Why it seems most Christians are against asylum seekers? For the political parties most Chrisitans support are the parties who are are openly stating to deport asylum seekers and even refuse to accomodate people that have fled their own countries due to war and persecution. Anyway Jesus Christ himself was a refugee.
It seems the people I personally know that are most passionate about the rights of asylum seekers are not Christian at all. Unlike some Chrisitans I come accross who believe that asylum seekers should be deported from the country.
First, thank you for writing "most" rather than simply making a generic statement that would color all Christians with the same broad brush. I'm glad you're aware that this is NOT something in which there is a singular Christian response. The truth is that Christians are all over the board on this question, as they are on many other social issues.
I'm not even sure that it really is "most" Christians. From your experience it may be that "many" Christians are against asylum seekers, and from the responses thus far it does seem that some people who self-identify as Christians here are against asylum seekers. But it is worth noting that the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest protestant group in the USA, just this week came out in support of asylum seekers. Other groups that have previous done so include the United Methodist Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the ELCA (I suspect there are more). These groups combined easily add up to a majority (even a super majority) of Christians in the USA. So, if you are finding that a majority of Christians are against asylum seekers, be aware that they are also opposing the leadership and affirmed positions of their own churches.
For myself, I would affirm that I understand the Bible to teach us that we are to welcome the homeless and the stranger (sometimes the Bible actually uses the word "alien") in our midst. Further, when we follow Jesus injunction to love our neighbor (who his teaching identifies as truly being all other persons, not just our immediate next door neighbor), even our enemies, as ourselves, then there is no rationale for a Christian who is following the teaching of Christ to turn an asylum seeker away.
However, do Christians always follow the teachings of Jesus or the commands God gives us in the Bible? Sadly we don't. More times than I would like to count I have found myself outside the will of God. I do that because I am a sinner. Rather than trusting God, I trust in myself or the security that others in the world might provide, I fear the consequences of taking risks that God has called me to take and allow that fear to lead me into justifying my actions that don't conform to the will of God for my life. It wouldn't surprise me if other Christians do the same with regard to the issue of asylum seekers.
Because I happen to have a son who arrived here as an asylum seeker in the past and have travelled to the parts of the world where present asylum seekers are coming from, I'm quite comfortable with welcoming those who are seeking to come here. I actually think it would be a good thing for our country. But for those who are fearful and ignorant of the realities of those seeking to come and thus project unto them unrealistic consequences, for those who are unwilling to let God's will be the guide for their choices, and for those who are unprepared to live with the results of the choices God is asking them to make it is either to just say "NO." than offer the grace of a God's divine "Yes."
