Given how many times those attempting to navigate the Obamacare health exchange websites have probably invoked “Jesus Christ,”  “God” and “Heaven”, a UCLA professor’s assertions about Christ and Obamacare may have a little merit.

Samantha Watkins, a student at Point Loma Nazarene University, has a report on Robert Chao Romero, an ethnic studies professor at UCLA who also runs a Christian youth ministry in Los Angeles, and his views on President Obama’s signature legislation.

But the way Romero sees it, Jesus would support immigration reform, affirmative action – even the Affordable Care Act – and it’s part of a message he gives to college students to teach them about “Jesus’ heart for justice,” he tells The College Fix.

Romero recently published a free ebook, “Jesus For Revolutionaries,” which spells out in detail why he believes Jesus would support all three measures.

When it comes to Obamacare, Romero said he – and Jesus – support it because “50,000 of my neighbors in the United States die each year for lack of meaningful healthcare.”

“To love them as myself requires that I support structural change to our nation’s health care system,” he explains. “The Affordable Care Act is far from perfect, but it is a strong step away from the status quo and towards loving our neighbors as ourselves.”

It’s the same concept behind immigration reform and affirmative action, he adds.

“Any time immigrants and the poor are marginalized and exploited, I believe that God wants us to implement changes to society which alleviate their suffering and restore their dignity as children of God,” Romero said in an email to The Fix.

“God identifies with the suffering of immigrants and the poor, so much that He teaches that when we interact with them, we are actually interacting with Him,” Romero said. “If we truly love God, then we will also love the poor and disenfranchised. It is impossible to truly know God and continually exploit the poor and marginalized.”

Over the last seven years, Romero has slowly built up a ministry among college students in the greater Los Angeles area, one that galvanizes young people to volunteer and mentor for various urban ministries. He also launched a “Christian Students of Conscience” campus club that is unique to UCLA, but works with students across Los Angeles.

….Asked why Jesus would support amnesty, the professor said: “Jesus would have us extend compassion towards immigrants who are made in His image. In Matthew 25, Jesus teaches that if our love for Him is sincere, then we will have a heart of compassion for immigrants.”

By quoting the Bible, Romero said he believes he provides evidence to back his viewpoint that “Jesus transcends all human political structures-both of his own day and our own.”


 
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