(image British Home Office, courtesy Wikipedia)
By Spencer D Gear PhD
Living in a country of the British Commonwealth, Australia, it shocked me to hear that the UK Home Office (HO) refused to grant asylum to an Iranian convert from Islam to Christ. The reason given was that the asylum seeker claimed in 2016 that Christianity is a peaceful religion and it is not.
According to The Telegraph (UK), 21 March 2019, the HO rejected the application because
government officials said his conversion from Islam was āinconsistentā with his claim that Christianity is a peaceful religion.
In order to reiterate the point, the Home Office wrote a lengthy and āunbelievably offensiveā refusal letter referencing six Bible passages and claiming that the book of Revelation is filled with āimages of revenge, destruction, death and violenceā.
The Home Office rejection, below the quoted verses concludes: āThese examples are inconsistent with your claim that you converted to Christianity after discovering it is a ‘peacefulā religion, as opposed to Islam which contains violence, rage and revenge.ā
I strongly object to the HOās process and final judgment for these reasons:
The rejection for asylum included verses from the books of Leviticus, Exodus, and Revelation that the HO claimed demonstrated Christianity was not a peaceful faith but one of violence and revenge. Faulty biblical interpretation of these verses was only one of the deficiencies in the decision.
The HO quoted Matthew 10:34 to try to demonstrate Christianity was not a peaceful religion: āDo not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a swordā (NRSV). In context, what does that mean?
Messiah would be the Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6-7) but the people will violently reject Him and His reign (hence the crucifixion and resurrection). Jesus taught His disciples, āPeace I leave with you; my peace I give youā (John 14:27).
(image courtesy Pinterest)
Before the consummation of all things (Jesusā second coming), there will be peace in the midst of a hostile world where there will be violence. With Jesusā first coming, he warned his disciples that they would experience His peace but it would be mixed with violence (the sword), not from His followers, but by others.
Donāt you see the irony of this asylum rejection? This person has experienced the violence in Iran (the sword ā not from Christianity) and is fleeing from that to a country of relative peace, the UK. However, the HO does not want to grant him peace but wants to send him back to persecution in Iran?
You donāt realise it, but you have helped this person experience Matt 10:34 (when properly interpreted).
Itās time for the HO staff to take a basic course in biblical hermeneutics (interpretation).
Profound biblical misunderstanding by the HO leads me to support Bishop Butler of Durham who said of the HO, ‘I am extremely concerned that a Government department could determine the future of another human being based on such a profound misunderstanding of the texts and practices of faith communities‘.
a. Leviticus not for Christians
One of the HO verses given for rejection was the line from Leviticus 26:7, āYou will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before youā.
To whom was this verse directed? It was addressed to the Israelites (Lev 25:54-55) and all of Leviticus 26 deals with what will happen for obedience or disobedience by THE ISRAELITES.
Lev 26:7 does NOT deal with laws for Christians.
The HO staff has fallen into the hole of misrepresentation and eisegesis. A course in basic hermeneutics is needed by those staff who made the final decision.
b. Christianity and peace
Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God’ (Matt 5:9). This does not contradict Leviticus 26:7 (What is the context? Who will fall by the sword?) Jesus did not teach, āBlessed are the violence pertratorsā.
The almighty God whom Christians worship has one attribute in which he is the God of peace (Phil 4:6-9 NLT). However, heās also the God of wrath (see John 3:36), which demonstrates the judgment of God.
c. The apocalyptic Book of Revelation
Itās a shocker what the HO has done with the interpretation of the Book of Revelation in rejecting this visa application.
I join with Bishop Paul Buttler in condemnation of the HOās actions: āTo use extracts from the Book of Revelation to argue that Christianity is a violent religion is like arguing that a government report on the impact of climate change is advocating drought and floodingā.
Your HO staff donāt seem to know how to interpret apocalyptic literature.
Of the three points above, why has the HO engaged in biblical interpretation at all? If they want biblical interpreters, there are many in the Church of England who have done much better jobs than that demonstrated in the rejection letter.
I understand that a Home Office spokesperson said:
“This letter (of asylum rejection) is not in accordance with our policy approach to claims based on religious persecution, including conversions to a particular faith.
“We continue to work closely with key partners, including the APPG (All-party parliamentary group) on International Freedom of Religion and a range of faith groups, to improve our policy guidance and training provided to asylum decision-makers so that we approach claims involving religious conversion in the appropriate way” (Premier, 21 March 2019).
I sent the basic content of this article to: (a) The British High Commissioner, Canberra, ACT Australia, email: [email protected]; and (b)Ā The United Kingdom Home Office, London UK, email: [email protected]. When and if responses come, Iāll add to this topic.
Conclusion
The British Home Office (HO) entered the voyage of biblical interpretation in its rejection of a visa for an Iranian asylum seeker who converted from Islam to Christianity because the latter is a ‘peaceful religion’.
The Iranian claimed that Christianity was a peaceful religion. The HO said in its letter of rejection that it wasnāt and quoted passages from the books of Leviticus, Deuteronomy and the Book of Revelation. The HO claimed the Book of Revelation was filled with āimages of revenge, destruction, death and violenceā.
It cited Matt 10:34 to try to confirm Christianityās violent intent. To ram home the point of Christianityās violence, it used Leviticus 26:10.
I tried to show that the HO engaged in eisegesis ā imposing its own meaning on the text ā instead of obtaining the meaning from the text, when taken in context. The books of Exodus and Leviticus were written to the Israelites and demonstrated what God would do to that nation if it obeyed or disobeyed Godās commands.
The HO officials who wrote this letter of rejection to the asylum seeker should hand hermeneutics (interpretation) over to the theologians and exegetes. The rejection letter contained pathetic biblical interpretation that a Hermeneutics 101 student would be failed for.
(photo courtesy The Independent: āAnger after asylum seekers given just 80p a week extra in Home Office rulingā)
Copyright Ā© 2019 Spencer D. Gear. This document last updated at Date:01 April 2019.