Immigration and People of Faith

Now that the hoo-hah over health care seems about to subside, other pressing issues, long relegated to the back burner by the heated exchanges—complete with accusations about killing grandma and the descent into socialism—surrounding health care, can emerge.

So what issues will surface? And specifically for people of faith, where can we invest time, energy and resources, so as to make a more humane world? If you believe Dan Schultz (a United Church of Christ minister widely known in the blogosphere as Pastor Dan), that issue may be immigration.

Schultz makes clear that the scriptural injunction for adherents to the Abrahamic faiths is summed up in Exodus 22:21, “You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.” For Christians, this text is amplified by the delightful passage in Hebrews 13:1-2, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” This is a reference to Abraham’s showing hospitality to three strangers at the Oaks of Mamre—strangers who turned out to be angels and bestowed on Abraham and Sarah in advanced age the gift of a son (Genesis 18).

I have always considered hospitality to be a core principle in faithfulness and it is certainly central to conversations about immigration reform since it involves creating safe and secure spaces where individuals, families or groups can experience the freedom of self-expression and self-empowerment. For a great piece about the centrality of hospitality to the Christian message, see, “Building a Place for Hospitality,” Christine Pohl, Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University.

The Public Religion Research Institute has just published a revealing survey on attitudes on immigration reform among people of faith. The survey finds that Americans across the religious landscape largely agree (by more than 80%) on a clear set of values that should guide immigration reform policy. Among these are protecting the dignity of every person (82%), and keeping families together (80%) … Also, a strong majority (71%) say following the Golden Rule—“providing immigrants the same opportunity that I would want if my family were immigrating to the U.S.”—is a very or extremely important value.

But, Dr. Robert Jones, Founder and CEO of Public Religion Research (and a frequent collaborator with Intersections) added a sobering note to these encouraging findings at a conversation among influential Washingtonians on “the intersection of power and values” hosted by Intersections in Washington, DC on March 24. Jones noted that “welcoming the stranger” was the value that least resonated with religious persons. Jones attributed this results as indicating both a lack of biblical literacy and a fear of “the other” that continues to pervade our society.

These survey results offer people of faith an important opportunity to shape a comprehensive approach to immigration reform that has both wide support across the religious spectrum and is firmly rooted in values of human dignity, keeping families together and “doing unto others…”

Now that the poisoning smoke around the health care debate may be lifting, can we find a clearer path to address this pressing issue in our society from the standpoint of values common both to ancient texts and to contemporary civil society? Or, will underlying fears of those who differ—even among religious people—continue to dominate the debate and derail us from the important tasks at hand. Time will tell.