My Ancestors Were Refugees

I don’t want to get political; that’s not what this blog is about. But I can’t help but remember that my ancestors were not only immigrants, they were refugees.

Like nearly every other citizen of the United States, I am descended from those came here from somewhere else. My forebearers came from England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. They came from Germany, France, Switzerland, Poland, and Denmark. They left their homelands, crossed a dangerous ocean, and made new and better lives for themselves here in the the New World.

Some of them left home for new opportunities, a chance at a better life. Life was precarious for many villagers across Europe. The chance to own your own property, to simply be able to grow enough food for your family—to many it was an irresistible siren’s call.

But some of my ancestors had little choice. Voluntary religion—practicing a religion of your choice instead of the state religion—was considered a threat to the state. My ancestors had their property confiscated by the government. They were imprisoned. Tortured and killed. Some were even sold into slavery. Eventually, the survivors were deported and left to find new homes where they could.

They were refugees.

Some found homes in German regions decimated by religious wars and were welcomed. Temporarily. Their safety was dependent on the will of those in power. If that will or the person in power changed, their welcome changed. They soon found themselves in the same situation. Intolerance and fear made them unwelcome again. Homeless again.

Even my German Reformed, Lutheran, and Catholic ancestors—those whose religions were or were to become the state religions—even they had to endure and survive as war raged across Europe decade after decade, as their kings, margraves, and emperors fought over what would be the religion for their people. They, too, saw religion imposed on them based on where they lived. They, too, had little choice.

A New World

But William Penn not only welcomed them to Pennsylvania, he promised them a home where they could practice their religion without interference, without limitations placed on their congregations by the government, without having to pay a surtax simply to be left alone. In doing so, he created one of the foundations of our “American experiment.” That we the people should be free to practice our religion of choice. That the government and religion should be separate and that there should be no “official,” state religion to dictate to us.

My ancestors were Mennonites, Brethren, Schwenkfelders, Quakers, Baptists, Lutherans, German Reformed, Catholics, Presbyterians, and—given what I’ve learned from my DNA test—if I go back far enough Jews. My ancestors were immigrants and refugees. The stood up for their right to practice their religion. Many of them died for that right. Here in America they found both the freedom to practice their religion and safety from oppression.

I will do my part to support the rights of immigrants and refugees today to find that same freedom and safety.

• Category: Commentary