Christians Should Welcome Stricter Border Controls

Nationhood, far from being at odds with Christianity, is at the very heart of its teaching on how Christ’s redemptive mission must unfold. In this context, the case for nationhood must not be confused with the ideology of nationalism, which denotes the pathology of treating the nation as some kind of idol. And certainly, the Christian teaching on nationhood does not entail a strictly binary conception of nations that would see no possibility for someone of one nation to join another. Indeed, after the ascension of Christ, the head of the Church, Peter the Apostle, emigrated to Rome; Thomas to India; James to Spain; Mary Magdalene to France; and most importantly, Joseph of Arimathea to Somerset.