CIVIL WAR BEGINS AGAIN?
I’ve always wondered how the next Civil War would start. We may be seeing it right now, in slow motion. The riots in Minneapolis and Portland at the moment look an awful lot like the Baltimore riots and “Bleeding Kansas” of 1861. And ironically, the same political party seems to be backing the rebellion. We have our own Jefferson Davises in Minnesota and my own state of Illinois. Ironically, all this is happening while liberty and justice are breaking out in Venezuela and Iran. The Marxism that we were warned about when we were growing up 50 years ago is as close as it’s ever been to conquering us.
In 1861, the issue was slavery. Today, at the forefront is the issue of limitless illegal immigration. In both cases, the dividing issue was pushed by mistaken erroneous appeals to Biblical teaching. We hear claims that Jesus would never send back murderers, child traffickers, rapists, manslaughtering truckers, and massive fraud perpetrators who entered America illegally, a misreading of God’s word if there ever was one. Not even the Pope goes there, when he is pressed on the issue.
God is a God of justice and compassion. But that justice and compassion cuts both ways. Let’s quit making the false and dishonest comparison of today’s illegal immigration to the holy family fleeing from the sword of Herod. The holy family came to Bethlehem in obedience to a bothersome decree from Caesar that they could have easily ignored. I question the motives of anyone who refuses to come to America legally, the same as China, Iran, Mexico, or the Vatican would require them to do. We should not be surprised when those who ignore our laws produce a flood of crime, bloodshed, and injustice that profoundly grieves the heart of God.
I pray that the current path to Civil War comes to a halt. Someone out there wants to turn us against each other, someone who cares less about justice or compassion than they care about raw political power, the kind that often comes from the barrel of a gun. God has a track record of knocking such guns out of the hands of oppressors.
