It seems I upset a few people with my post of yesterday. That wasn’t my intention. Given two of the three examples I used for living according to the scriptural injunction were based on my experience in the LDS church (tithing and polygamy), and that most of my readers are LDS, I knew there might be some discomfort for some people. But I expected it to be in relation to tithing and/or polygamy. I did receive one message from a lovely LDS woman about tithing, but every single other comment was about immigration – and not a single person had a positive thing to say about it. Indeed, quite a few were angry that I dared suggest a scriptural approach to the issue.

On the one hand, I probably should have foreseen this. I know immigration is a hot-button issue for a lot of people, and it does appear to be more prevalent amongst the Christian right, which the Mormon church definitely identifies with.

But on the other hand, it is both bewildering and soul-crushing.

I was pretty despondent last night and I prayed to the Lord that He would provide me with some relief. I then went to YouTube and there, right in the middle of the screen of recommendations, was this podcast from The Biblical Mind: Who is the Foreigner We’re Supposed to Love. I recommend anyone who wants to understand the subject better to have a listen.

The parable of the good Samaritan is intended to teach us that everyone is our neighbour, and we are specifically charged to love our neighbours. Indeed, we’re even supposed to love our enemies. How can it therefore be that so many us who call ourselves Christians fail to find an ounce of compassion or sympathy for immigrants?

God Loves Foreigners

‘He makes sure that orphans and widows are treated fairly; he loves the foreigners who live with our people, and gives them food and clothes. So then, show love for those foreigners, because you were once foreigners in Egypt.’ (Deuteronomy 10:18-19, GNT)

Do we get this? Do we truly understand and internalise what the Lord is telling us? God loves the foreigners among us, and commands us to show love to them. We’re supposed to give them food and clothes.

Why? First, because God loves them. Do we think our judgement is superior to that of God’s? We have some serious humbling coming our way if so. That He loves them should be good enough reason for us to follow Him.

The second reason is that Israel were once themselves foreigners in Egypt. There they were mistreated for hundreds of years. They were demeaned and given heavy burdens. Their firstborn sons were slaughtered because the native population feared them. Take note of that, because it’s critical for us and we’ll come back to it in a minute.

First though, we are all descended from immigrants. My own ancestry is all English as far as I gone back, but the current English aren’t originally native. The Celts immigrated here from Central Europe. The Angles and Saxons came from Germany. The Vikings from Scandinavia. The Normans from France. They were all unwelcome. My own ancestors were once afraid in a new land, some perhaps brutally enslaved. Seeing immigrants was supposed to remind the Israelites that they were once foreigners in a strange land and treated badly. They were supposed to do better. The same applies to us.

As I say, the reason we often don’t is because of fear. Humans naturally fear the unknown and fear change, and foreigners represent both. Politicians love fear – they stir up fear of minorities and vulnerable groups, and immigrants are easy targets. They say, ‘They’re stealing our jobs’, or, ‘They come to get benefits and be scroungers’, or, ‘They’re all criminals.’

I googled crime rates between immigrant and native populations. The omnipresent AI said that crime rates are generally lower amongst immigrants in both the US and UK. But not trusting AI, I had a look at the first article that appeared. You can find it here.

Fear

It only looks like crime is higher amongst immigrant populations because people pushing political propaganda (including news media and influencers) want us to think that way because they’re beholden to those politicians and/or powerful people who want to sway public opinion in a certain direction. But it’s simply not true according to the data. As I said in my post yesterday, if we fall for this, we are being deceived. It creates division, anger, and importantly, fear.

Hitler convinced the Christian nation of Germany to fear the Jews and then took the people on a journey that led to horror. When we start on the path of fearing a minority, we are on a very dark path indeed.

An oft-used reason to treat immigrants so badly is that there is a difference between legal immigration and illegal immigration. So far I’ve failed to find any scriptures to support this. The only person to reference a scripture quoted the Book of Mormon:

‘Nevertheless, the Nephites were inspired by a better cause, for they were not fighting for monarchy nor power but they were fighting for their homes and their liberties, their wives and their children, and their all, yea, for their rites of worship and their church. And they were doing that which they felt was the duty which they owed to their God; for the Lord had said unto them, and also unto their fathers, that: Inasmuch as ye are not guilty of the first offense, neither the second, ye shall not suffer yourselves to be slain by the hands of your enemies.’ (Alma 43:45-46)

These are great verses, but they don’t address immigration and in any case these Nephites were also defending many thousands of Lamanite refugees.

We Can Always Love

But quite apart from this. I never said in my post that the scriptures demand unrestricted immigration. I personally believe that we should be much more generous than we are, but of course we will all have very different views about that and we should be able to discuss them civilly. It is no doubt that immigration is a very complicated issue. I live in a small town and when we see a development for another 100 houses go up in an empty field my heart sinks a little. Not because I don’t like the people who are moving in, but because our only GP practice in the town is already over-stretched, as are our schools, and we know we won’t be getting any new services. That’s not an immigrant problem; it’s a logistical problem, and it’s one the government can solve if they want to.

But whatever we decide on as nations with regards to our immigration policy, we should still have and show love towards all immigrants. When I see images and videos or read stories of immigration agents, I see no love at all – in fact the opposite. There seems to be a view amongst some that in order to discourage others from attempting to immigrate to our shores we should be as cruel as possible to those who are here. We need to remember than when we support that behaviour towards immigrants, we are supporting the same behaviour towards Jesus Christ.

‘For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.’ (Matt 25:42-46)

Role of Government

The final argument made against loving immigrants was that there is no obligation for governments to do so; it is only for individuals. To be honest, I find this argument a little bizarre, as if our governments don’t reflect the people they govern in any way. In a democracy, our governments absolutely do reflect the people who voted them in.

But Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and more absolutely condemned the leaders of the people for their cruelty and ignorance towards the vulnerable.

‘The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord God of hosts.’ (Isaiah 3:14-15)

‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.

‘Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock; Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.’ (Ezekiel 34:2-10)

The ancient Israelites were judged harshly because of the way their society treated the poor, oppressed and vulnerable. The Nephites were judged harshly because of the way their society treated the poor and the vulnerable. We don’t get a different set of rules. We will be judged for the way in which we treat the poor and the vulnerable.

‘Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.’ (Matt 23:14)

And this is the rub. We can attend our church meetings, say lovely prayers, serve in callings, attend the temple and more. But if our hearts aren’t full of love, if we instead treat the vulnerable amongst us harshly, we are hypocrites.

Being Right and Wrong

Now, I’ve titled this post, Being Right and Wrong. In one sense, I was right that yesterday’s post would cause some consternation amongst Latter-day Saints. I was wrong on which topic.

I also get quite animated about this issue. Treating the vulnerable with cruelty riles me up. Haven’t people suffered enough without us adding to the suffering? It angered God enough to send the flood. Maybe I’ve been too emotional at times, and that is wrong and I’m sorry. But the message itself I truly believe is still right.

But additionally, we need to recognise that all of us are right about some things and wrong about some things. Everyone who knows me will tell you that I am no prophet. I never have been and never will be. I haven’t ascended to the throne of God as did Isaiah, and Lehi, and John the Revelator, and Joseph Smith.

I was accused yesterday of being one of those evil leftist Democrats. I suppose the closest thing in the UK is the Labour Party. But I’m not a member of any political party and never have been. Over my life I’ve voted for probably every major political party, as well as for Independents. I’m the archetypal ‘floating voter’, with allegiance to no-one. I think they’re all corrupt and that it’s usually a case of choosing the least-bad option at voting time.

So, I’m not a prophet; I’m not a Democrat; I’m not a Republican. I’m just a guy. A guy who loves the Lord and who continues to study the scriptures and pray and seek to come closer to the Lord and learn – learn new things as well as learn that things I’ve previously believed are wrong. That will continue as I learn that some things I currently believe are wrong and the Lord will teach me new truths. Some day I may write a post about why I blog but, as said Aragorn in front of the Black Gates of Mordor, ‘That day is not this day.’

This day, I hope and pray that we can all be filled with compassion. Compassion for each other, yes, but more importantly compassion and love for the vulnerable amongst us, including the immigrants. For inasmuch as we do it unto one of the least of those our brethren and sisters, we do it our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Himself.

© Copyright Jeffrey Collyer 2026