Filed under: Christianity, Journal, Opinion, Peace and Justice, Politic, photography
Two weeks ago, Jen and I joined the march from St. Paul’s Cathedral to the State Capitol to raise awareness for humane immigration reform (that’s where we took these pictures).
Currently, this is a very controversial subject and I wonder how Christians should respond.
I feel personally connected to this issue in some ways since I worked with many illegal immigrants at various restaurants growing up. I met mostly good natured, hard working people- many of whom were sending their paycheck abroad to feed their families back home.
I also have traveled to Central America three times (where many of these immigrants came from) and spent two months in West Africa. It is interesting to know and love people on both sides of the U.S. border. I feel like getting to know people and experiencing (in some small way) the life that they have come from has affected the way in which I respond to them as immigrants.
The reason I mention this is that I feel like when a lot of people discuss this issue, they talk as if we are dealing with cattle. Maybe illegal immigrants don’t have “rights” as Americans now, but make no mistake, we are talking about the beloved people of God (and that view of these people is what should govern our response). It doesn’t matter where they are from, what they have done, or what they might do. As a follower of Jesus, I think that we have a Biblical mandate to treat these people as beloved and act in a way that is best for them.
Leviticus 19:34 should give us some good direction (as quoted by Sojourners): “When foreigners reside among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigners residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.”
Does this verse demonstrate a principle that we should follow in our response to the illegal immigrants residing among us?
In my opinion, Sojourners summarizes it well: lets choose “compassion over criminalization”. To take action on behalf of our immigrant brothers and sisters, click here.
