Monday, 14 July 2008
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Church an Illegal Immigrant's Safe House?
I just read a NY Times article about how a church in Iowa became a sanctuary:
On the morning of May 12, federal immigration agents raided the Agriprocessors factory, arresting nearly 400 workers, most of them men, for being in the United States illegally. Within minutes of the raid, with surveillance helicopters buzzing above the leafy streets, the wives and children of Mexican and Guatemalan families began trickling into St. Bridget’s church, the safest place they knew.
I did some more reading, including this riveting first-hand account that recounts that:
Several families had taken refuge at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church, terrified, sleeping on pews and refusing to leave for days. Volunteers from the community served food and organized activities for the children.
What do you think about churches harboring illegal immigrants?
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Comments (44)
That's a tough question. It is "illegal", but they do need God and our help. God may have brought them there for a reason, though. You never know. Hm, I'm not really sure.
Funny that you should mention this...I was just working on this prompt for a class I am taking...
Cultural diversity is a hot topic among educators. How does this topic relate to the immigration debate in politics? Do you have a solution?
It seems to be a hot topic not just among educators!
The Theologians Cafe had a post about this. It's hard for us to discern in these cases. We don't know the stories behind each case. Some probably shouldn't be harbored, and some should be. The church has a hard decision to make on which ones are trully in need and which ones are criminal...sure in reality they are all criminal in the laws eyes simply because they are here illegally, but compassion has to overrule in some cases.There are some cases where the church can show these people how Christ would have them live and it can change them drastically.Knowing Christ will bring responsibilty into their life in many cases causes them to want to do whats right. The church is to minister to people and show Christs love to all, but also is to obey the law. This is why it's such a hard question for mere humans to answer.
The churches are breaking the law by having them there and the Word of God says that we are to obey man's law unless it goes against God's law. For God put men in places to make laws so we are to obey them unless it goes against God's law. The amish believe this also that is why they had to fight in court to get some of the rights that they have now. So I would have to say that this is wrong for the churches to do this. There are many ways in helping these people without breaking the law.
Yknow I'm not particularly fond of illegal immagrants coming into our country, but this story is pretty touching. I don't want to say that some illegal immigratin is good and some isn't, but this story kind of changed my opinions at least a little bit.
I really don't know what is right in this situation...I mean, I think we should obey the law unless it goes against God's law...but isn't rejecting to help the poor going against God's law?
Actually, I have known a man who has helped a lot of illegals with jobs, and it gave them so much hope. Life where they came from was so hard, some of them were even working here to send the money back to their starving families. However, I think if there is a way for them to be here that is not illegal and they are able to do it they should, but what about the people who can't? I understand why it needs to be hard, so that it is not so easy for just anybody to do it, but systems like this often make it impossible for those who need to be here to even get here.
What's to think about?
They're violating the law and therefore have compromised their 501(c)(3) status and should be forced to pay federal tax moving forward.
Pretty simple, actually.
I met few people that stayed illegally in countries they don´t belong to. Going to church or not, those people are poor. Church shouldn´t judge but help them to know God. Those people go church genuinely hoping God will listen their prayer there. How much they know God we can´t really measure. Church are open to anyone to attend.
If there is God´s will for they immigration, there will be a window open for them to do it legally.
I personally like to stay in the U.S, but I returned because I didn´t want to stay illegally after the end of my work contract. Trusting God´s guidance, I don´t regret returning to my country. The ministry in South America are extremely in need. By the way, if anyone want to support ministries in Paraguay in anyways, please contact me.
SUCH INSTNCES NEED TO, LEAST DAVID THINKS,
BE HANDLED ON A PERSONAL LEVEL, WHERE A
NON-GOOD INTERNATIONAL CITIZEN CAN BE A
KNOWN POSSIBLE AMERICAN "LEGAL" CITIZEN.
IT ONLY TAKES PAPERWORK; THAT LITTLE TEST
COULD BE EXTENSIVE ENOUGH TO WEED OUT AN
"UNDISIRED ALIEN" - like a known terrorist or drug
dealer.
"GIVE US YOUR TIRED, "HUDDLED" MASSES..."
Said amongst the birthing of our mostly great nation...
"huddled" meant in a group, a group that was, Dave
believes, that way so we citizens could filter out those
that arrive at our border with ill intent.
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free." - Engrved on Statue of Liberty
I strongly believe illegal immigration is wrong. Our country has laws about immigration for safety and defense purposes. It is unfair for some to come in without following the law while others wait years for paperwork to come through. I would not illegally immigrate to another country, and I don't believe people should illegally immigrate to mine. It's a crime.
However, I would help an illegal immigrant temporarily so that he or she wouldn't starve or have no shelter, but I would also encourage them to leave the country. It would be wonderful if we could help everyone, but there are very good reasons why we have immigration laws. I believe Christ calls us to help others, but I also believe they have a responsibility to respect our nation.
I think it's flatly wrong for churches to harbor illegal aliens.
@Pickwick12@xanga - Precisely.
@SwordAndSacrifice@xanga - Thanks. I agreed with your other comment as well. I believe churches who do this should have their status taken away.
Love doesn't mean turning a blind eye to wrong.
I would have a problem with churches housing/supporting child molesters or thieves, but they do that already and it's not controversial. But the law these people have broken is arbitrary and based only on xenophobia and political expediency. In this case, I think the law is wrong, and the church should house these immigrants. I'd do so, too, if I had a house (and knew someone who needed refuge).
@Goodsheep@xanga - "If there is God's will for they immigration, there will be a window open for them to do it legally."
How do you know?
@SwordAndSacrifice@xanga - I like your answer: legal, objective and constitutional.
@la_faerie_joyeuse@xanga - Thanks.
The point of acting on a moral imperative (or what one considers a moral imperative) is to do so because it is the right thing to do, consequences be damned.
What groups like these "churches" do is violate their constitutionally-protected status . . . and then expect the government to change its rules to accomodate them.
If God Himself does not change His standard of judgement, then these groups are certainly deluded in thinking that the government should change theirs simply because it benefits their choices of conscience (nevermind the discussion over whether their choices of conscience are right or wrong).
wow... this is tough...
Scripture says obey the laws of the land (even if we do bend the speeding laws many times)... so harboring illegal immigrants is in fact an infraction of the laws of the land we dwell in...
i think honestly... we should try to uphold the laws of men...
so... set up safe houses on the other side of our borders for people to congregate to... and help fund these border houses to provide a better life for those wanting to cross over.... that way we are loving them in Jesus Name... but also upholding the laws of our land...
obviously this is said rather naively i know or maybe with no insight and obviously is easier said than done... but... u know.... i think it could work... if we pray and fast and act on it....
my thoughts... but i personally think that our allegiance is to Christ first, America second... and if Christ is calling our churches to be safehouses for illegals... it first needs to honor Him...
but this is touchy... no matter how you put it... someone will be offended one way or another...
@Pickwick12@xanga - True. But, as I kind of indicate above, right or wrong are sort of the secondary issues here.
The issue is that the government has clearly told these groups what they must do (and not do) in order to receive preferential treatment. When said groups - whether through and act of conscience or willful crime - violate those requirements, then the government must maintain a uniform standard and revoke their preferential treatment.
Obeying your conscience does not necessarily come cheaply. Nor should it. Ask Jesus.
we have to ask ourselves, "why do the illegal immigrants want to come to the united states in the first place?"
for one, they understand that they can earn substantially more than what they get back home, but also, they can work knowing that they are not subject to the kind of arbitrary justice and dog-eat-dog mentality most likely prevalent in less-developed countries (i hope the aforementioned statement doesn't offend anyone. it's simply what i believe to be the case based on what i've heard from the news reports).
we are a nation of laws, and as much as i can sympathize with the families simply trying to make ends meet, if we allow them safe harbor without enacting our legal system, both the illegal immigrants and ourselves would be undermining some of the very reasons the immigrants came here in the first place.
instead, i think it would better serve both parties if we reformed our immigration policy in such a way as to still maintain our sovereignty (better border security perhaps) but also allow for immigrants to cut through the bureaucracy more easily. i don't know how exactly we will do this, but we can start by admitting that allowing illegal immigrants to bypass the laws of the nation would ultimately be detrimental to both us and ironically, the illegal immigrants themselves.
@easalien@xanga - I agree. We are not ultimately helping immigrants by allowing many to remain illegally. There are many immigrants who go through the legal processes. Besides I believe it would be more beneficial to directly help the people in Mexico through international programs, aid, etc. Our two governments should work together to make Mexico just as desirable of a home.
I live about 25 miles from the border of Mexico. I can say that we see our share of illegals around here and it gets pretty tiresom. I think we should always offer food or clothing but not shleter for days. They need to be sent back. I think the church was wrong for allowing it to prolong. I feel sorry for many of the people who would like a better life especially for their kids. But dont break the law. Just because God is a good God doesn't mean He is ok with entering a country illegally. HE is a jsut God. I think most people don't understand that.
@Kim - definitely, i couldn't agree more. however, i think before we can effectively do anything to help mexico (or any other country for that matter), we have a lot to fix here at home, such as our immigration policy, our broken healthcare system, and public education.
@easalien@xanga - Our healthcare system really blows compared to some other countries - and yes our education system also needs quite a bit of work! But if we fixed these, wouldn't the illegal aliens just increase in number? hehe. j/k.
Aren't there instances in the Bible about welcoming strangers because we were once strangers, too? I think that the question is not so much of whether churches should be criminalized for being a "sanctuary," but about why immigrant is such a dirty word. (And I'm not just talking about illegal immigrants either...but that's another post.)
I'm pretty sure that the majority of those people who were arrested are here because they're looking for a better life than the one that they left. Let's face it. Leaving your homeland takes guts, but at the end of the day, these are people who are just trying to survive and preserve their own dignity. They go to the church oftentimes because they have nowhere else to go. They're scared; they're tired and they're confused. Isn't it the obligation of the church to help them?
this isn't the Middle Ages anymore. you cannot claim sanctuary by hiding in a church.
if churches expect federal funding and support, they need to follow federal law. church-state involvement goes both ways.
although you can use the word "harboring", I don't see it as that
I see the situation as the church showing love to God's creation in which they are being oppressed
this situation reminds me of Schindler caring or the Jews. Although technically one can argue that he is "harboring" them, I don't see it in that perspective
we are to be good neighbors and show love to people and NOT be nominally righteous
I believe churches have the moral obligation to provide a haven for those who have nowhere else to go. A church's mission goes beyond politics, beyond borders.