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MTM - Balancing Biblical Compassion with Border Security · More Than Medicine

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is more than enough for the ills that plague our culture and our country.
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  Speaker 1: Hosted by author and physician, dr Robert Jackson, and his wife Carlotta and daughter Hannah Miller.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: So listen up, because the doctor is in.
• 0:23
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Welcome to More Than Medicine.
• 0:25
  Dr. Robert Jackson: I'm your host, dr Robert Jackson, bringing to you biblical insights and stories from the Country Doctor's Rusty, dusty Scrapbook.
• 0:34
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Well, today I'd like to try to bring a little bit of clarity to the issue of the southern border and illegal immigration.
• 0:44
  Dr. Robert Jackson: What does it mean to love thy neighbor?
• 0:50
  Dr. Robert Jackson: I've heard so many Christian people discussing the whole issue of illegal immigration and so many times I've heard people look at me and say well, shouldn't we love our neighbor?
• 1:02
  Dr. Robert Jackson: In the current debate over immigration reform and the need to close the border, many Christians are confused.
• 1:12
  Dr. Robert Jackson: What is our responsibility?
• 1:15
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Aren't we supposed to love our neighbor?
• 1:18
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Didn't God tell us I'm sorry?
• 1:21
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Didn't God tell the Israelites to love the sojourner?
• 1:25
  Dr. Robert Jackson: But was that a prescription for unlimited immigration, either legal or illegal?
• 1:35
  Dr. Robert Jackson: I hear evangelical pastors saying that God has brought the nations to our doorstep and we have a responsibility to reach out to them.
• 1:48
  Dr. Robert Jackson: The editorial board of Christianity Today warned Donald Trump that in enforcing his immigration policy, he would be deporting our next generation of church leaders.
• 2:06
  Dr. Robert Jackson: There are bits of truth in these statements, because we are challenged to make disciples of all nations, and that's made easy when the nations come to us via business, via college students and sports and even immigration.
• 2:27
  Dr. Robert Jackson: But none of that paints the full picture and it wrongly implies that those who favor limiting immigration, either legal or illegal, are un-Christlike.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: First let's clarify terms, terms which are bandied about very, very loosely.
• 2:54
  Dr. Robert Jackson: First of all, what is a refugee?
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: A refugee is someone who comes here with a well-founded fear of persecution due to their race, their politics, their religion or their national order, and they must apply for that status outside of the US in a neighboring country.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: That's a refugee.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: Now, what's an asylum seeker?
• 3:22
  Dr. Robert Jackson: An asylum seeker must meet the refugee definition and apply for admission as an asylum, mostly seeking a more prosperous life, which nobody can discredit them for that.
• 3:52
  Dr. Robert Jackson: But many are selling drugs or trafficking people and an unknown number are terrorists which are enemies of our state.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: Accepting as many legitimate refugees and asylum seekers as can be thoroughly vetted is a valid immigration policy and we should accept people who will benefit our nation through their skills, their diligence, their love of liberty, meaning their love of America and the American way of life and their responsibility.
• 4:29
  Dr. Robert Jackson: People who come here illegally, who have no intention of learning our language or assimilating into our culture or becoming legal citizens, have no part of our America.
• 4:46
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Now go back to the idea of loving the sojourner.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: In Exodus 12, 48, god told Moses that the sojourner should be as a native of the land, but only if he let all his males be circumcised.
• 5:07
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Oh my goodness, does that mean we should circumcise all the illegal immigrants coming across our border?
• 5:14
  Dr. Robert Jackson: No, I don't think so.
• 5:16
  Dr. Robert Jackson: What this implies is that the sojourner, that he and his people, would be fully accepting of Jewish law and the Jewish God.
• 5:30
  Dr. Robert Jackson: God was not condoning uncontrolled immigration, but rather the orderly catch that word now orderly acceptance of those willing to accept Jewish practices and to assimilate into Jewish culture.
• 5:51
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Foreigners couldn't respect Israel without respecting their laws.
• 5:57
  Dr. Robert Jackson: You see, god is a God of order, not of chaos, not of confusion, which is what 1 Corinthians 14, 33 tells us.
• 6:08
  Dr. Robert Jackson: God is a God of order and of peace.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: Nehemiah called his fellow Israelites to build the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer offer derision in Nehemiah 2 and verse 13.
• 6:24
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Trust me, america is laughed at by the nations of the world because of our porous border without walls.
• 6:33
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Borders create order, while a lack of borders creates disorder.
• 6:39
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Chaos and disorder reign at our southern border and it creates victims of our most vulnerable citizens, those with the least physical, economic and political power.
• 6:57
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Let me just read to you some statistics.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: You need to know these numbers.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: In fiscal year 2023, the Border Patrol recorded 1,254 illegal immigrants convicted of assault, battery or domestic violence, 2,493 convicted for driving under the influence and 2,055 for illegal drug possession and trafficking.
• 7:27
  Dr. Robert Jackson: And that's just those arrested, tried and convicted.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: The data doesn't count any of the criminals who got away or who weren't prosecuted thanks to the non-compliance policies of sanctuary cities.
• 7:45
  Dr. Robert Jackson: In fiscal year 2021, border Patrol made nearly 1.7 million apprehensions of illegal immigrants, the largest number ever recorded.
• 7:58
  Dr. Robert Jackson: That is, more illegal immigrants entering in one year than the urban population of any single city in America, except for New York, los Angeles and Chicago.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: It's enough people to replace the population of New Hampshire, maine, rhode Island or that of seven other states.
• 8:21
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Now you need to contemplate that.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: That's replacement population.
• 8:27
  Dr. Robert Jackson: That's changing our entire demigration.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: You see, a country has sovereignty only as long as it has borders, and if we have no borders, we have no sovereignty.
• 8:41
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Laws allow us to have our own sovereignty, and without laws that are enforced, we have no sovereignty.
• 8:52
  Dr. Robert Jackson: And without sovereignty, we no longer have a nation.
• 8:55
  Dr. Robert Jackson: No sovereignty, and without sovereignty, we no longer have a nation.
• 8:59
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Border Patrol estimates that another two million immigrants crossed the border illegally and got away, though there's no way they could know for sure, in large part due to the sheer volume of immigrants.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: The Department of Homeland Security estimates that an even larger number 4 million crossed the border in that same fiscal year, 2021.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: If that level of illegal immigration stayed steady for President Biden's term alone, in just four years, more illegal immigrants would have entered the country than the population of 46 states.
• 9:39
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Oh my goodness.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: Now, in 2023, border Patrol caught 160 illegal immigrants on the terror watch list, compared to 100 in 2022.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: In 2019, 280 potential terrorists were caught crossing the border.
• 9:59
  Dr. Robert Jackson: We don't really know how many terrorists got away, so let me tell you this In 2016 to 2020, nearly 750 members of MS-13, a notorious vicious and violent gang from El Salvador, were charged with federal crimes.
• 10:20
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Between 74% and 90% of those gang members were here illegally.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: That meant up to 674 members from a single gang committed crimes that never should have occurred.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: If they were not here, none of those crimes would have been committed.
• 10:42
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Now, I don't know if you remember or even saw it, but President Trump, after he was elected, was at an inaugural Episcopal service and the female priest that presided over that service castigated President Trump over his border and immigration policies.
• 11:05
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Well, we found out just this week that the immigration ministry that her church sponsored received multiple millions of dollars from USAID, which President Trump's doge closed down and suspended.
• 11:25
  Dr. Robert Jackson: This woman also lives in a $2 million house in a nearby neighborhood that has five bedrooms and three or four bathrooms.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: Well, you get the picture.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: Well, I now have a response to the presentation that she made in which she publicly castigated President Trump.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: It's by a gentleman named LeVend Montgomery, and this is his response to Mary Ann Edgar Booty, who was the Episcopal priest While your plea for compassion?
• 12:02
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Well, let me just see how he starts.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: He says, dear Mary Ann Edgar Booty, while your plea for compassion is commendable, it is neither compassionate nor biblical to undermine the rule of law or to disregard the sovereignty of a nation tasked with protecting its citizens.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: The scriptures are clear God is a God of order, not confusion.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: 1 Corinthians 14, 33.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: That's the verse we just referred to a moment ago.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: Governments are instituted by him to promote justice and uphold the rule of law Romans 13, 1 through 7.
• 12:39
  Dr. Robert Jackson: To imply that securing borders and enforcing immigration laws is contrary to God's mercy is a misrepresentation of biblical teaching.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: The same God who commands us to love the foreigner Leviticus 19, 34, also establishes boundaries for nations and call leaders to exercise wisdom and discernment in governance Acts 17.26.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: Your statement that the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals misses the point.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: The issue is not the inherent morality of individuals, but the legality of their presence.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: To dismiss the importance of documentation is to suggest that laws governing immigration are trivial, thereby eroding the integrity of the very system that allows people to come to this country safely and legally.
• 13:33
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Justice cannot exist without law and law cannot stand without enforcement.
• 13:39
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Furthermore, while you highlight the contributions of undocumented immigrants, you fail to address the strain that unchecked illegal immigration places on public resources, infrastructure and the American workforce, particularly among lower-income citizens.
• 13:58
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Is that not equally compassionate to consider the plight of working-class Americans whose jobs, wages and safety are directly impacted by illegal immigration?
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: True mercy requires balancing justice and compassion, not sacrificing one for the other.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: You also appeal to the fears of children whose parents might face deportation.
• 14:23
  Dr. Robert Jackson: While this is indeed heartbreaking, we must remember that the parents themselves bear responsibility for placing their families in such precarious positions.
• 14:32
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Compassion does not absolve accountability.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: The call of the gospel is not to enable lawlessness, but to minister grace within the framework of truth.
• 14:43
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Finally, your call to welcome those fleeing persecution is one that conservatives do not reject, but it must be done responsibly.
• 14:52
  Dr. Robert Jackson: The United States already accepts more refugees and asylum seekers than most nations worldwide, a testament to its generosity.
• 15:01
  Dr. Robert Jackson: However, such hospitality must be balanced with national security and the well-being of current citizens, lest we compromise the very stability that makes this nation a refuge.
• 15:15
  Dr. Robert Jackson: President Donald J Trump and his administration were entrusted with the responsibility to govern wisely and justly, ensuring the safety and prosperity of all Americans.
• 15:26
  Dr. Robert Jackson: This includes upholding immigration laws while extending mercy in ways that do not undermine justice.
• 15:32
  Dr. Robert Jackson: As Christians, we are called to care for the vulnerable, but such care must never come at the expense of truth, order or the well-being of the broader community.
• 15:43
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Grossly misusing the pulpit to advocate for policies that erode these principles is neither biblical nor constructive.
• 15:51
  Dr. Robert Jackson: It's demonic.
• 15:53
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Well said Levin Montgomery.
• 15:57
  Dr. Robert Jackson: I commend him for his well-thought-out and biblical response to the Episcopal priest, mary Ann Edgar Booty.
• 16:08
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Well, I hope that brings a little clarity to this whole issue of loving your neighbor, loving the sojourner and immigration policy.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: You're listening to More Than Medicine.
• 16:21
  Dr. Robert Jackson: I'm your host.
• 16:22
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Dr Robert Jackson, I would like to commend to you a book that I've read on toxic empathy how Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion by Allie Beth Stuckey, and she discusses the abortion issue.
• 16:41
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Beth Stuckey and she discusses the abortion issue, the issue of the southern border.
• 16:48
  Dr. Robert Jackson: She discussed the transgender issue and social justice.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: It's an excellent book.
• 16:56
  Dr. Robert Jackson: It's entitled Toxic Empathy how Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion, by Allie Beth Stuckey.
• 17:02
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Some of my thoughts and some of these statistics come from one of the chapters in that book.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: All right, I pray the Lord will bless you.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: I'll be back again next week.
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  Dr. Robert Jackson: If you like what you hear, I trust that you will like follow, share or download More Than Medicine.
• 17:19
  Dr. Robert Jackson: May the Lord bless you.
• 17:20
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Real good.
• 17:20
  Dr. Robert Jackson: Thank you for listening to this edition of More Than Medicine.
• 17:21
  Dr. Robert Jackson: May the Lord bless you real good.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to this edition of More Than Medicine.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: For more information about the Jackson Family Ministry, dr Jackson's books, or to schedule a speaking engagement, go to their Facebook page, instagram or their webpage at jacksonfamilyministrycom.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: This podcast is produced by Bob Slone Audio production at bobslone.
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  Speaker 1: com.