Churches increasingly feel need to offer sanctuary to undocumented migrants

Churches increasingly feel need to offer sanctuary to undocumented migrants



Well --- it's about time! But even so, there were only 400 who offered sanctuary before, and now there are 800.....

STILL......that's 800 actual religious institutions who realize that The Golden Rule is MOST IMPORTANT.

The Rev. Alison Harrington of Tucson's Southside Presbyterian Church said her congregation was one of the first to pioneer it, offering protection to refugees fleeing civil war in Central America. In the 1980s the church housed thousands of migrants but only for short periods before they were resettled across the nation.

“It worked more like an underground railroad,” she said.

Since then, the movement has evolved. Although the Obama administration’s immigration policy drove interest, a national network of sanctuary congregations — including Baha’i, Buddhist, Christian and Jewish congregations — saw a spike after Trump's election in November, said the Rev. Noel Andersen, the national grassroots organizer for Church World Service.

Before Trump’s victory, the national network hovered around 400 congregations willing to offer sanctuary, Andersen said. That number jumped to more than 800 in 45 states post election and is continuing to tick up.

GOOD! Excellent! What do ya know???

And not just nominal Christians, either!! Baha'i, Buddhist, Unitarian, Jewish and various Protestant congregations have stepped up. We all know that Catholics are "Christians" so they (of course) are included just like Protestants are in "Christian." And I don't care WHO you are, Catholics are Christians!!

Now. In any case....here's the sad part:

[Even with 800]l, that number is far less than 1% of the what the Hartford Institute for Religion Research estimates are about 350,000 religious congregations in the United States.

Errr....helloOOOo!!

And only 800 of them give a rip. Nice. Did you all notice how the Jews offered the Muslims the keys to their temple after the mosque accidentally burned down? That was just ONE example of the humanitarian people in this country who actually live by The Golden Rule.

Ah well.

What of it! Right? Who cares?

Well - I do. Those other 342,200 congregations who are too COWARDLY and racist and paranoid and FAKE? Yeah. The path is narrow.

“The faith community feels that within our broader communities our job is to be working with and ministering to vulnerable communities in our midst," Andersen said.

Though the Nashville First Church of the Nazarene in Tennessee has a recent history of welcoming refugees and immigrants into its congregations, it won’t be offering sanctuary, said the Rev. Kevin Ulmet, the church’s senior pastor.

“We would not be comfortable doing so," Ulmet said. "But we would certainly want to continue our feet-on-the-ground ministry to immigrants and refugees.”

Yeah ...wouldn't be comfortable actually BEHAVING like Their Adored Savior said to behave.

Because fake religion is fake.
Source is USA Today

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
800 actual religious institutions who realize that The Golden Rule is MOST IMPORTANT.

Those other 342,200 congregations who are too COWARDLY and racist and paranoid and FAKE?

I don't get it. Help me by shplaining very slowly.

Why would The Church help people break the law?

originally posted by: Snarl

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
800 actual religious institutions who realize that The Golden Rule is MOST IMPORTANT.

Those other 342,200 congregations who are too COWARDLY and racist and paranoid and FAKE?

I don't get it. Help me by shplaining very slowly.

Why would The Church help people break the law?

Because those people did not leave a happy life to come here. They gave up everything to come here. They are fleeing horrible situations. They need asylum.


They need help, understanding, and humanity. What person in their right mind would leave everything they know behind to risk it in another place? Only those who are so desperate that they MUST flee.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

You're completely disrespectful of these people and yet you expect them to help you or help your causes?

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs

originally posted by: Snarl

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
800 actual religious institutions who realize that The Golden Rule is MOST IMPORTANT.

Those other 342,200 congregations who are too COWARDLY and racist and paranoid and FAKE?

I don't get it. Help me by shplaining very slowly.

Why would The Church help people break the law?

Because those people did not leave a happy life to come here. They gave up everything to come here. They are fleeing horrible situations. They need asylum.


They need help, understanding, and humanity. What person in their right mind would leave everything they know behind to risk it in another place? Only those who are so desperate that they MUST flee.

so how many are you taking in?

a reply to: TheBulk

Of what people?

I am applauding the churches who are welcoming the migrants, and sheltering them despite the likes of those who support Trump. What the eff are you talking about????

People who treat others the way they would like to be treated are MY KIND OF PEOPLE.

See how confused you are?
I am saying WELL DONE to those church groups ---- well done indeed! It helps to mitigate the ugliness of the 342,200 congregations who are too scared, or selfish, or comfortable.

My job is to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. But you may not be capable of recognizing that as a good thing.....so, ymmv

originally posted by: TheBulk

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs

originally posted by: Snarl

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
800 actual religious institutions who realize that The Golden Rule is MOST IMPORTANT.

Those other 342,200 congregations who are too COWARDLY and racist and paranoid and FAKE?

I don't get it. Help me by shplaining very slowly.

Why would The Church help people break the law?

Because those people did not leave a happy life to come here. They gave up everything to come here. They are fleeing horrible situations. They need asylum.


They need help, understanding, and humanity. What person in their right mind would leave everything they know behind to risk it in another place? Only those who are so desperate that they MUST flee.

so how many are you taking in?

You need to stop attacking me right now.

I have experience spanning 30 years with these people --- I worked with them every day. So, shut up.

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
They need asylum.

They need help, understanding, and humanity.

Why didn't they start a church in their own country?

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Any Church in the United States Must Remember it's Tax Exempt Status is Based on Freedom of Religion , and Not on the Avoidance of the Law of which it is Governed .

originally posted by: Zanti Misfit
a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Any Church in the United States Must Remember it's Tax Exempt Status is Based on Freedom of Religion , and Not the Avoidance of the Law of which it is Governed .

Whatever.

People in need are people in need. Period. Dot com.

The cowardly "churches" oughta be paying taxes, too, not just reaching out to the needy. Good Gawd you people are cold.

Nothing to see here..just more liberal nonsense. Liberals attack the churches when it comes to homosexuality and deviant behaviour, but applaud them for this. Remember the liberal mantra.. " the ends justify the means"

originally posted by: Snarl

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
They need asylum.

They need help, understanding, and humanity.

Why didn't they start a church in their own country?

What? Who? The people who came here? They were a little busy being bombed, oppressed, raped, murdered, starved, and left to die....

pheewwwww.....unbelievable how out of touch with reality the crowd here has become.

originally posted by: Arizonaguy
Nothing to see here..just more liberal nonsense. Liberals attack the churches when it comes to homosexuality and deviant behaviour, but applaud them for this. Remember the liberal mantra.. " the ends justify the means"

Isn't that SO WEIRD?

That we liberals APPLAUD the churches who are unbothered by homosexuality, who welcome all comers, who recognize that we are all connected....but we condemn (rightfully so) the right-wingnuts like Pat Robertson, Mike Pence, and their types?


Yeah. But --- but, it's REAL! We really DO think that it's awesome when a Jewish group lends their own space to Muslims who have lost their own mosque....who welcome refugees .....

people who are secular who help immigrants simply because they realize that "there but for the grace of 'God' go they"! Isn't it astounding?

Yep. We are Baha'i, Unitarian, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Nones ---- and we are FINE with homosexuality. We want to HELP the needy. The downtrodden. The hungry and sick and homeless and weak.

We care about them.

What's your problem with them?

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

So, church = good now?

A woman from Mexico who entered the United States illegally feared a meeting with immigration officials would end in her deportation. So she skipped it and turned to a place she knew would provide her safe haven — the First Unitarian Society of Denver.

Lets try this.

A man who was due for court decided to skip it because he knew he would be jailed so he fled to a church hoping for safe haven.

Is this ok as well? This is how others, myself included, see it. Picking and choosing whom gets to break the laws and what laws we can overlook is becoming too common.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Those "sanctuary" churches don't know their Bibles very well (or are willfully rebelling against God's Word.)
1 Peter 2:13-15

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.

Romans 13:1-5

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.

Luke 20:35

He said to them, Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.

www.biblegateway.com...

The LAW of the land is that these 'migrants' are here unlawfully and any church that refuses to submit to the God given authority of that law is no longer in communion with the Word of God. From where I stand, those 800 institutions need to lose their tax exempt status yesterday and be held to task as the political agenda driven heretics they are.

wow.

you lot really, truly are astonishing

wow

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
wow.

you lot really, truly are astonishing

wow

Yes,
......
it's always everyone else.........

a reply to: JinMI

So, church = good now?

OMFG.....seriously?

Uh, YEAH, people who HELP other people and call themselves a "church" are good. I don't care what they call themselves (or if they call themselves anything related to any "Divinity.") The Golden Rule is the only thing that matters.

If the church = THE GOLDEN RULE IS WHAT MATTERS, then yes = good now.


That's obviously only a fraction of a percent of the total number of people who claim to be kind and open-minded.


OTOH, people like all of the ones in this thread so far who would rather set a migrant child on fire than give them a blanket and pair of shoes?? NOT GOOD.

a reply to: burdman30ott6

Perfect response, BurdMan. Exactly what I was thinking! Besides, there are far more American CITIZENS, who need help. Their priority trumps those who came here illegally.

a reply to: burdman30ott6

How authoritarian of you.

Didn't know you swung that way.