On the History and Tradition of Sanctuary

Ted Olsen has a great article -- Asylum vs. Assistance: Offering sanctuary isn't about political protest -- up over at Christianity Today. In it he compares the history of sanctuary policy to the way it is being used (read: misused) today by the likes of Elvira Arellano and her socialist buddies.

A taste...

Meanwhile, Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago is housing Elvira Arellano, an illegal immigrant from Mexico whose son is a U.S. citizen. "It seemed like a good option to give her a holy space to continue a campaign of civil disobedience against an unfair law that is separating families throughout this country," explained pastor Walter Coleman, who banned opponents from attending his church's services. "I fear God much more than I fear Homeland Security."

And talk about something I can agree with...

"Faith provides no warrant to break laws just because we disapprove of them," Northwestern University law professor Steven Lubet responded in the Chicago Tribune. Coleman, he argued, is no heir to abolitionist minister Theodore Parker, who offered sanctuary to escaped slaves. "As sympathetic as we might be to Elvira Arellano's plight, there is no natural human right to enter or remain in the United States, or to live in one country as opposed to another."

Read the whole thing. It's good stuff!

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Illegal Immigration * Illegal Aliens * Sanctuary * Elvira Arellano