Wednesday, July 30, 2014

The Sanctity of Human life… and Undocumented Immigrants

Human life is sacred.  No faith tradition believes this more strongly than mine.

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

Christians believe that this poetic verse contains a deep and mystical truth.  Every human being is precious.  Every human being is valuable.  Every human being is sacred.  Somehow, every human being carries the image of his or her creator.   

That’s why Christians have historically spoken out against abortion.  We have taken the politically incorrect position against the elimination of the unborn because the scriptures teach us that all human life is sacred.  We call this a pro-life stance

You may be familiar with Mother Teresa’s passionate plea.  “Please don't kill the child. I want the child. Please give me the child. I am willing to accept any child who would be aborted, and to give that child to a married couple who will love the child, and be loved by the child.”

Like Mother Teresa, other Christians have a deep compassion for the little children.

So I’m encouraged that many Christians are responding to the recent influx of undocumented immigrant children the same way they have responded to the unborn children.  Like Mother Teresa, many Christians are saying, “Give me the child.” 

These children are being sent here by desperate parents who are forced to choose between the danger of keeping them in a violent war zone and the danger of sending them on a long arduous journey to a strange place.  Like a terrified teenage mother, they can’t take care of them so they give them up to adoptive parents in hopes that we will.

These are real children.  They are like your children.  They get hungry and sick.  They are helpless and vulnerable.  They have hopes and dreams.  They need love and protection. 

The collective Christian voice echoing the words of Jesus Christ when he said, “Let the little children come to me,” must drown out the voices of those shouting, “Send them back.”

I don’t claim to have any political solutions to the problem of immigration.  But I do claim to have some insight into the heart of Jesus Christ when it comes to the value of human life, born or unborn, native or immigrant.

Every human being is sacred.  I’m grateful that many Christians can see the sacred in the little human beings coming to us for help.  This too is a pro-life stance.