Will We Shelter Them: A Sermon by the Reverend Andrea Abbott, February 26, 2017
Preacher: Reverend Andrea Abbott, Will
Will We Shelter Them?
This is February, African-American History Month. It’s pretty close to the end but I wanted to have a few words about African-American History in particular and history in general. The issue of slavery is what makes the history of African-Americans different from the history of every other group in this country, just as the status of Native Americans is different from every other group in this country. In the case of Native Americans, they met the boat. In the case of African-Americans, they didn’t ask to be on the boat. Slavery is what makes not only the past but the present a different situation for African-Americans.
History, the science not the myths of history, is important to us in the present. It allows us to trace the dimensions of humanity. It allows us to understand the causes of present events. And it allows us, if we will let ourselves be guided, to avoid the mistakes of the past and be inspired to improve our actions in the present and future.
So, a quick look at our past as U-U’s. I hope it would be hard today to find anyone, for any reason, who would defend the practice of slavery. I have heard it hinted that slaves were better off in slavery than they were after the Civil War, but this is only an indictment of the conditions that were permitted, even encouraged, in which African-Americans found themselves after the Civil War. Not one promise of aid was honored to those who had created the wealth of the country under appalling conditions. And we know, all too well, the circumstances of African-Americans in the South, and, yes, in the North, as racist laws and customs kept most in virtual slavery and destitution for the benefit of a few, with the compliance of many.
Interestingly, those who mistakenly say that some people are better off in slavery imagine, in the first place, a comfortable sort of slavery rather than the nightmarish lives led by most slaves. As well, the people who defend the practice of slavery have not ever been slaves themselves. That makes a lot of difference. I
It makes a lot of difference to have experienced something rather than simply to imagine it. Most people, if asked, declare that they would have been abolitionists, would have resisted the Nazis and hidden fleeing Jews, would have stood up for civil rights in this country. If this had been true, of course, none of these problems would have long endured. Unfortunately, most of us, myself included or maybe especially, see events much better in the rear view mirror than we do at the time. It takes visionary people, prophets even, to see a wrong being committed amid the swarm of events that assault us everyday. It takes a prophet to see when what we have come to see as normal and accepted should not be normal and accepted. And it takes a prophet or a saint to have the courage to defy not just the powers that be but also one’s friends, relatives, associates to do something about the situation and to fight for what is right. Prophets and saints and visionaries are seldom good company. They tend to go on and on about whatever it is that they feel is wrong and they have little small talk. People don’t invite them to dinner more than once and the line between them and the mad is a thin line at best.
I’m no prophet. I like a comfortable life. I like a quiet life. I like most people and find the reasons most people have for their actions, or inactions, to be plausible, to make sense in the context of their lives and loyalties and demands. And, in my own lives and in the lives of others I can see that those demands, those day to day challenges and heartbreaks can fill every waking moment and lead to many sleepless ones as well. Most people do well just getting through the day. And so, I give special credit to those who can spend the time and energy putting us all on the right track, defending those in need and helping humanity to be a bit more humane.
As a denomination, we look to those leaders, those prophets and seekers, who have always been among our denomination. We also often believe that the whole of the denomination in the past was completely filled with such people, that our heritage of social justice encompassed every church. We look to people such as the Reverent Samuel May, a noted abolitionist and the man for whom May Memorial is named. We look to people such as the Reverend James Reeb, who lost his life in the civil rights movement. We look to people such as Martha and Waitstill Sharp who risked their lives to get Jewish children out of Nazi Germany. We look to the leaders who made the rights of the LGBTQ community a priority in the Standing on the Side of Love movement. This is just to mention a few instances in which U-U’s have stood on the right side of history. It has always been said that our movement influential in much greater proportion to our size. It is equally true that our principles have led us to many of these stances and, that when we act as a community, we are much more powerful than when we act alone. When our values lead us, we find we can accomplish great deeds.
But every Universalist and/or Unitarian congregation has not always been on what is understood, with hindsight, to be the right side of history. Though we now do not defend slavery, some denominations, not only Southern ones, did so. The cotton merchants of New England were not interested in slavery ending and so they forced Theodore Parker, now one of our heroes, out of his pulpit. Others favored a gradual approach to its elimination, one that secured the rights of slaveholders. And some supported slavery. People often cannot see the need for change when they are blinded by their own fears and needs. That doesn’t make them bad people. But history is a cautionary tale. We prize the heroes who fought for abolition but Unitarians and Universalists were part of every one of these factions, though we do not mention the other positions as much.
We are a people who prize diversity, and that is as it should be. We prize diversity, not just in ethnicity or in beliefs, we prize diversity in thought as well and in the knowledge that we are each led by our consciences. We respect each other’s understandings and, so, in respectful dialogue, in reasoned deliberation, we arrive at our actions. We have done this before and it is what makes us unique as a denomination. In the end, our ability to reason together is our creed.
We do not have a set of words that is fixed and immutable. We have a living creed, one that evolves as we evolve and that must be forged anew for each age.
But we begin in the sacred space of each heart and mind. We begin with each person searching, as earnestly and honestly as each person can, the contents of their conscience. Though we say quite often that this is the time that demands this search the most, I do believe that we are faced today with questions of more urgency, not only of what actions are correct, are in accordance with our values, but also in which way we should implement these actions in order to affirm our values. There are many such issues which call for us to search our consciences and to decide on our response, with history as our judge. Today, I would like to call your attention to one which seems particularly pressing. That is the issue of refugees.
At no time in the recorded history of the world have there been so many people displaced. This includes times of world wars. There are many reasons for this. In the first place, there are simply more people on earth now than there ever have been. But, as importantly, there are also more simultaneous forces operating on many different peoples at the same time. I will list some, These are not listed in order of importance, because every problem is the priority for the people experiencing the issue.
Climate change is one issue. The increasing desertification of many areas, most notably the Sahara, there unrelenting drought has meant that many people are unable to grow their own food. Many have moved from the outlying areas putting intense pressure on the cities which are unable to meet the needs of so many. And yet, to return would mean sure death. It has meant death to 658,565 people from 1980-2014 with 19,261 people killed each year through drought. Drought is just one effect of climate change. There are others, such as floods or extreme weather conditions, but drought alone has resulted in people slowly deciding that they have to leave their homes.
There are other forces that result in forced migrations. War engulfs much of the planet at any given time, wars between nations and civil wars fought bitterly within a country. Every war brings civilian casualties, often to people who have no interest in the conflict and want only to live their lives in peace. Bullets and bombs do not ask which side a person is on. They do not ask the person’s age, or status. Children are killed and maimed as much as soldiers. It is understandable why people flee wars and will try often very risky ventures to get their families to safety in the face of what looks like certain annihilation.
Economic issues also drive people from their homes. Trade agreements, made at the highest levels, have consequences for people who have had no say in those agreements. Most trade agreements have been a race to the bottom in wages and working conditions as well as in their impact on local economies. Once trade agreements are in place, many manufacturers and corporations are forced to into a game of follow the leader and wages plummet for everybody. We often do not enquire into the situations that force people to seek work elsewhere and at any rate. One example. After the North American Free Trade Act was authorized, Mexico was flooded with cheap corn from the U.S. Mexican corn farmers were devastated because imported corn was cheaper than their corn and their farms failed. As a result, many went north to the U.S., not because they wanted to leave but because they faced starvation at home.
This kind of economic instability creates political instability. Many strong men have seized the space created by the chaos to promise a stable future at the cost of political liberties. They then enforce their rule with an iron hand. In some places, such as Central America, gangs rule unopposed, forcing young children to join them. There are many ways in which instability creates conditions that make flight, even with its dangers, preferable to the living hell that is life for so many.
We often do not know a lot about the conditions that impel so many to give up everything they know to come to a place where they are often not treated well. But we do know that few people, except some of the adventurous young, really want to leave their country, culture, families, language. For people with families, it is usually desperation that forces their hand. And, no matter what their hopes and dreams, their new country is often a hostile, confusing, terrifying place. Now more than ever. So many are suspended between two harsh realities, with nowhere to go, feeling as if every person’s hand is against them. They, like us, long to be seen as people, long to tell their stories, long to be understood. As have vulnerable and dehumanized people throughout history.
Let us list some of those who have been refugees. It’s a distinguished list. Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, the Dali Llama, all were refugees. Perhaps that is why so many religions have generosity and compassion at their core. The Hebrew scriptures remind the Israelites:
Exodus 22:21″You must not mistreat or oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.
Also, in the New Testament, there are similar reminders:
Hebrews 13: 1 Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Matthew 25: 35 I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.
When we were in Madrid sign on town hall: Welcome Refugees. I would like to see something of the sort outside our church. I feel that this mass dislocation of people is becoming the defining issue of our time, just like slavery was in the past. As the globe goes through its great upheavals, more and more people are forced to leave their homes. They have not caused these upheavals any more than anyone sitting here has caused them. But the question remains, how do we respond to the most vulnerable, the most in need?
Where will we be counted? What record will we leave in history? And how shall we do this? Do we think we can sit out this dance? Do we think we can lead through political action? Or do we want to lead through our principles and our consciences to create a more moral and compassionate world?
We all long for safety. We all long for sanctuary. Those of us lucky enough to live in a safe environment may not be able to feel the terror, the ever present sense of danger that has accompanied millions of people on their journey. But we can be part of a movement that says, come, here you can find peace. And, in the process, we, too, can find peace in ourselves. After the service, I hope you will remain in your seats and we will begin the discussion on this issue.