Of all the odious things which have been said about the refugee crisis, perhaps the most spurious and offensive is the Hungarian government’s claim that, in refusing to give food, shelter and safety to the world’s most needy people, it is somehow defending Europe’s "Christian values" (Refugees diverted to Slovenia as Hungary erects fence, The world, October 18).
Time for a Bible lesson, Budapest. Leviticus 19:34 reads: "The foreigner among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself."
In Matthew 25:35, Jesus, himself an undocumented child refugee forced to flee from the despotic King Herod into Egypt, says: "Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in."
Europe’s Christian identity is under threat, but not from Muslim refugees. There is simply no justification for Budapest’s cruelty in Christianity, a religion of altruism, mercy and hospitality.
David Kelly.
Edinburgh
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