Does anyone remember love and mercy? Not Shane Idleman...

::::::::

The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:34 (ESV)

As we have covered, Shane Idleman used to be a decent expositor of the word. Then COVID hit and faced with dwindling tithes he went against the state to reopen his church at the height of the plague. He then was hit upside the head with the Trump idolatry stick. The Shane Idleman of today is a MAGA pastor, making his name by defending everything Trump. Today's subject is covering a recent post from Shane parroting right wing talking points about the immigrant situation. Shane sees the optics on TV with folks being carted off into war planes and is trying to pretend that somehow within the paradigm of Christan love and mercy, this is all somehow ok. The bible of course is vehemently opposed to Shane's position. The number one topic in scripture after salvation, is taking care of the least in society. I used the above verse from Leviticus but I could have chosen countless other verses as well. I used this one because I recently heard the NAR dominionist push back on this that it secretly meant something else having to do with assimilation into Israel. NONSENSE. Exposit the verse! God does not just say love the alien as yourself, which should be good enough by the way. God tells us why, which probably means He knew that some would try and twist their hatred into His word and He wanted to leave no doubt as to why. That reason is because Israel were once aliens in Egypt. Were they assimilated into Egyptian culture? Hardly. They lived separate and apart and then were enslaved for 400 years. The subject of immigration is a thorny and contentious one in this country but the primary reason for that are disinformation agents and pure blind hatred. That is bad enough but when Christians and pastors join in, it permanently damages the witness for Jesus Christ and undermines the cause of the gospel. So, let us reason once more and reset what we are supposed to be about in all things - loving and merciful.

"QUESTION: "Shouldn't we be loving and merciful to immigrants?" The biggest mistake that those who ask this question make, is that they don't differentiate between the role of government and the role of individual believers. The government is called to restrain evil. Everything Can't Be a Priority. To properly handle immigration, it must be a legal process. Second, we must prioritize citizens and citizenship " if everything is a priority, then nothing is. When an airplane loses cabin pressure, parents put on their oxygen masks first so they can then assist their child. This isn't selfishness; it's wisdom. In the same way, the governor is to put the safety of his people first. We are about to pay a heavy cost given the fact many convicted murderers are here illegally and that Gavin Newsom and California Democrats recently reached a $50M deal to Trump-proof the state. Yes, you read that correctly. Confused? So am I. It Makes No Sense." - Shane Idleman

Let me start with the obvious problem here. Shane Idleman cosplays as a pastor. He is not a politician, yet 80% of his social media activity is entire political, and entirely sold out to the Republican Party. The problem of course is he constantly mixes his faith with his politics. In doing so, he confers righteousness upon pure evil. I am not playing whataboutism games. No one is making any argument of Christian values or righteousness on the left. So, what Shane tries to do here is a not so clever sleight of hand. The question is, should we as followers of Jesus Christ be loving and merciful to immigrants. This should produce a reflexive, "of course so" from Christians and how much more from Christian pastors? If you want to make this myopically simplistic view of government, fine. It actually has a little more responsibility than this and one could argue that it is more the role of the church to resist evil than a secular government that thinks the things of God are foolishness. The sleight of hand is in abdicating our response to the government. Shane throws his hands up in the air to say, well sure I am merciful and loving but that's not the government's role! Shouldn't it be? Shouldn't the role of Christians and pastors be to help facilitate the love and mercy of Christ? I would also argue that people fleeing mortal poverty and unspeakable violence in their countries to try and survive or find a safer place for their kids should not be classified as "evil," as Shane does here. While I agree that everything cannot be a priority, shouldn't love and mercy? We are supposed to be Christians, no? The dirty little secret is that we have made the legal process so impossible, that these desperate human beings, in case we forgot in our nationalism who we are speaking of, become more desperate and try sneaking in illegally.

The second sleight of hand is this obscene NAR dominionist view that we must come first. Screw anyone who was not blessed enough to have been born in this country. They cannot be a "priority." Whatever. As if the most advanced country in the history of the world cannot walk and chew gum at the same time. The technical term for this is an excuse. Hey, I would like to be loving and merciful but you know, everything can't be a priority. Not only is this profanely unchristian, Shane tries to make the argument that being loving and merciful is not showing wisdom! Now, let's deal with the bovine excrement talking points. Do you know how many convicted murderers are here illegally? About 13,000. That is out of 11 million illegal aliens currently residing in the US. Is it 13,000 too many? Absolutely, but fix THAT problem. Attacking the 11 million and pretending your stance is righteous because of less than one percent of them is not only intellectually bankrupt but morally as well. Hey, I would like to show you love and mercy but one percent of you are really bad. Gavin Newsome is blamed here because Idleman hates him, because he is a Democrat. The legislature passed these measures that Shane refers to almost in passing because he doesn't want to get into the details. The fifty million dollars is so they have a fund to fight the legal battles Trump likes to play with Democratic states and has nothing to do with this conversation.

"I have a hard time understanding how many are silent on this issue unless it's to attract more voters to California. Just recently, California would not allow voting locations to require IDs to vote. Please tell me how this makes sense." - Shane Idleman

Sure Shane, I would be happy to. When all you listen to is the Charlie Kirks of the world, it is no wonder you are so confused. The argument about voter ID is what is known as a "red herring." What it would amount to for poor people is a poll tax because you must pay to get the ID and many do not have it because of that. It is another hurdle to try and suppress the vote. That's it. Now here is the thing they won't tell you. You need to provide identifying information when you register and in California, if you did not provide such and it is your first time voting, you will have produce ID. Here is the other thing, no one votes twice. It is a miracle to get people to vote once. Let alone vote, then secretly go vote under someone else's name in a different district and face prosecution. For what? The closest election ever was 2000 and that was 537 votes in Florida. If you think 537 people could have voted twice, and all for Al Gore, then you are crazy. The 2016 Presidential Election for example, found FOUR cases of voter fraud. Do not buy the voter fraud myth perpetuated by Republican politicians that hide behind the guise of election integrity to try and suppress the votes of the poor and minorities. That is bad enough but to have an alleged pastor parrot those talking points is despicable. So, love and mercy cannot be priorities but it's OK to focus on bogus voter ID laws? Cause you know Jesus? You remember Him, right?

"Do we want power and control so much that we will literally sacrifice the lives and security of our citizens for it? God help us! I'm not na??ve; I know that all ideas have flaws, but we need to begin the conversation and get the ball rolling. Our motto must be: Compassion meets Concern. We must show compassion, but also fervently guard our citizens " which is actually the role of government. Secure the border and severely curtail crossings while increasing security. Use a lie detector or other technology to gauge intent and motives of those without any convictions. I know that this isn't bulletproof, but it adds another layer of accountability." - Shane Idleman

Again, a minute percentage of less than one percent. The hyperbole is extreme. This shouldn't be about power and control Shane. It should be about love and mercy. When I hear "compassion meets concern" I am reminded of all the other bovine excrement marketing catch phrases like "compassionate conservatism, which was neither. By the way, no is arguing not protecting our citizens, that is yet another red herring. It is the role of government but his solution is using a pickaxe when a scalpel is needed. The government should absolutely find out why and how 13,000 murderers are here and if we know they are, why they haven't been caught - by any political party. Deportations were higher under Biden and Obama than the Trump Administration. That is just a checkable fact. As for lie detector tests, this is why pastors need to stay in their lane. I am sure Shane can exegete a bible verse as long as he doesn't let his politics corrupt his interpretation. What is apparent however, is he knows nothing about lie detector tests, or immigration for that matter. Lie detector tests are not proven scientifically reliable AT ALL! They are inadmissible in court because of this. Maybe just maybe, and I am just spit-balling here, but maybe people who actually work in immigration and government would know better than a pastor from California who likes to attend far right-wing conferences and pretend they have Christian value. This would be like if Bill Clinton wanted to tell me the true meaning of Jeremiah 33:3. In this social media age everyone thinks they are an expert. One day they know better than 50 years of vaccine science. The next day they are experts at forest management. The next day they are making idiotic proposals to use lie detector tests to gauge intent and motives of immigrants! I am sure he meant he would lovingly use the lie detectors. Dear Lord Shane, stay in your lane!

"Determine if it is a family who truly needs assistance or if it is a person who might pose a security threat. Develop programs to help them learn English within two years. There must be a plan in place for employment, not free handouts." - Shane Idleman

That's what they do Shane. That is the current system. Great idea. Now get out of the way because as the old adage goes, if you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem. Because you only get your information from political provocateurs, you mistake talking points with knowledge. By the way, if the current system of determining threat levels is not working, then fix it. Stop trying to undermine it, and fix it. Develop programs to help them learn English? I am going to grant some grace here and assume Shane does not know that English proficiency is already part of the requirements for US citizenship and there are a myriad of community based options for English as a Second Language already. It is not loving or merciful to offer up what is already in place. We also see here a favorite talking point from the news sources Shane avails himself of. That these poor, desperate human beings are just sponges living off the government dole. Once again, because Shane gets his facts from disinformation agents, he must not realize that illegal immigrants are not eligible for public assistance. Heck, even green card holders are not eligible for their first five years in this country! Once again, stay in your lane.

"Streamline the process of becoming a citizen, such as issuing a temporary "pass" while the details are looked into. Adding measures such as these would show compassion and also ease the fear of deportation." - Shane Idleman

This is so embarrassing and damaging to the witness for Christ. This idea about issuing a temporary pass, is the current system. It is called asylum. It was set up in 1951 to deal with international refugees. The people Shane so callously refers to as not being priority, are largely trying to get in based on these laws. Now, most will be rejected and because the system currently takes so long, many just disappear into the country. That is how you get to 11 million folks being here illegally. Once again, fix the system. There was a deal on the table that would have massively increased funding to hire more judges to hear cases that would have helped speed up the process. It was all Republican ideas but the Democrats decided they would sign on and Joe Biden said he would sign it. It was tanked on purpose by Donald Trump because he wanted to run his campaign based on the hatred of immigrants. What some disingenuous folks might call the deprioritization of immigrants. So, spare me the pearl clutching about immigration. These are not solutions Shane. They are an insult to the cause of Christ.

"However, it is nearly impossible to vet most of those who cross our borders illegally. Again, this invasion will not stop until we remove the incentives to come here, such as government handouts of free money, food, and medical care. We need a defensible border and courts that actually enforce the laws. Again, I'm well aware of the challenges, but we'll miss 100% of the shots we don't take." - Shane Idleman

This is not an invasion Shane. This brings us full circle back to the original question. Should we as Christians be loving and merciful to immigrants? According to Shane the answer is a conditional yes. He says sure but out of the other side of his mouth he argues for government not being loving and merciful to them at all. Removing the incentives? Like what Shane? Not dying in their own country? Not having to raise your kids only to watch them be forced into gangs at the threat of death to their entire family? It is so arrogant to think you are entitled because you won the "where were you born" lottery. Shane Idleman did NOTHING to be born here. Neither did I. Apparently, he has never heard the phrase "but for the grace of God go I." There is no free governmental money or food. I do love the look of someone cosplaying as a pastor making the argument that providing food to the hungry is an "incentive." Or making the argument that healthcare, or tending to the sick, is just an "incentive." It is amazing to me that he would make these arguments after swearing that he has nothing but love and mercy for everyone! Well, not brown people. Not people who don't speak English. Certainly not people who would dare to vote Democratic. Or criticize his idol, Donald Trump. This is what happens when your faith becomes the idolatry of politics. Look, our immigration system is broken but both sides broke it. I have no issue with the government fixing that system but that starts by abiding by a treaty that we signed 74 years ago and fix the asylum process so people can have their cases heard expeditiously. Stop playing politics with it. These are actual human beings Shane. They deserve better than to hear you spew Ben Shapiro or Charlie Kirk talking points at them, or tell them they just cannot be a priority, or that expecting food or being taken care of if sick is just not the kind of love and mercy Jesus taught about. They just deserve better than this Shane. Look, either quit this nonsense or quit pretending you are a pastor and either way, stay in your lane. In the immortal words of Andrew Shepherd, your fifteen minutes are up.

Reverend Anthony Wade - January 27, 2025

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.