“An Historic and Hallowed Principle in Religious Life:” The Usable Sacred Histories of the 1980s Sanctuary Movement

Abstract This article draws on numerous primary sources to tease out the “usable sacred histories” that Sanctuary Movement congregations of the 1980s invoked in declaring their houses of worship a “sanctuary” for Central American refugees. These declarations often vaguely alluded to precedents in the ancient world, the Bible, the Middle Ages, the Americas, and the Holocaust, offering a broad base of usable sacred histories that informed the imagination of sanctuary organizers. This article argues that congregations tapped into and in many cases clearly deployed “usable sacred histories” to justify in large part their entry into the decade’s sanctuary civil disobedience standoff with the Reagan administration. This article examines over thirty sanctuary declarations, resolutions, and statements along with brief articles and speeches. Together, they demonstrate the power of “usable sacred histories” written by sanctuary organizers and sympathizers, helping us to understand a key religious dimension of this nationwide movement.