However, it would seem that most of the things said about walls in divine revelation are overwhelmingly positive.
For example, Proverbs 25:28 counsels, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.”
Some might dismiss that as rhetorical metaphor rather than as a literal example where actual people and lives are involved.
In terms of history, an entire book of the Bible is dedicated to an individual moved by God to take on as his life's work the rebuilding of the wall around the Jerusalem that he loved.
That was none other than Nehemiah.
And to those that dismiss that entire account as Old Testament, the New Testament speaks perhaps even more favorably of walls.
For example, in Revelation 21:14, Heaven or the New Jerusalem is described as having a wall made of jasper having twelve foundations (each named for one of Christ's twelve Apostles).
With this wall measuring 12,000 stadia in length, width and height, assorted Bible scholars estimate this wall to be 1400 miles long, 1400 miles wide, and 1400 miles tall.
Given that Heaven is where the concentrated presence of God dwells, it is safe to conjecture that God must really like walls.
As the institutionally professed Vicar of Christ, does the Pope now take it upon himself to claim that he apparently knows more about what God wants than God?
Lastly, what about the walls built by the Roman Catholic Church in terms of doctrine and dogma to control access to God?
For example, it is doubtful that one will be granted access to what those administering this form of Christianity believe to be the gateway by which to enter the Kingdom of God (namely Communion, the Lord's Supper, or the Eucharist) unless one consents to this denomination's particular peculiarities.
As such, why shouldn't the United States be allowed to determine for itself by what criteria outsiders will be granted permission to enter here as well?
By Frederick Meekins