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Central Florida's own Pastor Paula White: Jesus wouldn't break immigration law

July 12, 2018 at 12:36 PM

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PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS TOBAR RODRIGUEZ

photo illustration by Chris Tobar Rodriguez

Paula White, an Apopka televangelist who last year said defying President Donald Trump was "fighting against the hand of God," has once again opened her mouth and shoved her entire stiletto-heeled boot on in there. This time around she's praising baby jails to the high heavens, and opining that Jesus wasn't an illegal.

(Actually, our favorite thing White has ever said was: "I don't want pie in the sky by and by, I want some ham where I am," in a sermon instructing her congregation to tithe. What an elegant way of phrasing "Give me all your cash or else.")

In an interview with CBN News that aired Monday, White praised the detention centers where thousands of migrant children are being held without their parents, saying that they are "falsely narrated" in the media. After touring one facility, she said, she found the center "amazing," adding, "Not just three square meals – psychiatric care, clinician, medical care, chapel, events, schooling, language, and love."

CBN's National Security Correspondent, Erik Rosales, then asked White whether "any biblical scriptures that came to mind during her visit." Her stunning reply:

"I think so many people have taken biblical scriptures out of context on this, to say stuff like, 'Well, Jesus was a refugee,'" White responded. "Yes, He did live in Egypt for three-and-a-half years. But it was not illegal. If He had broken the law then He would have been sinful and He would not have been our Messiah."

It's been some time since I read any part of the Bible besides the dirty parts (the Song of Solomon), but I'm, uh, pretty sure Jesus ran into some trouble with law enforcement right around his 33rd birthday.

Many, many, many, many Christians have weighed in on Twitter to disagree with White – too many to share here, but this is a fair representative:

Jesus, as a dude, had a whole entire point when it came to the law. If the law only serves the law, and makes it harder to serve God and your neighbor, tear up the whole entire law.
— Allison Hantschel (@Athenae) July 12, 2018

Rip it down. Throw the moneylenders out of the temple. Tell the high priests to fuck themselves. Stand up for the hookers and the homeless. That's why they nailed Him to a tree. That's it, that's the story. He was a threat to power.
— Allison Hantschel (@Athenae) July 12, 2018

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