What Choice Do We Have?

In late 2015, influential people born in Germany were sharing a meal and conversation. Dr Henry Kissinger took Angela Merkel to task for welcoming a million refugees. Merkel's response was, "What choice do we have?"

There was an obvious choice: Germany could have rejected the refugees.

The current US Ambassador to Germany is not only cheering nationalists, but attacking Chancellor Merkel for the decision to accept refugees. Ambassador Grinnel represents his boss, if not his country, in disdaining mercy.

The United States has recently emphasized its disregard for the plight of refugees by taking their children away from them. Attorney General Jeff Sessions claims this is Biblical. Though even some of his most ardent supporters disagree with these actions, this attitude of exclusion has a lot of support among American Christians.

Germany accepted Syrian refugees largely because the rest of the world neglected the plight of people fleeing a terrible war. Negative effects of the decision have little to do with the refugees' behavior and much to do with an innate fear about that behavior. Some Germans too have again "submitted to the harsh instinct to crush those among us whose brokenness is most visible," as Bryan Stevenson puts it.

Merkel's faith likely influenced her decision to accept refugees. Merkel, a Lutheran, has said, "I am a member of the evangelical church. I believe in God, and religion is also my constant companion, and has been for the whole of my life. We as Christians should above all not be afraid of standing up for our beliefs."

Both Merkel and Sessions are paying a political price for their decisions. In being willing to stand up for what they believe, they are similar. But the content and effects of their belief differ immeasurably. One uses faith to justify cruelty, the other to justify mercy.

At that dinner in 2015, Merkel heard Kissinger out and then turned to Dr. Ruth, also at the table. As a child of German Jews, Ruth fled with other children to Switzerland. Her parents were killed. She pointed out that, after a 1938 international conference on what to do for Jews in Germany, only the Dominican Republic agreed to accept a substantial numbers of refugees. The US, like the other countries, made excuses. Despite a history of leading the world in providing refuge, we again make excuses.

Merkel's rhetorical question, "What choice do we have?" brings to mind the words of Martin Luther: "Here I stand. I can do no other, so help me God." He could have done other. He could have conceded to the ecclesiastical and political powers of the day. But his faith would not allow it.

We who believe in God have a choice: we can believe God wants us to be cruel or we can believe God loves mercy. What does your faith allow?