Did the White House Just Hijack Scripture?

The White House recently posted an ICE recruitment video quoting Isaiah 6:8 over images of armed agents and helicopters. Kaitlyn, Skye, and Phil unpack the disturbing misuse of Scripture for political messaging (from both Democrats and Republicans) and clear up what Isaiah’s call really meant. (From Holy Post 678)

Phil: On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security shared a propaganda video on Twitter. The one-minute video opens with footage of helicopters taking off, and a man with a thick Southern accent says, “Here’s a Bible verse I think about sometimes. Many times.” As people in military fatigues don masks and ready weapons inside the helicopter, the man quotes Isaiah 6:8: “I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’” As the helicopter takes off, a cover of Johnny Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” plays before the man finishes the verse: “I said, ‘Here I am. Send me.’” Then there’s a cut to a close-up of an arm patch that reads “U.S. Customs and Border Protection,” while Johnny Cash sings, “Sooner or later, God’ll cut you down.”

Skye: My goodness.

Kaitlyn: Oh my gosh.

Skye: So this was put out by the Department of Homeland Security. This is from our government.

Phil: This is from our government. Yeah. This is not fan fiction. This is from our government.

Skye: What happened to the separation of church and state in this situation?

Kaitlyn: I want to say something about the Isaiah verse. Because the first thing I thought when I read the article about this ad—which I couldn’t bring myself to watch—was that quite a few years ago, this was also a verse referenced explicitly by President Biden. And he wasn’t talking about ICE, but about the U.S. military. He said they had responded to the call in the book of Isaiah: “Here I am, Lord. Send me.”

I point that out to say: this is not partisan. But here’s what really got me about the Isaiah reference—something I wish I had thought of when Biden used it. I actually wrote in The Ballot and the Bible about Biden’s use of it, as an example of how both sides do this kind of casually. One of the things we’re so often doing is inscribing ourselves into a biblical narrative—not as the people of God, but as the nation of America. We implant into the text our own ideas of what God’s mission is, or what counts as success or flourishing. What’s so seductive about this particular verse from Isaiah is its general language: “Here I am, Lord. Send me.” Everyone wants to be wrapped up in a grand, cosmic mission, where you have an important part to play, and God has called you to do it.

Skye: It’s the Blues Brothers: “We’re on a mission from God.”

Phil: Yeah. Right.

Kaitlyn: This is a really easy, grab-and-go verse for attaching to any political project you want to insert people into. But here’s what we miss. Besides the fact that the mission God gives Isaiah is not any modern political mission—we miss what happens just a few verses before this one. Another famous passage from Isaiah:

“Woe to me! I am ruined! I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

This whole moment of calling starts with Isaiah’s sense of unworthiness—his recognition of his own sinfulness, and the sinfulness of his people. His desperation for God to enter in and show them what to do. So when we take that later call—“Here I am. Send me.”—and apply it to any political mission, we completely bypass that humility. And that’s what’s so insidious, whether it’s Biden or the ICE ad: a totally unwarranted confidence that we are not only doing the right thing, but that God is on our side. Even Isaiah—who should be confident that God is on his side—starts with humility, repentance, and uncertainty. We are always in the middle of what God is doing, trying to be faithful. But if it’s not rooted in humility, you end up with... this ad. Or a president claiming that the U.S. military is God’s army.

Skye: That’s a great explanation, Kaitlyn. But you’re going to the verses before. What about the verses after? Because here’s the thing: “We’re being called to protect our people from bad people outside of America”. That’s the perception. But Isaiah is sent to Israel. With God’s message of rebuke and judgment of his own people. 

Phil: We don’t like that. That’s not what we want.

Skye: Exactly. 

Phil: So if you really want to apply this verse, it’s not about God helping us defeat our enemies—it’s about God sending us to rebuke and reform our own injustice.

Phil: Oh no no no.

Skye: That’s what Isaiah’s mission was.

Phil: That’s not good.

Skye: There are just so many levels on which this text is horribly applied.