As I go back and read over last night's rant (and ensuing commentary), I need to clarify a couple things. This was one of those things I wrote around 1am after working the night before....so I'm not surprised that I left a few things out or left some things unclear.
1) I guess coming here is indeed a choice, though not a fair one. Just for the sake of argument, let's say I'm a Mexican peasant and my family is not well-nourished, we cannot afford medicines for our various ailments, and the prospect of working in the US is ever present. I try to get a work visa and am told that it's a twenty year wait (which it is indeed). Given the choice between waiting twenty years and watching while my family is hungry and sick.....well, I don't know about you, but there's not really a choice there. I will do what I have to do in order to take care of them.
The original idea of bringing Mexicans to the US to work was not Mexico's. It was the US. During WWII, we brought Mexicans here to pick crops that would have otherwise rotted in the field. After all, our boys were 'cross the ocean and the ladies had gone to work in the factories in support of the war effort. So our gov't decided to start the Bracero Program in order to compenate. And so it began.
2) Regarding the 'they suck our government dry' comment, what I meant to say was that yes - there are individuals who seem to be out for what they can get from Uncle Sam without contributing. But to say that illegal immigrants are the only ones who do it, or even in the majority is an inaccurate statement to make. In saying that, you're blaming something on illegal immigrants that is really an issue of human nature. In my line of work, I see just as many, if not more, US citizens living off the government bosom without working to contribute.
http://www.justiceforimmigrants.org/myths.html
And I still maintain that manmade laws aren't the standard for what's right and what's not. If God says to love the foreigner in my midst as I love myself, then that's the standard I have to live up to, regardless of what my government's laws may say, and regardless of how difficult that may be.
As I've had a little time to ruminate, I want to make it clear that I know there are many many Christians who feel the same way I do, and my rant is not directed at all Christians. Not even most. I was really ticked off at a few people in particular, and it may have come across as a rage against everybody. Sorry.
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5 comments:
I think it's possible to love someone and to help them without breaking laws. I definitely agree that the laws concerning immigration need to be fixed IMMEDIATELY, given the fact our country has a huge problem! And I feel like I'm really stepping on eggshells because I know we fundamentally disagree here, Beth Ann. To be honest, I am terrified of this issue! I want to love my neighbor, but I also don't think what is currently going on is good for our country. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. I think I better just keep the rest to myself.
How do our politicians decide who gets our help? We can't save everybody... and it seems like the whole world needs saving. No one can do that except Jesus.
So what do you think is the solution? I'm all for dialogue, even though I have strong feelings that may come across as being aggressive.
Good redux. I had a feeling that might have been a 1 am rant.
I'm really neither smart enough nor informed enough to come up with viable solutions. I don't see how it would be humanly possible to deport a gazillion people, but I don't feel right about letting people "get away" with immigrating to our country illegally either.
This all makes my head hurt!
I've been reading through the gospels since arriving in Santiago (started with Mark, now 1/2 way through Luke), and I read the parable of the good Samaritan yesterday. And it moved me almost to tears ... even though I have probably heard > 10 sermons from it. Beth & Jenny - I think the first place we should start is internally, and that's the change Jesus was advocating with that parable! Pray that God gives you compassion for your neighbor AND opportunities to act on that compassion. Don't worry about the gazillions ... but ask God to provide (or show you) those in your sphere that YOU can love. "All politics is local."
I move now to a related issue, and I think somewhat ironic, Beth Ann, that your most recent post is exactly in this area. (Here I get to be the one on eggshells). I think we as American believers have bought into our culture a little too much specifically in the area of nationalism. As far as I am aware, God never calls us to patriotism in a nation. He might have done it with the "nation of Israel", but always the patriotism was to be directed at Him, not the country itself (and technically we gentiles are part of that now...), but the USA, it's continued sustenance and imperial glory, etc., are not our highest priorities. (Yes, we can pray for our leaders and our country, and are even told by Paul to do so, but nationalism was not Paul's point!)
Jenny, you mentioned being "terrified of this issue". I know you believe this, but it's still good to hear again: God is way bigger than our country ... and don't you think he has your - and your family's - best interests at heart? (recall: "and you are worth more than many sparrows"!) "Fear not, for I have overcome the world." I think once we (myself definitely included!) center our beliefs on the many concrete promises of our Lord, we can truly feel free and have the freedom to act.
Maybe it's not so bad to have a few more foreign people around our neighborhoods? If we pay a few more dollars per month so someone can go to the hospital even if they are not a citizen, is that such a terrible thing? Shifting our attitudes (nationalism + our strong sense of entitlement, esp when it comes to property!) to an outward-reflected stance is, I think, exactly what Jesus did. He was empowered to have that worldview b/c he trusted the Father. And he viewed his obligations, his time, his very life, with others in mind.
So what do we do with this? 1. Start very small. Love your neighbor as yourself. (Ask God to a)give you that heart, and b)show the many opportunities). 2. Don't cling tight to the "security" that our culture is grasping (even worshiping?) so dearly. It, too, shall pass.
(A final very quick aside: the danger of combining liberal politics with christianity is that you give over to the govt your responsibilities to love your neighbor. Then you can quickly feel secure in your "good works" ... feeling good that the "poor" are being "loved" as they stand in the unemployment line or pay with food stamps. I do NOT think that impersonality is what Jesus had in mind!)
(one more comment to come in "part 3")
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