{"id":37822,"date":"2018-07-19T05:01:18","date_gmt":"2018-07-19T09:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?p=37822"},"modified":"2018-07-17T19:46:00","modified_gmt":"2018-07-17T23:46:00","slug":"37822","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2018\/07\/37822.html","title":{"rendered":"Does Heaven Have Open Borders?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

This meme<\/a> is so bad my husband initially thought it was a parody when I showed it to him:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The image shows Jesus sitting by a young boy. \u201cNo my son, heaven doesn\u2019t have open borders,\u201d the text reads. \u201cWe have a strict policy on how people enter.\u201d<\/p>\n

First of all, according to evangelicals and not just mainline Christians, heaven\u2019s borders\u00a0are<\/em> open\u2014to all who want it. All you have to do to get in is pray a prayer<\/em>. You say you want in? You say you want in. You get in! That\u2019s it! Certainly, the prayer needs to have a certain form\u2014you have to state that you are a sinner and that you want Jesus to be your savior. But that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n

Bringing U.S. border policy in line with heaven\u2019s \u201cborder\u201d policy would require opening our national borders to any individual who made a specific profession\u2014say, that they wanted to work hard and build a better life for themselves and their families. It would rule out any form of background checks\u2014after all, all a murderer has to do enter heaven is say the sinner\u2019s prayer.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t emphasize this enough\u2014all that is required to get into heaven is a desire to enter and a simple profession<\/em>. Certainly, you have to have pure motives\u2014you have to be genuine when you pray the sinner\u2019s prayer. But that\u2019s equivalent to ensuring that those who enter the U.S. to have a genuine desire to settle down, work, and form communities or families.<\/p>\n

Heaven doesn\u2019t have lines, quotas, or paperwork backlogs.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Second, if we\u2019re going to draw a parallel between the U.S. and heaven, those making the parallel should be pro<\/em>-immigration. After all, Christians\u2019 goal is to bring every person<\/em> in the world<\/em> into the kingdom of heaven\u2014God is \u201cnot willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance<\/a>.\u201d Proselytizing\u2014looking for people to bring in\u2014is part of the Christian way of life.<\/p>\n

And yet, bafflingly, this meme wasn\u2019t made by individuals in favor of immigration. Instead, it was made by individuals in favor of recent \u201czero tolerance\u201d policies cracking down on asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants. \u00a0Its use of the term \u201cstrict policy\u201d makes that clear.<\/p>\n

But then, perhaps those making the meme want to reserve heaven for the few as well. They may talk a good talk about missions and evangelization, but perhaps they\u2019re actually just happy they<\/em> made it. Maybe they\u2019re content to point and laugh at everyone else, everyone headed to hell.<\/p>\n

Third and finally, I grew up hearing that God \u201cdoesn\u2019t have grandchildren.\u201d What this meant, of course, was that no one would be saved just because their parents were. How does this fit in the analogy drawn by this meme? Where do those born within the U.S. fit in a comparison between the United States\u2019 borders and heaven\u2019s borders? I thought God didn\u2019t have grandchildren<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The creators of this meme, by the way, are far from the only conservatives to compare the U.S. to heaven and then reference heaven\u2019s \u201cborder policy.\u201d See this tweet, for example:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Comparing your country to heaven\u2014and then actively denying others\u2019 access to it<\/em>\u2014is some bizarre form of hubris and cruelty. It\u2019s not that people don\u2019t want to follow the rules. It\u2019s that the rules are broken. Heaven does not have decades-long admissions backlogs.<\/p>\n

I have a <\/b>Patreon<\/b><\/a>! Please support my writing!<\/b><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Comparing your country to heaven—and then actively denying others’ access to it—is some bizarre form of hubris and cruelty. It’s not that people don’t want to follow the rules. It’s that the rules are broken. Heaven does not have decades-long admissions backlogs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Click through to read more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":37834,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,11],"tags":[404,431],"class_list":["post-37822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-evangelicalism-fundamentalism","category-politics","tag-heaven","tag-immigration"],"yoast_head":"\nDoes Heaven Have Open Borders?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Comparing the U.S. to heaven---and then denying others' access to it---is some bizarre form of hubris and cruelty. \u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2018\/07\/37822.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Does Heaven Have Open Borders?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Comparing the U.S. to heaven---and then denying others' access to it---is some bizarre form of hubris and cruelty. \u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2018\/07\/37822.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Love, Joy, Feminism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-19T09:01:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-07-17T23:46:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/166\/2018\/07\/god-1772560_1920.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2018\/07\/37822.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2018\/07\/37822.html\",\"name\":\"Does Heaven Have Open Borders?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-19T09:01:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-07-17T23:46:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\"},\"description\":\"Comparing the U.S. to heaven---and then denying others' access to it---is some bizarre form of hubris and cruelty. \u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2018\/07\/37822.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2018\/07\/37822.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2018\/07\/37822.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Does Heaven Have Open Borders?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/\",\"name\":\"Love, Joy, Feminism\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\",\"name\":\"Libby Anne\",\"description\":\"Libby Anne grew up in a large evangelical homeschool family highly involved in the Christian Right. College turned her world upside down, and she is today an atheist, a feminist, and a progressive. She blogs about leaving religion, her experience with the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements, the detrimental effects of the \\\"purity culture,\\\" the contradictions of conservative politics, and the importance of feminism.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/author\/libby\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Does Heaven Have Open Borders?","description":"Comparing the U.S. to heaven---and then denying others' access to it---is some bizarre form of hubris and cruelty. \u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2018\/07\/37822.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Does Heaven Have Open Borders?","og_description":"Comparing the U.S. to heaven---and then denying others' access to it---is some bizarre form of hubris and cruelty. \u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2018\/07\/37822.html","og_site_name":"Love, Joy, Feminism","article_published_time":"2018-07-19T09:01:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-07-17T23:46:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/166\/2018\/07\/god-1772560_1920.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Libby Anne","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Libby Anne","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2018\/07\/37822.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2018\/07\/37822.html","name":"Does Heaven Have Open Borders?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-07-19T09:01:18+00:00","dateModified":"2018-07-17T23:46:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2"},"description":"Comparing the U.S. to heaven---and then denying others' access to it---is some bizarre form of hubris and cruelty. \u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2018\/07\/37822.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2018\/07\/37822.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2018\/07\/37822.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Does Heaven Have Open Borders?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/","name":"Love, Joy, Feminism","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2","name":"Libby Anne","description":"Libby Anne grew up in a large evangelical homeschool family highly involved in the Christian Right. College turned her world upside down, and she is today an atheist, a feminist, and a progressive. She blogs about leaving religion, her experience with the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements, the detrimental effects of the \"purity culture,\" the contradictions of conservative politics, and the importance of feminism.","sameAs":["http:\/\/patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/author\/libby"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/845"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}