Encompass Blog
September Newsletter Article
Over the last months
I have been struggling with some of our country’s policies.
The area that is of special concern to me
has been the treatment of undocumented immigrant families,
as well as more and more, immigrants in general.
My specific area of struggle is the separation of children from their families.
How do I hold such an act?
To be sure, the law of the land is pretty clear,
and so too are biblical admonitions to follow our appointed leaders.
On the other hand, scripture is crystal clear
as to how we are to treat those who are in need,
a foreigner or refugee.
We’re to render aid.
As I have listened to the news, read articles,
visited with people and pondered scripture,
I have been in “irons” as sailors say;
unable to move in a clear direction. Not so now.
A few weeks ago I began reading Harriet Beecher Stow’s
Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Of course, this is a controversial bit of 19th
Century protest literature.
Many take issue with the title character, Uncle Tom.
There is also a bit of discomfort
with some the characterizations of blacks within the work.
Needless to say, it is a book of its time.
That stated,
I am struck by a theme that seems to run through the pages.
It is the question of “what to do?”
In the book,
there is a part of the population in the south that feels
the institution of slavery is wrong, and also feels
the need to respect the law of the land
and refrain from aiding and abetting escaped slaves.
There is another part of the southern population,
the abolitionist, who also feels that they need to respect the
laws of the land and the leaders appointed over them,
and also feel that the law of the land is subordinate to God’s law.
And so, they must do everything in their power
to resist the aspects of the law of the land
that are in conflict with God’s law.
One group of abolitionists is the Quakers.
The Quakers understand and accept that they are subject
to the penalties of the law and also feel that they must
resist the law regardless of the risk.
In fact, their esteem of God’s law is such that they would offer
the same care to a tyrannical slave owner as they would a slave,
as they consider all people to be created in God’s
image and children of God.
For the Quakers, when the law of the land meets God’s law,
God’s law prevails.
After reading this passage where the Quakers
explain their understanding of what they are doing,
I was given a new perspective on some of our country’s laws.
We are to respect our leaders and laws and yet,
when they are in conflict of God’s law,
we are to resist these laws to the best of our ability,
knowing full well that we are subject to the same penalties
as anyone else.
Given that I cannot find any biblical teaching,
let alone a teaching by Christ,
that calls us to set aside God’s laws of compassion,
I must side against those policies of our government
that seek to separate children from their parents
as well as those that marginalize immigrants.
