My wife donates hundreds of hours each year of community service work through her church. It is all done on a voluntary basis, and she do NOT have the threat of arrest hanging over her head. The church is not protecting her from any government agency that wishes to speak with her.
Postponing justice is not how a responsible person handles their obligations to society.
Agreed. But the irresponsible are people too. We do have a responsibility to make them to see their errors and encourage change. I think churches and their congregations should feel some kind of obligation to make an effort to do so whenever possible. This is why I think sanctuary is a good idea. It gives religion a slightly bigger authority in the “reform” process that prisons otherwise would have a monopoly. It also plays well into my belief that big brother is too big and should be downsized. I’m in favor of upsizing the responsibilities of private charities. I see sanctuary as one small way to do that. The surest way to whittle away at big brother’s size is to whittle away at his authority. I like the idea of sanctuary.