{"id":3308,"date":"2014-02-21T16:52:46","date_gmt":"2014-02-21T22:52:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/?p=3308"},"modified":"2015-10-05T16:55:33","modified_gmt":"2015-10-05T22:55:33","slug":"but-theyre-here-illegally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/but-theyre-here-illegally\/","title":{"rendered":"“But they’re here ILLEGALLY!”"},"content":{"rendered":"
Ryan Cumming<\/div>\n
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\u200b<\/p>\n

\"tombstone1\"
\n <\/p>\n

Well THAT epitaph is sure to get a lot of rubbings.\u00a0 Perhaps in the right cemetery, it might be a perfect fit.\u00a0 After all, there is something to be said about following the law.\u00a0 Indeed, in great measure, the safety and security of a community depends less on the ability to efficiently deter lawbreakers \u2013 or to swiftly punish them \u2013 than on the hope that the majority of citizens won’t break the law in the first place.<\/p>\n

\nLutherans historically have appreciated the important role of civil laws.\u00a0 At a minimum, the law \u2013 and the powers that exist to enforce it – help us go about our daily lives in relative security.\u00a0 Martin Luther was famously supportive of obedience to civil laws and to the ruling authorities in his day.\u00a0 When the peasants rebelled against the landed gentry in Germany, Luther referred to them as animals, writing that they should be killed like “mad dogs” (which brings up a whole other question of animal cruelty \u2013 see the colorfully titled “Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants,” 1525).\u00a0 Of course, the Lutheran deference to civil laws and authority has led to other problems.\u00a0 One of the more dangerous memories of Lutheran history is the use of this obedience to undergird support for Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany.\u00a0 (Truth be told, Luther’s prevalent anti-Semitism didn’t help much, either.)<\/p>\n

Still, the Lutheran notion that civil law is a gift from God meant to help us live lives in security and safety is an important one.\u00a0 It keeps Lutherans in a unique middle ground, between those who believe that being faithful means abandoning their identity as citizens of a country and those who believe that faithful citizenship means making sure all the laws of the land reflect their own religious beliefs.\u00a0 This is at the heart of that pesky “two kingdoms” stuff we Lutherans keep touting.\u00a0 God enables us to be citizens so we can exercise responsibility, live out our faith and serve our neighbors free of the chaos and fear of anarchy.<\/p>\n

Lutheran citizens are neither expatriates nor demagogues.\u00a0 We don’t have to choose between abandoning our country and dominating our country in order to live in it faithfully.\u00a0 The law, for Lutherans, serves an important function, one which we support and one in which we are engaged.<\/p>\n

So, why is my epitaph above still lacking a bit of luster?\u00a0 Why is it that I want to leave a mark on this world that goes a bit deeper than just being “a law-abiding citizen”?<\/p>\n

Lutherans appreciate the law; we value it; ideally, we follow it (and, obviously, here we’re talking about civil laws, not the Law of God.\u00a0 That’s a topic for a different day.)\u00a0 But, we also recognize that the law isn’t good in itself.\u00a0 It’s good because of the purpose that God intends for it.<\/p>\n

Laws, and the authorities that enforce them, are good because they keep us safe, they help organize our lives, and they help us live meaningfully and responsibly as members of a human community.\u00a0 They have a deeper purpose than merely commanding our obedience.\u00a0 We see this in how we talk about laws, in general.\u00a0 We don’t merely want enforceable laws; we want just<\/em> laws.\u00a0 We don’t want laws that merely keep us safe; we want fair<\/em> laws.\u00a0 We don’t want laws that merely constrain our lives; we want laws that enrich<\/em> our lives.\u00a0 And we lift up these same qualities in ourselves and our leaders.\u00a0 In the 2009 Social Policy Resolution on immigration reform, the ELCA outlined this pretty clearly: “Governing authorities are to seek justice, foster peace, protect people, and support their well-being.”\u00a0 There is something more profound that we want for ourselves and for our community than merely obedience.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0\"tombstone2\"<\/p>\n

Aha!\u00a0 Now THERE’S an epitaph I can live with! (Umm\u2026)<\/p>\n

So often we get focused on obedience to the law without plunging deeper into the values that we, as law-making and law-abiding citizens, are supposed to pursue through this obedience.\u00a0 The rhetoric surrounding the immigration debate in the US is, tragically, a good example of this.<\/p>\n

“We do not owe people who broke our laws to come into the country.” <\/em>(Rep. Michelle Bachmann, R-MN<\/a>)<\/p>\n

“These illegal aliens are criminals and we need to treat them as such.”<\/em> (Rep. Paul Broun, R-GA<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Outside the hallowed halls of government, how many of us haven’t heard some version of this sentiment: “But they’re here illegally!\u00a0 They’re criminals!\u00a0 They broke the law!”\u00a0 In the debate, we’ve lost touch with the notion that there is more to citizenship than obedience, and more to laws than merely restrictions.\u00a0 Good laws \u2013 like good citizens \u2013 reflect our deepest feelings about justice, fairness, and the common good.\u00a0 Good laws, like good citizens, enable and enrich life.<\/p>\n

To what extent do current immigration laws do this?\u00a0 To what extent to they reflect \u2013 and form \u2013 a society that is just, where life is enhanced by opportunity and community?\u00a0 To what extent do they measure up to the vision Americans have of our nation, and how do they reflect the vision God intended for human laws and human societies?<\/p>\n

As Rev. Stephen Bouman, the executive director of the Congregational and Synodical Mission Unit of the ELCA pointed out recently, over 24,000 unaccompanied minors crossed the border between Mexico and the United States in 2013.\u00a0 They risked starvation and violence to make the passage here, only to be incarcerated by the US when caught.\u00a0 It is no secret what led them to take this modern-day journey through the wilderness to a land of promise: violence, abject poverty, desperation.<\/p>\n

Those who are not caught, incarcerated, or deported often find that the “promised land” is not without its own challenges.\u00a0 Of the estimated 11 million living in the US illegally, nearly 4 million are living in poverty.\u00a0 Even those immigrants who are living here legally still find themselves relegated to jobs, especially in food production and food service, that do not pay a living wage (See Bread for the World’s 2014 Hunger Report<\/a>).\u00a0 It seems that even being “obedient” is not enough to feed one’s family.\u200b<\/p>\n

Our tradition gives us a way of talking about immigration and the obstacles immigrants face.\u00a0 Citizenship, for Lutherans, is about more than following laws and paying taxes.\u00a0 It is about contributing to a community that reflects God’s good plans for human life.\u00a0 While never perfect, life within a political community now is supposed to give us a glimpse “through a glass darkly” of the perfect reign that we will experience in the Kingdom of God.\u00a0 This doesn’t mean campaigning for Christianization of the country.\u00a0 But it also doesn’t mean leaving laws behind, as if we are unconcerned.\u00a0 It does mean lifting up leaders and policies that serve the common good by enhancing our lives and by creating a community in which all who desire it can go beyond mere obedience and live meaningful lives as faithful citizens.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ryan Cumming \u200b   Well THAT epitaph is sure to get a lot of rubbings.\u00a0 Perhaps in the right cemetery, it might be a perfect fit.\u00a0 After all, there is something to be said about following the law.\u00a0 Indeed, in great measure, the safety and security of a community depends less on the ability to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n"But they're here ILLEGALLY!" - ELCA World Hunger<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/but-theyre-here-illegally\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""But they're here ILLEGALLY!" - ELCA World Hunger\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ryan Cumming \u200b   Well THAT epitaph is sure to get a lot of rubbings.\u00a0 Perhaps in the right cemetery, it might be a perfect fit.\u00a0 After all, there is something to be said about following the law.\u00a0 Indeed, in great measure, the safety and security of a community depends less on the ability to […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/but-theyre-here-illegally\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ELCA World Hunger\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-02-21T22:52:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-10-05T22:55:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2015\/10\/tombstone1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ryan P. 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