Attorney General Jeff Sessions quoted the bible last week to defend his immigration policy during a speech to law enforcement at Fort Wayne, Indiana.
“I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained the government for his purposes,” Sessions said.
His use of Christian text to justify the Trump administration's immigration practices, specifically pulling children away from their families, was met with ire from religious communities across the country, including Revs. Irene Monroe and Emmett Price.
Monroe and Price joined Boston Public Radio Monday for another segment of All Revved Up to discuss why they thought Sessions’ use of the quote was abhorrent.
“This is absolutely horrific,” Price said. "It is heinous. It is an absolute appropriation, misuse use of scripture. It’s bad."
Price also pointed out that this section of scripture has a long history of being used to support acts of injustice that were at the time were legal. “It was also used with the separation of indigenous families and with slavery,” Price said.
Monroe agreed with Price’s sentiments, calling the quote a “text of terror” that has been used to uphold white supremacy.
Reverend Irene Monroe is a syndicated columnist for The Huffington Post and Bay Windows, and Reverend Emmett Price is a professor of Worship, Church & Culture and founding executive director of the Institute for the Study of the Black Christian Experience at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
