{"id":70244,"date":"2025-01-27T17:26:42","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T01:26:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=70244"},"modified":"2025-01-27T17:26:42","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T01:26:42","slug":"apocalyptic-destination-the-bibles-mixed-messaging-on-migrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=70244","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Apocalyptic Destination\u2019 \u2013 The Bible\u2019s Mixed Messaging on Migrants"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
By<\/span>Peter Schurmann<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/i>
\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Within hours of taking office, Donald Trump signed a\u00a0slew of executive orders<\/a>\u00a0that together signal a nation determined to shut out those seeking refuge here. Yii-Jan Lin, associate professor of New Testament at Yale Divinity School, says Trump\u2019s description of immigrants as invaders continues a\u00a0long tradition in this country<\/a>\u00a0that draws from language in the Bible, and specifically the Book of Revelation.<\/em>\u00a0\u201cRevelation is useful when you want to call someone out as an enemy and to seek their destruction,\u201d says Lin. She spoke with EMS Editor Peter Schurmann. (Feature image via\u00a0Flickr<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

What first brought you to look at the links between the Bible, and specifically the Book of Revelation, and immigration?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I started thinking about this project in the Bay Area. I was teaching at the Pacific School of Religion, part of the consortium of theological schools in Berkeley, and they asked me to lead a seminar on some biblical texts in the context of immigration and the AAPI community. Place names in the Bay Area are quite heavenly. There\u2019s the Golden Gate. Early Chinese immigrants first called San Francisco \u201cGold Mountain.\u201d Angel Island is where arrivals from Asia would be held. That got me thinking about the United States, its self-conception as a shining city on a hill, an apocalyptic destination of sorts.<\/p>\n

What do you mean by apocalyptic and how does that apply to immigrants<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Apocalyptic in the ancient meaning suggests a revelation, like an unveiling. And that could be good or bad, depending on what side you\u2019re on. In the ancient Jewish and ancient Christian mindset, it meant showing the believer the reality behind everything. In the 1st Century context, if you believed that God\u2019s justice will come down on your side, then you\u2019re in a good spot, right? But if you are revealed to be God\u2019s enemy, then all of God\u2019s wrath\u2014in the form of plagues, earthquakes and floods\u2014will be visited on you. And that relates to the way we describe immigrants, either as welcome, coming to this golden, shining place of refuge, or rejecting them as enemies of God.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve described the Christian journey as akin to the immigrant experience. Can you say more on that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n