February 5, 2025 Thien Bui

(REVIEW) On June 15, 2015, Donald Trump announced his presidential candidacy from Trump Tower, declaring, “I will build a great wall on our southern border.” This wall symbolizes the anti-immigration policies he pursued during his time in office, which continue to have lasting effects.

Netanyahu, West or Pope Theological Drift? Modi ‘New Era’ _Why conservative American evangelicals are among Israel’s strongest supporters

Netanyahu, West or Pope Theological Drift? Modi ‘New Era’ _Why conservative American evangelicals are among Israel’s strongest supporters

Surprisingly, his statement about building a southern wall against immigrants reflects an exclusive mindset inspired by the book of Revelation in the Bible. The Book of Revelation by John of Patmos details God’s judgment during the Apocalypse and envisions Christ’s return to defeat evil and establish the New Jerusalem. Despite the message of hope, the interpretation and usage of the book are much darker.

Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation of spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience. GC 588.1

The Dangers of Defining Pope Francis Has World’s Morality Guardian Angel

As spiritualism more closely imitates the nominal Christianity of the day, it has greater power to deceive and ensnare. Satan himself is converted, after the modern order of things. He will appear in the character of an angel of light. Through the agency of spiritualism, miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and many undeniable wonders will be performed. And as the spirits will profess faith in the Bible, and manifest respect for the institutions of the church, their work will be accepted as a manifestation of divine power. GC 588.2

In “Immigration and Apocalypse: How the Book of Revelation Shaped American Immigration,” Professor Yii Jan Lin narrates how some Americans have used the apocalyptic vision from the Book of Revelation to idealize the United States as a new holy land, while simultaneously marginalizing immigrants. The U.S. is portrayed as the New Jerusalem, with immigrants viewed as outsiders exhibiting unethical behaviors.

Papists, who boast of miracles as a certain sign of the true church, will be readily deceived by this wonder-working power; and Protestants, having cast away the shield of truth, will also be deluded. Papists, Protestants, and worldlings will alike accept the form of godliness without the power, and they will see in this union a grand movement  for the conversion of the world and the ushering in of the long-expected millennium. GC 588.3

Two Beasts : Trump’s ‘God squad’ holds increasing sway at White House _Pope Assembles a Squad to Fight Religious Extrimism Bias

Two Beasts : Trump’s ‘God squad’ holds increasing sway at White House _Pope Assembles a Squad to Fight Religious Extrimism Bias

This book demonstrates how Judeo-Christian scripture, which describes a just God, can be interpreted to exclude those deemed unfit by temporary human standards.

In general, “Immigration and Apocalypse” is full of knowledgeable ideas and distinguished analyses of intellectual writings, religious tracts, presidential speeches and even social media posts. When purusing the book, readers may find some introductory paragraphs on immigration history a bit lengthy. However, these paragraphs are necessary to understand the correlation between the intellectual ideas on the Revelation and anti-immigration in the U.S.

Controversial ICE Raids : Is America Preparing The Way For A One Word Ruler? Back to Rome/Egypt!

If you are concerned about religion and the harsh border policies under the current Trump administration, especially the controversial ICE Raids, this book will be worth your time.

America: A New Jerusalem 

Despite being perceived as violent intruders by Native Americans, European colonizers considered their discovery of America as the fulfillment of a Book of Revelation prophecy about a new city with diverse languages and nations. Cotton Mather, a Puritan clergyman in colonial New England, praised America as “the holy city” based on Revelation.

It was the desire for liberty of conscience that inspired the Pilgrims to brave the perils of the long journey across the sea, to endure the hardships and dangers of the wilderness, and with God’s blessing to lay, on the shores of America, the foundation of a mighty nation. Yet honest and God-fearing  as they were, the Pilgrims did not yet comprehend the great principle of religious liberty. The freedom which they sacrificed so much to secure for themselves, they were not equally ready to grant to others. “Very few, even of the foremost thinkers and moralists of the seventeenth century, had any just conception of that grand principle, the outgrowth of the New Testament, which acknowledges God as the sole judge of human faith.”—Ibid. 5:297. The doctrine that God has committed to the church the right to control the conscience, and to define and punish heresy, is one of the most deeply rooted of papal errors. While the Reformers rejected the creed of Rome, they were not entirely free from her spirit of intolerance. The dense darkness in which, through the long ages of her rule, popery had enveloped all Christendom, had not even yet been wholly dissipated. Said one of the leading ministers in the colony of Massachusetts Bay: “It was toleration that made the world antichristian; and the church never took harm by the punishment of heretics.”—Ibid., vol. 5, p. 335. The regulation was adopted by the colonists that only church members should have a voice in the civil government. A kind of state church was formed, all the people being required to contribute to the support of the clergy, and the magistrates being authorized to suppress heresy. Thus the secular power was in the hands of the church. It was not long before these measures led to the inevitable result—persecution. GC 292.3

Three centuries later, the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, echoed a similar message. Lin notes the connection between Reagan’s speech and Revelation 21, which describes the city of God. Reagan called America a “shining city on a hill,” portraying it as a beacon of hope and reflecting themes from traditional Puritan beliefs and 20th-century American Evangelicals.

In other words, Reagan’s imagination reflects a prolonged expectation of the American religious elite on America as a New Jerusalem. However, the New Jerusalem has its own secular criteria. 

When the holy city is not for everyone

Race is a crucial element. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Chinese workers were categorized as the outsiders of the New Jerusalem. American elites likened Chinese symbols to demonic images. For instance, they perceived the dragon on the flag of the Qing Dynasty as the Satanic dragon in the Book of Revelation.

American writer Pierton W. Dooner, in his 1880 book “Last Days of the Republic,” depicts the Chinese as the demonic “Asiatic serpent”. This anti-Chinese rhetoric contributed to immigration restrictions, with U.S. Senators labeling China as “the apocalyptic whore and the enemies of God’s kingdom.”

What’s more, the ruling political class also used the description from the Book of Revelation to set up the standard of “cleanliness,” which means the exception of biological threats. Revelation 22 writes “who wash their robes […] may enter the city by the gates.” Some American nativists interpreted the text to set barriers for people with diseases and even unethical behaviors. 

To control immigration, American lawmakers created a system akin to Revelation’s Book of Life, called, “The Book of White Life.” According to Lin, this book records who is considered “white enough to have citizenship” in the New Jerusalem of America. Congress developed a “Book of Deeds” to further specify “The Book of White Life,” outlining the actions required to enter the United States.

We can see a scripture-based selective process to exclude those unwanted. Eventually, this thinking shapes the extreme state policy adopted by the current most powerful figure: Trump, who won election for a second time this past November.    

From prejudice to policy

Many modern American politicians favored a passage from Revelation 21. This passage vividly describes a holy city with ” a great, high wall with 12 gates” and “12 foundations.” These politicians often invoke the imagery of the New Jerusalem, with its walls and gates, to convince the public to support anti-immigration policy.

Many American political figures believe that America is a land blessed by God and that constructing a wall to restrict immigration aligns with divine will. An Iowa congressman posted on social media: “Heaven has a wall, a gate and a strict immigration policy. Hell has open borders.”

But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Galatians 4 : 26

The post pales in comparison to the speech given by Trump in recent years. Lin points out that Trump often discusses the specific measurements of the wall, including its height and length. However, she argues that the real issue is not the size; rather, it deeply revolves around Trump’s self-image as the person who would rebuild America, envisioning it as a New Jerusalem, complete with walls and gates.

Furthermore, the narrative of America also represents a gateway of meritocracy, as described in Revelation, that draws in those who could “enrich the New Jerusalem.” No surprise that Trump’s slogan is “Make America Great Again.”