[–] Silver_Sky 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Funny. An overreaching and oppressive government was responsible for his (contested) refugee status. A social program enacted by a bloated government forces a man and extremely pregnant wife to make a long journey (remember how dangerous and unplesant travel was back then) and under the edict of extreme punishment should they instead stay home. The government was too inefficient to allow them to be counted in whatever town they were in. Then, once they get to their destination, because the government didn't think about what the sudden surge of travelers would do, they couldn't find any place to stay since the small inn in the town had no reason to be able to supply that much housing, so they are forced to stay in a stable where the woman's water breaks, probably from the stress of the entire ordeal. She was lucky [deus ex machina] and both she and her baby survive, but given the lack of antibiotics, modern medicine (Even contemporary medicine), clean materials for the birthing to take place on, and the extremely dirty environment, it was an act of God that they survived. I wonder how many women were forced from a better environment into similar conditions and died because of the census. Of course, while on that point, travel was dangerous in that day, and the criminals would have doubtlessly known the pickings would be ripe, so they were ready to pick off people as they travelled. I wonder what the death toll of the census was.
Anyway, once the child has been born and been around for a year or two, the corrupt governor/king of the region hears about a potential threat to his power, so he orders the killing of all children under the age of 2-3 (cant remember which exactly). Of course, the Roman government couldn't be bothered to make sure its politicians weren't corrupt. Stop and think about it. This guy was literally killing children by the droves, and he did it because he knew his higher ups wouldn't care. How many other horrible things was this guy allowed to do because of the horrible government he was a part of? If Harod hadn't had the amount of power he had, then the lives of countless children could have been saved, and Mary, Joseph and Jesus were forced to flee to another part OF THE SAME COUNTRY. Even if the culture was vastly different, they don't meet the definition of refugees (at least the definition that is being pushed)
So you can see, this whole story isn't about refugees, as it is a warning tale about large, corrupt government which has no accountability and overreaching power.
[–] [deleted] 1 point 1 point 2 points (+2|-1) ago (edited ago)
[–] ding0bait 0 points 5 points 5 points (+5|-0) ago (edited ago)
erm....
Egypt was part of Rome. If Joesph was a Roman citizen he could go anywhere within the Roman Empire. Citizenship, like facts, matter.
[–] [deleted] 1 point -1 points 0 points (+0|-1) ago (edited ago)