Fire?

 Take a moment with me to imagine.

Imagine you’re in a chemistry classroom and you see a fire that’s out of control. The door is blocked and the teacher is ignoring the flames.

Maybe it’s because she’s so intent on the lesson. Maybe it’s because she has destructive tendencies. Maybe it was supposed to be part of the lesson and she thinks she can still fix it on her own, without outside interference. Maybe she is waiting for the fire alarm and doesn’t think it’s a big deal until the alarm goes off.

You see the flames and smell the fire. You know the smoke detector’s battery hasn’t been replaced (budget cuts?) and you know it’s only a matter of time before the fire will get out of hand.

You also know that the classroom rules include 1. Stay in your seat and 2. No phones.

It boggles your mind that everyone else is staying put. A few kids are pointing to the fire. Some are raising their hands trying to get the teacher’s attention. Some, who are closer to the fire, look scared. But they’re all following the rules. Meanwhile, the teacher drones on.

You can’t just sit still. You know that lives depend on you. You know your own life depends on your action. Even if you love your teacher, you know something is wrong. You need help.

It may be breaking a rule, but you get up out of your seat. It is definitely breaking a rule, but you go and grab your phone from your backpack. You dial 911.

By now, the room is really smoky and your classmates are looking at you with a mix of hope and fear, a mix of confusion at your lawlessness and awe at your bravery. You see the teacher as she notices you are breaking the rule. And you speak, anyway, to the 911 operator.

“There is a fire in room 201 of the high school. The door is locked. Come quick!”

It is getting harder to breathe. One or two classmates gain bravery because you stood up. They grab towels with water and help classmates who are struggling from the smoke. Another classmate gets out of his seat to comfort someone having a panic attack.

And soon you hear the sirens and you know help is on the way. Help that might not have come if you hadn’t broken a rule. Help that will save lives because you knew there is a difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law.

Institutions have rules in order to promote wellbeing and the advancement of society. Sometimes, though, corrupt leaders use these restrictions to stagnate growth and quash rebellion…even when that rebellion has the best interests of everyone in mind.

I am not promoting anarchy, but I am saying there are higher laws. We must do what is right for those who need our strength, access, skills, and bravery.

Sometimes leaders are impaired. It may be a matter of bad health or ill-advised allegiances. It may be a matter of misinformation or hunger for unadulterated power. It may be a matter of excessive pride or excessive fear.

When the building is burning, when lives are at stake, when humanity is in danger, does it really matter why leaders are failing? Later on, then, it is crucial to analyze what happened to prevent its recurrence. But in the moment of emergency, what is important is to act.

To act in good faith with the best interests of others…. To offer your unique skills and insights to society… to do so humbly, respectfully, and lovingly…. To avoid harming some while lifting others… this is the higher law.

After the Holocaust, the Nuremberg trials made it clear that simply “following orders” was not a legal defense. International law acknowledges that there are higher laws than written ones.

Our national laws acknowledge that sometimes people flee to this country with an urgency of life-or-death. We have asylum laws, and though there is a backlog, the right to asylum still exists and mandates a fair hearing.

The current administration would have us think that asylum seekers awaiting their interviews are here illegally. This is not true. They may be people running out of a burning building.

Recent legislation is aiming to charge exorbitant fees to would-be asylum seekers and even more to youth seeking Special Immigrant Juvenile status. When matters of life-or-death suddenly cost you thousands of dollars and in your economy you can’t even earn that much in a year, choices become dangerously limited.

Do you wait to run out of a burning building until you have enough money to pay?

(This makes me think about the pay toilets in Europe…. What if you can’t pay to use the toilet? How long can you hold it in? Is it then illegal to “go” elsewhere? Yikes!)

Yes, there are people who will yell “Fire!” in a crowded building… for no reason. Yes, we have tales of the Boy Who Cried Wolf.

But we also are a society— a humanity—- which needs to protect those in need of protection.

Our media and our leaders may have forgotten this, but we must not. We are responsible for one another. We must rise to the highest law, and that is love.