Reykjavík Grapevine - 15.07.2016, Síða 16

The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 10 — 2016
16
Kristín Þórunn Tómasdóttir and To-
shiki Toma are two Lutheran minis-
ters who made headlines earlier this
month when they opened Laugar-
neskirkja to asylum seekers wanting
sanctuary from deportation. Video
and photos of police entering the
church and dragging an Iraqi teen-
ager out have added a new dimension
to Iceland’s ongoing argument about
asylum seekers, and made these two
ministers the focus of both praise and
criticism. Here they explain how their
faith led them to taking direct action.
Can you give our readers some context
in terms of what church asylum is?
Kristín: The concept of church asylum
is an old one. It was actually in laws
that were established in the Middle
Ages, and was based on the idea that
people could seek shelter and protec-
tion from authorities—there was little
to no central authority in those days,
and no police, so a lot of people were
caught in conflicts between warring
chieftains. Now, there’s no such thing
as church sanctuary as a part of Ice-
landic law. But the idea is there, as well
as the idea that some places we hold
more sacred than others. So this idea
of church asylum was one of the inspi-
rations to do this.
Actually, in the wave of this mi-
grant crisis, the idea of church asy-
lum has been re-invoked. We have ex-
amples around us, in countries such
as Norway and Sweden, where this
sanctuary has been respected, and ex-
amples where it has not.
Toshiki: It is very interesting to con-
sider these examples from Sweden and
Norway. There have been instances
where the police go into the church
and make arrests. In other places, the
sanctuary of the church is very well re-
spected.
Kristín: There’s this interesting ten-
sion within the Christian faith, in that
one tends to be very conservative, and
the church supports everything the
authorities do. But you also have this
tendency within Christianity that
holds the church should be prophetic,
fight injustice and stand with those
who are marginalised. In this case, I
thought that clergy all over would see
this action as a very clear example of
how we can support and stick up for the
marginalised. Obviously I was wrong;
people are debating this, even within
the church. It’s good to remember cer-
tain key passages from the Bible, such
as the story of the Good Samaritan.
He didn’t ask about age, or religion, or
social status—he just helped. This is a
very integral part of Christianity.
We’ve been seeing a lot more
deportations lately. What was
the impetus that made you two
decide, “OK, enough, we have to do
something?”
Toshiki: Well, one thing I must make
clear here is that the idea of using
church sanctuary came from the asy-
lum seekers themselves. They asked if
the church could protect them, having
learned from examples they’ve seen
elsewhere in Europe; in particular,
where the Catholic church is involved.
So they got the idea that maybe we
could provide the same kind of protec-
tion for them. We thought about it and
decided, why not? Honestly, neither
Kristín nor I think church sanctuary
should function in the same way it did
in the Middle Ages. We had to adjust
the concept to fit a modern setting. I
didn’t completely expect that the po-
lice would stop at the church doors and
go back.
Kristín: I was not surprised that
things went down like they did. And
to continue on Toshiki’s point of re-
interpreting church sanctuary in a
modern context, I think it’s very in-
teresting for us as a society to discuss
what we hold holy. My idea is that we
hold holy the concept of human rights.
This is a discussion we need to have:
what is the status of human rights in
our society, and how far are we willing
to go to protect it?
That’s an important question, and one
I’m sure you asked yourselves. How did
you decide how far you were willing to
go?
Toshiki: We discussed it very careful-
ly, and decided we would not do any-
thing against the law. And we didn’t. It
was very peaceful. We never used vio-
lence. We didn’t resist the police when
they came in. We let the police know
where these boys were, that we were
having a prayer meeting for them,
and to not go to their homes [to arrest
them] but to come here.
So you had to let the police know where
these boys were, because otherwise
you could get charged with hiding a
fugitive?
Toshiki: Yes, exactly. I can show you
the message if you like! So the church
was open, and we never stopped the
police or told them not to come in. We
just explained why we were doing this,
and asked them to show respect. But
the police came in anyway to take the
boys outside. Of course, the boys were
not willing to cooperate. They didn’t
fight back, but they didn’t leave will-
ingly, either.
Once outside the church, there hap-
pened what I would call unnecessary
violence, which was done by the police.
They have to take responsibility for
that.
There is a certain irony in seeing people
who have long defended and cited
the national church in their arguments
against immigration now leaving the
church for helping foreigners.
Kristín: It is bizarre. I think they’re
not used to having a national church
that thinks differently.
Toshiki: There are some people who
are trying to make the story that we
did something against the law. Which
is not true. But I think they’re inten-
tionally pushing this narrative.
Which is even more bizarre, because
we have the entire arrest on video, it’s
public, and anyone who wants can see
that no one broke any laws here.
Toshiki: I think maybe we pushed
some taboo button. I think for some
people, the national church was like
a tamed dog: always following them,
feeding us by hand, and maybe we bit
that hand.
Where do you see this going? Is
the church going to provide more
protection for asylum seekers in the
future? Do you think things need to be
escalated a little bit?
Kristín: I think this was an escalation.
Obviously, we did not manage to stop
the deportation with these means,
so I’m not seeing us doing this exact
same thing again. But I hope that this
has stirred the waters enough to make
people realise that something can be
done, and something should be done.
Toshiki: The police are not actually
the ones we’re fighting against. It’s the
whole process—from Immigration to
the Appeals Board to the Ministry.
The decision-makers. The police are
just executing their orders. We’re not
breaking the law.
Would you break the law to prevent
someone from being sent to certain
death in another country?
Kristín: I think so, yes, because my
faith inspires me to do so. To love life,
and to love your neighbour above all.
Toshiki: I think so, too. Within that
context, yes.
Kristín: One of the essential compo-
nents of Lutheran Christianity is that
we don’t have to agree on all things.
We can and we do disagree. We can
vary in our approaches.
Not Just The Lord’s
Work: Meet The
Lutheran Ministers
Who Stood Up For
Asylum Seekers
INTERVIEW
Words
PAUL
FONTAINE
Photo
ART
BICNICK
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