As I have read and studied the scriptures on the subject of the treatment of Aliens and Foreigners in the land, it has become obvious that there is a fundamental problem in our land. Here in California it is a "front and center" issue. The two "sides" of the issue seem to both be way off, but I can't seem to find any good christian discussions that aren't of the "hooray for our side" variety.
So here is the rub. The scriptures tell us as Christians to care for the aliens and the foreigners. The left wants to dehumanize them through treating them like pets. The right demonizes them and wants to scapegoat them. To care for them might be harboring a criminal. To not care for them leaves them to be "cared for" by the pinkos. The economic problem (at least around here) is deep and wide and the insanity of minimum wage and the destructiveness of protectionism have created a huge black market (like always) that above-boarders are having hard time competing in. Combine this with the free college education that has created a whole class of educated fools that have no skills or work ethic, but have too much pride to take a labor job and you have a California style economic tail spin that only the illegal aliens are going to survive.
So here is my question. What do I tell people? What should I be saying to people when they ask?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
And if your questions were not already complicated, consider the nature of immigrant demographics. Out nation is extremely political in determining how many of what nationality may enter legally, creating other difficult incentives (or disincentives) which should be considered as a part of the larger issue of immigration. Not that such selectivity is necessarily bad, but perhaps we should be concerned with the criteria by which those decisions are made. For example, immigration quotas from Muslim nations are on the rise, even as immigration quotas for Latin America decline. Let us consider here the possible cultural ramifications of this growing imbalance: Latin America shares a Christian (albeit Roman Catholic) heritage, whereas Muslims are, well, Muslim. Of the two, speaking Christianly, surely one is preferable to the other (indeed I could make the argument that that, as brothers in Christ, we are duty-bound to give preference to them). Certainly the cultural implication of growing numbers of Muslims, as opposed to growing numbers of Latinos, is stark. I need only look as far as Europe’s slow-motion suicide to make that point.
All that said, in the end it is hard to make a clear-headed decision on this matter because the over-involvement of the governments at all levels introduces so many distortions into this marketplace of ideas that any choice seems to leave us holding a glut of subprime mortgage derivatives, or their policy equivalent. I think that we need to evaluate the role of the government in immigration and decide which functions should be delegated, and which are not the place of governments of any sort, and so be abandoned altogether.
Finally, the Church. I would very much like to see churches/denominations begin forming committees to draft clear doctrinal and actionable statements regarding immigration issues. And here I am calling not for the politically correct Orwellian-edu-speak that passes for saying something in this country today. I mean a meaty “white paper”– something akin to the Catholic’s encyclical. Even better, something confessional.
That makes sense. There is a definite governmental grasping involved. It would be great for churches to "jump in." Another difficult question is what should, say, a Christian, farming in Southern California, do about hiring laborers? There are definite injunctions about treating those working for you well, but what about hiring aliens without the government paperwork? The government has overstepped its bounds in insisting on the paperwork, but what should a christian do, knowing that that argument won't add up in court?
Sadly, I don’t think the government overstepping its bounds is criteria enough to flout the law, even for the South Carolina farmer (did you know that it is from thence I most recently hail?); at least, not by that criteria alone. This is especially troublesome given how the courts have failed to protect the interests of property owners and small businesses when it comes to government intrusion and seizure. Biblically, I do not think that this is a situation where the government is causing us to sin, which to my understanding would be the only real criteria wherein our farmer might legitimately circumvent the government.
Now, just thinking out loud: I wonder if we could apply some Underground Railroad thinking here? If you could somehow demonstrate that illegal immigrants do exist in a kind of de facto slavery, then hiring them and helping them to escape and elude capture becomes a noble thing. After all, technically, the southern slave who made for a better life in the north also was a lawbreaker by the government’s standards, just as the illegal immigrant is today. And the same concerns existed then as do surrounding the debate today: will they take our jobs, who will care for the indigent, we don’t want to reward law-breakers, etc. I don’t pretend it’s an exact parallel, and this idea needs much work…but my own conviction is that slavery is no less pernicious in the “soft” form of apartheid we’ve created in this country through economic and political paralysis, than the “hard” form of chattel slavery. The end of that road leads to the same place.
I would agree that the government has overstepped its bound both with government benefits and border security. If the government would quit acting as the Church and if the Church would take up its roll, it would discourage the leechy types of immigrants and also put some intelligence into the program with a real standard. That being said, I would disagree with Mr. Perkins analogy. The illegal aliens have come to this country of their own free will and aren't trying to get away. They come here because they can have a life in which they can move up in the world. Also your argument that the aliens are persecuted in a similar way to runaway slaves is faulty since the slaves have done nothing wrong whereas the aliens have broken the law.
Additionally, I would appreciate it if you would expound upon your point about the treatment of the aliens leading to slavery and what kind of slavery you mean (Biblical or pagan slavery). It is not necessarily a bad thing to have slavery, it depends on which form you mean, and It is difficult to see the connection between immigration and slavery.
Post a Comment