what we're growing towards, but Life is a luxury. If you want to bring all the poor to America, that they may be rich, you should understand America better, that you can make it the World. You'll need an outside viewpoint, until there is no outside.
-
Lawrence Pearce
True. The Euros who migrated to the Americas brought their educations, their muscles and their skills. They didn't receive cash or health benefits. They had to work to build their cabins from logs, plant gardens for food, hunt game for meat and suffer long cold winters without internet, radio or tv.
Today it would be like illegals moving into northern Canada, where they would have to build log cabins, plant gardens, hunt game and suffer through long winters. I don't see any of them who want to do that, do you?
-
-
Najah P Tamargo
Najah Tamargo-USA
Considering that we are a nation appropriated BY immigrants, and the millions of Indigenous Peoples that were already here and forced into reservations (basically concentration camps), how can we NOT open our doors and hearts to those who seek a better life? Isn't that what Jesus would do?
-
ServantOfJudgement
Jesus would have them follow the law of the land.
-
Lawrence Pearce
Paul told his disciples to obey the laws of the land in Romans 13. Jesus told everyone to pay taxes to the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar.
-
Matthew Mastrogiovanni
No he wouldn't.
-
ServantOfJudgement
Lol, Jesus would have said break the law of a foreign land? Have you ever met the guy?
Let me introduce you to Jesus. Pray for understanding and start in Genesis. You won't have to wonder by the time you reach 2 Corinthians.
-
-
-
Lawrence Pearce
Did you learn anything from the Native Americans? They opened their doors and look what happened to them. Don't be stupid. Learn from history and ban all foreigners or we will find ourselves in concentration camps!
-
-
Thunder
Illegal entry into the Vatican will result in 1-4 years in jail and a fine of up to $25,700. How many migrants or refugees has the Vatican allowed to settle within it's borders? As with the "love thy neighbor" thing, it's yet another case of "do as I say, not as I do." The Abrahamic God has no credibility to speak of such things whatsoever.
-
Lawrence Pearce
True. The Jew God and Jesus both despised those who were not in the cult of Abraham.
The OT god demanded the Jews "kill" their neighbors in Palestine via genocide and Jesus called a woman a "dog" because she was born into a Greek family. Mark 7.27 We have to rethink our view of them. Were they as "loving" as we were told in church? No.
-
-
John P Maher
NOT ANY CHRISTIAN or MUSLIM GOD BEKNOWST to ME, "EVER" YOU ???
-
Lawrence Pearce
An illiterate bot has entered the chat? Try to make sense of that SHOUTING PHRASE.
-
Dr. Zerpersande, NSC
If it’s a bot then it’s doing a decent job mimicking a religiously delusional person.
-
-
-
Lionheart
“Does ‘love thy neighbor’ come with an asterisk? Who qualifies as a neighbor?”
And what qualifies as a God? The god Christians like to follow killed off a lot of neighbors back in the day when he was struggling to get his deistic act together, so we perhaps shouldn’t follow that one. He set a bad example, but amazingly, apologists always find some excuse to still love and worship him. He obviously needs lots of TLC, bless him.
🤗❤️
-
Lawrence Pearce
If you want to know what the definition of "neighbor" was to Jesus, listen to his words when someone who was not a Jew asked him for help... did he show love to this "neighbor" of the Jews? No. He refused to call her a woman or even a neighbor. Instead he insulted her by calling her a DOG! Mark 7.27
To Jesus, a "neighbor" was a fellow Jew and not one of those who the Jews considered to be "dogs" by their Pharisee leaders. If we apply this same principle today, a Christian will consider only a member of the church "a neighbor" to be loved, while everyone else is "a dog!" This is exactly what Jesus thought of people outside of his Judaism cult. Sad but true.
-
Sorry, but I am firmly in the Trump camp on this one. The previous administration had an open-door policy, and that was utterly ridiculous (actually treasonous in my opinion). Time to clamp down. Legitimate refugees will still have a way in (after the 90 day hold) but economic migrants need to apply in the approved fashion at an official border crossing. And illegals? Well so sad, too bad. As for the Pope? Well he should stick to religious things and leave secular things to governments. "Render unto Caesar those things which are Caesar's." Immigration policy is most definitely Caesar's.