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Keeping Hope Alive Until Victory Comes

Posted December 8, 2010 by Jim Wallis

Committed people of faith will always disagree on public policy issues, but I am encouraged by the broad spectrum of leaders who have found common ground on the moral issues at stake in reforming our immigration system. For people of faith there is a moral responsibility to hope. That’s always our job, even when the political winds are against us. Those of us who build our lives on hope have a calling, and a vocation, to spread that hope because, when we do prevail in the cause of justice, it is always hope which has kept our hearts alive until victory finally comes. We are concerned not just about the current political realities of comprehensive immigration reform; but about being evangelists for hope—putting our faith into action.

We believe there is no such thing as an illegal human being. We are all children of God, endowed with the image of our creator and deserving of respect. In the first two chapters of the Bible, we learn that it is in God’s image that we are created, and in the first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence, we hear that equality does not come from government but from God. It does not find its source in any law or constitution, it does not come from the color of your skin or the land in which you were born, but from the truth that should be self-evident—that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We believe in the rule of law, but we also understand that it is these things that are the purpose of the law. When the law no longer fulfills this purpose, it is unjust and must be reformed.

Any good public policy must be based upon respect for our fellow human beings as children of God. It must be based upon respect for family and community. Yet each day, 1,100 people are being deported. For us, 1,100 is not a statistic, a talking point, or just another political issue. It represents our parishioners, our neighbors, our brothers and sisters, our family and friends. It represents families that are torn apart, lives that are disrupted, and dreams that are shattered. It breaks our hearts to know that somewhere there is a 7-year-old crying for her dad, who was deported, to come home. I know this girl’s tears break the heart of God, and they should break the hearts of our lawmakers and give them the motivation to fight for respect, relief from cruel deportation policies, and meaningful reform.

Hebrews 11 says faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. My best paraphrase of that verse is that hope is believing in spite of the evidence, and then watching the evidence change. We are working for immigration reform because of our faith, and we will continue to act in hope until the evidence changes.

It has been a long, hard road in fighting for immigration reform. The politicians, the media, and the pundits say, “Not yet. Just be patient. Wait for the political climate to change. It’s the other party’s fault. If everyone just votes for me and my party all these problems will be solved.” I am sure that abolitionists heard this, women’s suffragists, labor leaders, and civil rights leaders were told this time and time again. It may be the job of politicians to have these considerations and make these pronouncements, but it is our job to keep on fighting anyway. We ignore the excuses because we know that it does not have to be this way. We ignore them because we are not here to follow the political winds, but we are here to change them. We ignore them, and we’re not going away just because this is hard. Our hope will outlast their political cynicism and maneuvering. We ignore them because we are people of hope who believe in spite of the evidence and then watch the evidence change.

Right now, we hope and pray that the evidence will change for deserving young people across the country. They are the ones who would be helped by the DREAM Act. The act, which will provide a path to citizenship for immigrant youth through earning a college degree or serving in the military, is the next step in fixing an immigration system that tears families apart every day. Individuals of faith on both the left and right agree that this is neither right nor just.

Congress must act now to pass this important legislation.

Jim Wallis is the author of Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street — A Moral Compass for the New Economy, and CEO of Sojourners. He blogs at www.godspolitics.com. Follow Jim on Twitter @JimWallis.

Tags : conservative christians, conservatives, cross-post, dream act, immigration reform, jim wallis, sojourners