Word for today- sanctuary

[ColbertWatcher]

Merriam Webster tells us that the word sanctuary dates back to the 14th century and offers two basic definitions: as a room or space considered sacred, and a second, as a place that offers safety:

2 a (1): a place of refuge and protection (2): a refuge for wildlife where predators are controlled and hunting is illegal b: the immunity from law attached to a sanctuary

Wikip*dia says the concept of sanctuary dates back to at least the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuary#Sanctuary_in_medieval_law">fourth century.

It is the second definition (the one about safety) that this post will highlight.

Earlier this year http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvira_Arellano">Elvira Arellano was arrested outside a church in Los Angeles after having taken sanctuary in a http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/jan/28/news/chi-churchrefuge_28_bothjan28">Chicago church as she fought a deportation ruling that would have (and eventually did) separate her from her 8-year-old son.

In the 1980s and 1990s, there was a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuary_movement">movement in the United States to provide sanctuary for refugees who were fortunate enough to escape civil wars ravaging their Central American home countries. At the height of the movement, there were over 400 U.S. cities that http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuary_city">adopted "sanctuary" ordinances.

The leaders of the 1980-1990 Sanctuary Movement used the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_asylum">right of asylum as an argument to protect these people from being deported to a country destabilized by war.

Wikip*dia says,

Right of asylum (or political asylum) is an ancient judicial notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or Church sanctuaries (as in medieval times).

Wikip*dia even provides an easy-to-read graph that shows the region of origin for people who sought asylum refugees who resettled in the United States between 1990 and 2005.



Currently there does not seem to be a sanctuary movement in the United States to prevent families from being split apart, and according to the Wikip*dia image, the number of refugees has dropped overall, with Central and South America registering the fewest people seeking receiving protection in the U.S..

So, does this ancient concept of sanctuary exist in today's churches?

Are American churches offering sanctuary for the victims of war or politically-motivated persecution? Or do they protect the ministers who use their pulpit to advocate for death, destruction and war?

Are American churches offering sanctuary for families seeking to remain together? Or do they sanctify the divisive language of their preachers that prevents loving families from starting in the first place?

Are American churches preaching tolerance or are they providing immunity to their rich and comfortable leaders to spread a message of discrimination and violence?

American churches have bestowed sanctuary on the least deserving: their leaders, who are too rich to suffer the pain of poverty and who are too powerful to recognize the danger of their hateful words.

It's time to stop protecting the privileged cowards and revoke the tax exempt status for those churches who don't.

[Posteritatis]

1. "Today's churches" aren't a monolith

The notion of sanctuary's fallen out of fashion - and this does kind of depress me - but there's some which still do it. They tend not to show up in the news unless there's something spectacular going on - a high-profile legal case, or they've been housing people for agse, etc. I think more of them could deal with remembering some of their initial purposes and offering it when needed more, but there are definitely some which still do it. One in my neck of the woods was in trouble a few years ago for offering sanctuary to some stowaways fleeing the Balkans; they hosted them for quite some time, but the public's reaction was extremely ugly to say the least.

There's a few stories of churches doing it right in the Religion section of the forums here, I think. I read about one there a week or two ago that's been doing that for years.

[ColbertWatcher]

2. But, there are churches that are monoliths, no? n/t

[Edweird]

3. When churches were able to offer 'sanctuary' they were part of the government

or a government unto themselves and above the law. You really do not want to return to those times. Religious facilities are not above the law.

[ColbertWatcher]

4. Yes, and that is exactly what their precious leaders are getting.

It's the word for today not because I want it to return, but because it has.

[ColbertWatcher]

5. Kick. n/t