Applying the Atonement to Immigration
Blog 3
As I wrote in my last blog, I believe the Atonement gives us great direction on how we ought to reconcile this no-win situation within the immigration debate. The Lord has saved us from our lost and fallen state, not because we deserve or earn his grace and mercy, but simply because he loves us and we need him to. Likewise, as it relates to immigration, we ought to approach the subject with the type of compassion and mercy we hope the Lord bestows upon us.
Here is an example of where I have applied this principle in my life. My current calling involves teaming up Student or Young Single Adult (YSA) wards and Spanish Language units. The members of the Student/YSA wards come to the Spanish Language unit’s building once a week and help the children and youth with their homework. To get a visual of how this program looks you can go to the following link and scroll to the 16:10 mark. http://www.byutv.org/watch/173-440
On one occasion, I was explaining this program to another member of the Church. This person asked me in a rather disapproving tone, “Do you allow kids to come to these programs who are here illegally?” I explained that it is open to anyone who wants to come, regardless of race, religion, or status. I could sense the disapproval, so rather than just leave it there, I decided to explain my rational, and I said something to this effect:
Here is the way I see it. At some point I will sit with the Lord and give an accounting of my life. When we get to talking about this assignment, if I had excluded undocumented children, He would say something like, “I gave you this assignment to help the children. I gave you the resources, everything you needed to help these children. Why didn’t you help these particular ones? Why were they excluded?”
What could I say besides, “Well, they had broken a law in getting here, so they did not deserve the help“?
Do you know how ridiculous that would sound? If I said that, do you know what He would say to me?
He would say something like, “So I’m clear. You’re saying you did not help them because they had broken a law. How interesting. I saved you because you broke the law. You broke my laws every day, and yet here you are begging for mercy and me to save you.”
That is not a conversation I am going to have! I’d rather error on the side of compassion, forgiveness, and mercy because I know at the end of it all I am going to need a whole lot of each.
Have these children earned or deserve the help they receive? Does the very act of lawbreaking by someone release me from the obligation of serving them? I don’t think so. As a lawbreaker myself, I am going to take the Lord at his word, “Judge not that ye be not judged” (Matt 7:1-2, emphasis added). I’m banking on the day when the Lord will come and “measure to every man according to the measure which he measured to his fellowmen”(D&C 1:10). I think that’s my only hope, to measure out liberally to others. Deciding who is deserving of what is not my job. No sir! I will leave matters of merit to the Lord. My job is clear: to serve. I think the best way is to follow the counsel of Paul in Romans 14:10-13:
10. But why doest thou judge thy brother? Or why doest thou set at nought thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
11. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
12. So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God.
13. Let us not therefore judge one another any more; but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.”
It seems clear to me that I should work hard to clear away stumbling blocks not create them. If I am to follow the Great Exemplar, I must try and do what I think the Lord would do. You know the question we always ask, “What would Jesus do?” Well, I find it difficult to imagine that the Lord would add stumbling blocks or make someone’s life harder, especially one who comes from such difficult circumstances already.
All that being said, I also don’t believe He would be content with the status quo. It is a disaster by any definition. I have my thoughts of what He might encourage us to do in reforming the immigration system but I do not venture to speak for Him. However, I am certain of one thing: love would be the guiding principle, not anger.
As we contemplate this whole immigration mess, what is the overarching feeling in our hearts? Do we feel anger or love? If our blood boils and we feel anger I’d say be careful. We should never make decisions when in such a state. If we feel love for our fellowmen, even the illegal immigrant, and recognize that person as our brother or sister, a child of our Father in Heaven, then chances are we are moving in the right direction.
And what does that mean if we recognize the illegal immigrant as our spiritual brother or sister? This is one of our core beliefs. What does that belief mean in relation to immigration? That is a sticky one. I will explore that in my next blog.
Your comments are always welcome. What are your thoughts about the connection between the Atonement and our current immigration situation?
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Atonement, Merits, and Immigration
The Atonement, Merits, and Immigration
Blog 2
As I discussed in my first blog, the immigration issue creates a dilemma for us as Latter-day Saints, a seemingly no-win situation. On the one hand, we are commanded to love and serve our fellowmen while, on the other, we are commanded to honor and obey the laws of the land.
Where in the scriptures, our own Church history, or other inspired writings from prophets old and new can we find similar dilemmas? How have other people handled being between the proverbial rock and a hard place? Can we find examples that can give us direction in moving forward through these seemingly no-win situations?
I’m guessing there are several, but, the first and greatest dilemma that comes to mind is the one that faces all of us as children of God. In D&C 1:31 the Lord says, “For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.” Various Book of Mormon prophets teach us that no unclean thing can enter the kingdom of God. Now reconcile that with Paul’s teachings in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Ouch! Now, that is a dilemma. These scriptures set up the great paradox of this world—we are commanded to be perfectly righteous, but we are unable to be perfectly righteous. However, unless we are perfectly righteous, we can’t return to Heavenly Father. Nothing unclean gets back into Father’s presence, and we are all unclean. It would appear that we are all in the same stew. We are all equally lost, and even “after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23, emphasis added) are in need of the mercy and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, the purpose of this blog is not to go into the intricacies of the Atonement. The point in bringing it up here is to look at the merits of those clamoring for the Lord’s mercy. As I understand the scriptures, our Savior offered Himself as an Atonement purely out of love for us, not because we deserved it or earned it. To quote Stephen Robinson in his wonderful book Believing Christ, “Mercy isn’t mercy if we deserve it, so grace isn’t grace if we earn it” (p. 90). When we really understand the Atonement, we understand that we earn nothing and deserve nothing. When this mortal veil is drawn back, I don’t think we would like what we saw if we got what we actually earned or deserved.
Now, how does this tie into immigration? Many of those who come here illegally flee from desperate circumstances such as poverty, crime, and a lack of opportunity. Certainly, on the surface, we would think that someone in such circumstances merits our help and service. Yet, if that individual broke our country’s laws getting here, are we abetting lawbreaking if we assist them; have they earned or deserve that help? These are fair questions.
So are we obliged to extend mercy to the poor immigrant that came to our country illegally because they have earned it or deserve it? Clearly, they have not earned it, and, I guess, deserving it is debatable. But earning it or deserving it, in my mind, is not the point. The point is they need it, just like we all need the Lord’s mercy not because we earn it or deserve it. I don’t think I would be able to stand at the last day and beg for mercy if I wasn’t willing at every step to extend it to my fellowmen.
Now I would like to be very clear here. I am not advocating leaving immigration problems unchecked. However, I believe if we begin the process of reforming our immigration system having love, compassion, and mercy as our guide, then surely whatever fixes we come up with will have a better chance of meeting the Lord’s approval, which is the only approval we should care about.
In my next blog I will share a personal story of how I’ve applied this principle in my own life while carrying out my current calling. In the meantime, how have you handled this dilemma? Or do you have examples from the scriptures or modern-day prophets that suggest how to deal with this issue?
Blog 2
As I discussed in my first blog, the immigration issue creates a dilemma for us as Latter-day Saints, a seemingly no-win situation. On the one hand, we are commanded to love and serve our fellowmen while, on the other, we are commanded to honor and obey the laws of the land.
Where in the scriptures, our own Church history, or other inspired writings from prophets old and new can we find similar dilemmas? How have other people handled being between the proverbial rock and a hard place? Can we find examples that can give us direction in moving forward through these seemingly no-win situations?
I’m guessing there are several, but, the first and greatest dilemma that comes to mind is the one that faces all of us as children of God. In D&C 1:31 the Lord says, “For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.” Various Book of Mormon prophets teach us that no unclean thing can enter the kingdom of God. Now reconcile that with Paul’s teachings in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Ouch! Now, that is a dilemma. These scriptures set up the great paradox of this world—we are commanded to be perfectly righteous, but we are unable to be perfectly righteous. However, unless we are perfectly righteous, we can’t return to Heavenly Father. Nothing unclean gets back into Father’s presence, and we are all unclean. It would appear that we are all in the same stew. We are all equally lost, and even “after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23, emphasis added) are in need of the mercy and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, the purpose of this blog is not to go into the intricacies of the Atonement. The point in bringing it up here is to look at the merits of those clamoring for the Lord’s mercy. As I understand the scriptures, our Savior offered Himself as an Atonement purely out of love for us, not because we deserved it or earned it. To quote Stephen Robinson in his wonderful book Believing Christ, “Mercy isn’t mercy if we deserve it, so grace isn’t grace if we earn it” (p. 90). When we really understand the Atonement, we understand that we earn nothing and deserve nothing. When this mortal veil is drawn back, I don’t think we would like what we saw if we got what we actually earned or deserved.
Now, how does this tie into immigration? Many of those who come here illegally flee from desperate circumstances such as poverty, crime, and a lack of opportunity. Certainly, on the surface, we would think that someone in such circumstances merits our help and service. Yet, if that individual broke our country’s laws getting here, are we abetting lawbreaking if we assist them; have they earned or deserve that help? These are fair questions.
So are we obliged to extend mercy to the poor immigrant that came to our country illegally because they have earned it or deserve it? Clearly, they have not earned it, and, I guess, deserving it is debatable. But earning it or deserving it, in my mind, is not the point. The point is they need it, just like we all need the Lord’s mercy not because we earn it or deserve it. I don’t think I would be able to stand at the last day and beg for mercy if I wasn’t willing at every step to extend it to my fellowmen.
Now I would like to be very clear here. I am not advocating leaving immigration problems unchecked. However, I believe if we begin the process of reforming our immigration system having love, compassion, and mercy as our guide, then surely whatever fixes we come up with will have a better chance of meeting the Lord’s approval, which is the only approval we should care about.
In my next blog I will share a personal story of how I’ve applied this principle in my own life while carrying out my current calling. In the meantime, how have you handled this dilemma? Or do you have examples from the scriptures or modern-day prophets that suggest how to deal with this issue?
Monday, June 14, 2010
Latter-day Saints and Immigration, Where do we go from here?
Immigration: Where do we go from here?
Over the next weeks and months the debate will rage in our nation over what to do about immigration. Unfortunately, as happens all too often, the extremes on either side seem to be driving the debate and dividing us into seemingly irreconcilable camps. By doing so, they set up a situation where nothing gets done, and the situation worsens and becomes more contentious. History has shown us time and time again that such scenarios only lead toward violence, something none of us wants. My purpose in creating this blog is to present a forum or venue for sincere, cordial, and honest dialogue about a very complex issue. However, this blog location will not just discuss immigration in general, and how it relates to our country, but specifically, how it relates to Latter-day Saints. Here we will explore this issue with the light of the restored gospel to illuminate and guide us. Some thoughts will be my own. Other thoughts and commentary will come from invited guests on both sides of the debate. All will be presented in a respectful manner, or it will not be displayed on this page.
I do not believe I have seen such a divisive issue or heard such heated debate within our church. I have wondered why. I think there are probably several reasons, and we will endeavor to explore each in this blog. However, perhaps chief among those reasons is because this situation has created a great moral dilemma between two tenets of our faith. On the one hand, we are commanded to love our fellow-men, but, on the other, we are taught to obey the laws of the land. On the surface, the debate over illegal-immigration seems to draw a contrast between these two commandments and places us in a no-win situation. How can we both help those who are here among us fleeing desperate situations and ignore the laws of the land they broke in getting here? This is a fair, complex, and difficult question. However, I’m sure this is not the first time or the last we will find ourselves in similar paradoxes. Surely there are answers and direction on how to navigate this dilemma.
What examples can we find from the scriptures, the living prophets, and other church materials to give us insight into how to resolve such a seeming paradox? I’m confident there are many. To me, the most obvious is found in the Atonement. In my next blog, I will explore how the Atonement can give us some direction in this immigration debate.
Over the next weeks and months the debate will rage in our nation over what to do about immigration. Unfortunately, as happens all too often, the extremes on either side seem to be driving the debate and dividing us into seemingly irreconcilable camps. By doing so, they set up a situation where nothing gets done, and the situation worsens and becomes more contentious. History has shown us time and time again that such scenarios only lead toward violence, something none of us wants. My purpose in creating this blog is to present a forum or venue for sincere, cordial, and honest dialogue about a very complex issue. However, this blog location will not just discuss immigration in general, and how it relates to our country, but specifically, how it relates to Latter-day Saints. Here we will explore this issue with the light of the restored gospel to illuminate and guide us. Some thoughts will be my own. Other thoughts and commentary will come from invited guests on both sides of the debate. All will be presented in a respectful manner, or it will not be displayed on this page.
I do not believe I have seen such a divisive issue or heard such heated debate within our church. I have wondered why. I think there are probably several reasons, and we will endeavor to explore each in this blog. However, perhaps chief among those reasons is because this situation has created a great moral dilemma between two tenets of our faith. On the one hand, we are commanded to love our fellow-men, but, on the other, we are taught to obey the laws of the land. On the surface, the debate over illegal-immigration seems to draw a contrast between these two commandments and places us in a no-win situation. How can we both help those who are here among us fleeing desperate situations and ignore the laws of the land they broke in getting here? This is a fair, complex, and difficult question. However, I’m sure this is not the first time or the last we will find ourselves in similar paradoxes. Surely there are answers and direction on how to navigate this dilemma.
What examples can we find from the scriptures, the living prophets, and other church materials to give us insight into how to resolve such a seeming paradox? I’m confident there are many. To me, the most obvious is found in the Atonement. In my next blog, I will explore how the Atonement can give us some direction in this immigration debate.
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