Last week, Jeff Sessions, offered his best imitation of the "Islamist" theocrats his type loves to vilify. The nation's leading law enforcement agent claimed that God endorses Trump's policy of separating refugee children from their parents. Sharia Law anyone?

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Last Wednesday and Thursday were the most theological days I can remember.

It all revolved around the Trump administration's practice of separating children from their immigrant parents, including tearing nursing infants from the breasts of their mothers and the attendant prospect of "baby jails."

To begin with, the Roman Catholic Bishops' Conference condemned such policy as clearly immoral.

Even evangelical Trump supporter, Franklin Graham, called the Trump policy "disgraceful."

In response, Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, offered his best imitation of the "Islamist" theocrats his type loves to vilify. Instead of invoking U.S. law, the Constitution, or legal and historical precedent, the nation's leading law enforcement agent decided to justify Trump policy theologically. He claimed that the apostle Paul would endorse it, since the program comes from government, which Sessions declared enjoys ipso facto divine authority.

Sharia Law, anyone?

More specifically, the AG referenced Romans 13. He said, "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 them for the purpose of order."

The next day, Mr. Trump's press secretary, Sarah Sanders followed suit averring that "It is very biblical to enforce the law."

Such theological debate invites comment.

The first response is that Paul obviously could not have meant that all government legislation reflects the will of God. That would mean not only that the U.S. slave system was divinely approved, but that the decrees of Genghis Kahn, Hitler, and Stalin enjoyed divine approbation.

Even closer to home, the Sessions interpretation of Romans 13 would mean that Jesus himself, Paul, and all the great Christian martyrs -- not to mention religiously-motivated champions of civil disobedience like Martin King and Mohandas Gandhi -- were all condemned by God.

On the contrary, all of them (including Gandhi), drew inspiration from the example of biblical prophets who made a point of disobeying laws which routinely claimed divine origin.

In fact, Jesus' defense for breaking the most inviolable law of his time, the Sabbath Law, was that law's very purpose was to serve human beings. Laws contradicting such humanitarian intent, he implied, have no authority at all.

So, what, then, did Paul mean by his words, "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God"?

Try this:
" Authority means the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience.
" All such power comes from God and God's law.
" Government legislation reflecting God's law must be obeyed.
" Obviously, all other laws must be disobeyed.
" According to Jesus' teachings, God's law is to treat others as you would like to be treated with special care for the poor, widows, orphans, and immigrants.

In the end, the great Dr. William Barber II, the dynamic animator of the contemporary Poor People's Campaign gave the best response to the self-serving absurdity and hypocrisy of Mullah Sessions' invocation of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Barber called their interpretations "heresy" and said:

"First of all, (they're) misinterpreting that text. Paul actually was arrested by the government, because Christians challenged the government. That's one of the reasons Paul ends up getting killed. . . Second of all, the Bible is clear, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, that one of God's primary concerns is that we care for the stranger, that we do not rob children of their rights, and mothers of their children, that we welcome the stranger and make sure that the stranger, the immigrant, the undocumented person, is treated like a brother or sister. You cannot find anywhere where Jesus or the prophets would say anything like what Sessions said."

Today it's immigrants. One wonders about the next victims of Mr. Sessions' Christian counterpart of Sharia Law. Beware!

Authors Website: http://mikerivageseul.wordpress.com/

Authors Bio:

Mike Rivage-Seul is a liberation theologian and former Roman Catholic priest. His undergraduate degree in philosophy was received from St. Columban's Major Seminary in Milton Massachusetts and awarded through D.C.'s Catholic University. He received his theology licentiate from the Atheneum Anselmianum and his doctorate in moral theology (magna cum laude) from the Academia Alfonsiana in Rome where Mike studied for five years. There he also played club basketball for Eurosport and a team within Rome's Stella Azzurra professional organization. In 1972 he served for a year as coordinator of volunteers in Monsignor Ralph Beiting's Christian Appalachian Project. Then for 40 years, Mike taught theology and general studies at Berea College in Kentucky receiving its Seabury Award for excellence in teaching, Berea's highest faculty award. At Berea, Mike founded its Peace and Social Justice Studies program. He and his wife, Peggy, also organized and started the Berea Interfaith Taskforce for Peace. For years, he periodically taught liberation theology in a Latin American Studies Program in Costa Rica sponsored by the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. In Costa Rica Mike and Peggy were fellows at the liberation theology research institute, the Departamento Ecumenico de Investigaciones (DEI) headed by the great Franz Hinkelammert. In Mexico, they also served as fellows and program directors in San Miguel de Allende's Center for Global Justice. Mike's studies and teaching have brought him to countries across Europe and to Cuba (on 10 occasions), Nicaragua (12 occasions), Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Israel, India, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Brazil where he and Peggy were associates of Paulo Freire. Mike's languages include Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. For three years he was a monthly columnist at the Lexington Herald-Leader in Lexington Kentucky. He has contributed more than 400 articles to the online news source OpEdNews where he is a senior editor. He has also published in the DEI's Pasos Journal, in the National Catholic Reporter and Christianity Today. His scholarship has been cited in the New York Times. Mike has authored or edited 10 books including one of poetry and a novel based on his experiences in Cuba. His latest book is The Magic Glasses of Critical Thinking: seeing through alternative fact & fake news (Peter Lang publishers). He blogs at http://mikerivageseul.wordpress.com/ Attempting to appropriate his identity as an ordained exorcist (all Catholic priests are), Mike also reads Tarot cards. He is a lifelong golfer and Chicago Cubs fan.