Governor McMaster’s executive order is an affront to religious freedom | Op-Ed

In an unprecedented move, Gov. Henry McMaster has issued an executive order barring the state foster care system from housing unaccompanied migrant children in South Carolina’s foster care facilities.

McMaster has said he believes this order will help South Carolina serve its own children and families better. But McMaster’s decision to refuse them any welcome at all in South Carolina is a grave mistake. McMaster’s order isn’t just a great injustice against the children who are fleeing violence and persecution; it is also an affront to our nation’s treasured ideal of religious freedom.

As a pastor serving in South Carolina, I know firsthand how important caring for refugees and migrants is for many religious organizations and Christian families. I have heard countless stories from foster families, church leaders and humanitarian organizations about the great joy they derive from serving God by serving refugees and migrants.

For many South Carolinians, helping to house refugees and migrants is more than just a personal passion or a moral duty; it’s a religious imperative. The Bible consistently and clearly states that the love of neighbor is at the heart of the Christian faith. God calls us to welcome immigrants, love them and seek justice for them. Plenty of Christians, myself included, believe that we cannot worship the savior who said, “Let the little children come to me,” if we refuse to welcome and care for children at our border.

Of course, serving our refugee neighbors isn’t about proselytizing, and I am eager to see America welcome children of any faith background. But these children have hopes, dreams, wishes, aspirations and needs that it is our Christian duty to recognize and support. It pains me to hear stories from people working closely with refugees about children praying desperately to God just for a chance at a new home and a new life in America.

As a child of adoption myself, my life has been profoundly shaped by the compassion of people who decided to take responsibility for me as a child. They could have chosen not to. But they gave me a home. We must do the same for refugee and migrant children at our border.

I am truly thankful that McMaster wants to prioritize and fight for the vulnerable children of South Carolina! Many of those very children have passed through my church. Even when foster children move on, they stay very close to our hearts. Encountering these children in need changes you, because you cannot help but care about their plight.

But he needs to allow people in South Carolina to extend that same sympathy and care to migrant children. I understand how it could certainly be more comfortable for many of us to push these children aside and make them someone else’s problem. But I believe the more beautiful, more loving and more Biblical way forward is for us as a people to welcome these children and do what we can to help them.

We cannot forget that it is a biblical principle that a child should not be punished for the offenses of the parents. Regardless of anyone’s frustration at the current state of immigration and immigration law in the U.S., we must remember that these are children who are seeking safety. They have broken no law. They should not be punished for needing our help.

We can undoubtedly help children in need born in South Carolina and elsewhere. When we look back on these days, and when these migrant children are adults with families and lives of their own, don’t we want to be the people who stood up to help them, and not the people who turned a blind eye? I hope McMaster hears from the many South Carolinians who are willing to share the burden of responsibility and the joy of knowing and loving these children made in the image of God.

Patrick Taylor is a pastor at Ebenezer Church of the Nazarene in Aiken, South Carolina.

This story was originally published May 23, 2021 at 5:00 AM.