Opus 2019-144: Expiration Dates, part 2 of 5

Cities are past their shelf life.  They claim to be rooted in history.  Maybe.  Maybe not.

We see cities embracing the idea of being sanctuaries.  This is not new.  Historically the idea of sanctuary cities has a place.  One place we see them is in the Bible where they are called “cities of refuge”.

(Num 35:11 KJV) Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares.

It would be easy to misconstrue this as the same idea of modern sanctuary cities.  The modern idea is to defy law and allow law breakers permanent shielding from the consequences of their deliberate law breaking.  Not so in the Bible.  The cities were for a specific issue:  Manslaughter.  It did not apply to murder.  As the verse above and other verses verify, manslaughter was the unintended killing of another person.  And the refuge was not permanent.  It only applied until people calmed down and the case could be reviewed.  It was not defiance of law but a way to stop revenge killing.  It was pro justice and anti vengeance. 

The room used for worship in a church is often called the sanctuary.  It is rooted in this idea.  Historically people were considered safe from the law when they took refuge there.  The church was considered above the state and the civil authorities had no rights inside the church. 

So the modern degeneration called “sanctuary city” has nothing to do with the historical locations.  It is simply a move by the liberals in our society that think the law is for chumps, not the enlightened.

To be continued...

homo unius libri