Immigration Reform and Evangelicals

From Carl Ruby:

I (Carl Ruby) belong to a group called the Evangelical Immigration Table, a loosely connected group of evangelical Christians who are advocating an approach to immigration that is rooted in Judeo-Christian principles like respect for the dignity of life, the rule of law, and the importance of family. We are asking fellow evangelicals, and people of other faiths to advocate comprehensive immigration reform adhering to the following six principles;

• Respect for the God-given dignity of every person.
• Protection for the unity of the immediate family.
• Respect the rule of law
• Guarantee of secure national borders
• Fairness to taxpayers
• Establishment of a path toward legal status and/ or citizenship for those who qualify and who wish to become permanent residents.

Like King, we believe that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”  And like King, we agree with Thomas Aquinas’s notion that human law should be rooted in eternal and natural law. King argued that, “law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.”  Like King, we long to live in a world that looks a little bit more like heaven.

My core beliefs about Christianity have not changed, but my sense of how I should live out my faith has.  My faith is no longer just about having my personal sins forgiven, but also about working to soften the effects that sin has on others.  Christian faith sometimes looks like Billy Graham, who proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ, calling people to personal repentance and faith.  But other times it looks like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whose faith in Christ demanded that he stand up to Nazi atrocities at the cost of his life.  And sometimes it echo’s the words of Martin Luther King who wrote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly….Anyone. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider.”