A review by karnaconverse
Jesus the Refugee: Ancient Injustice and Modern Solidarity by D. Glenn Butner

 

Asks: Why would one try to enter another country illegally? 

. . . and answers by applying present-day immigration laws regarding refugees and asylees—as grounded in the 1951 Refugee Convention, UNHCR's* key legal document—to the Biblical story of Mary and Joseph's flight to Egypt.

Butner's academic-leaning study offers a detailed look at determining whether or not Mary and Joseph would qualify as refugees—through the lens of Christian ethics and with much discussion about changing geographical boundaries, patterns of migration, internally-displaced persons, and government-sponsored labor recruitment. 

"To determine whether Mary and Joseph are refugees in the imagined scenario of this book, we must consider four points: (1) whether they had a well-founded fear of persecution; (2) whether this fear met the reasons designated in article 1 of the 1951 Refugee Convention; (3) whether they were outside of the country of their nationality; and (4) whether they were unable or unwilling to find protection in their home country for fear of this persecution."

In considering each of these points, Butner toggles between an historical overview of the Roman Empire and a more-recent historical look at the passage and implementation of the United States's 1980 Refugee Act. He highlights, especially, U.S. policies regarding Haitian refugees dating back to the 1970s. Overall, his discussion is sobering—noting that "eighty-two million displaced persons are currently in the world . . . only 2 percent of refugees find homes each year through resettlement or repatriation" . . . "collectively, the world’s nation-states resettle only 1 percent of the refugee population each year. Only 29 countries of 149 refugee convention signatories provided refugee resettlement in 2019." But he ends a bit more positively by outlining a call to action: "The Bible calls us to a general solidarity with strangers."

Read for a discussion at church. 

*Office of the High Commissioner for Refugee