I have been feeling down recently. It’s frustrating to see so much unnecessary hurting in America, and to feel so powerless to address the problems. Last week I attended a couple rallies where I heard first-hand accounts of militarized raids on over-worked, underpaid, peaceful farm-workers. Dozens of these peaceful workers were ambushed and arrested by militarized forces, inflicting terror on the workers and their families. Hearing accounts from children of these workers, some of whom were present at the arrests, it was impossible for me to feel peace with my country’s policies. I was especially frustrated that so much of the rhetoric justifying our zero-tolerance policy has claimed this is about safety and security. These raids had nothing to do with American safety; the scores of arrests in my area were not of gang members, they were poor farm-workers. At its core our current policy is not pro-safety; it is anti-immigrant (as should be obvious in the rhetoric of our president who has indiscriminately likened these PEOPLE to insects on more than one occasion).
After attending the first rally, my twelve year old son asked if we could attend a larger rally he read about online taking place that weekend in Cleveland. Both were eye-opening, but the night after the second rally my son asked how he could start a movement to change things. I laughed when he asked this, which he interpreted as indicating a belief that kids couldn’t change things. I told him that it wasn’t because he was a kid that I laughed, but because no one, at the moment, has the answer to that question. I said that there were many adults who agree with him on topics like immigration, climate change, racism, and gun control but don’t know what to do, and that maybe it will take the bigger imagination of a kid to figure out a way to affect change.
Unfortunately, I count myself among those adults who don’t know what to do about our problems. Even on a personal level, I find myself unable to get loved ones to re-think an issue if it relates to politics in any way. The capacity to defend and rationalize entrenched political positions was on full display when Jeff Sessions, the US Attorney General, turned to his Christian faith to defend anti-immigrant policies by citing an exceptional passage from Romans that, apparently, requires submission to government. At the same time, he ignored the fact that the most common law in the Hebrew Scriptures (comprising about 40 of the 600+ laws) demands hospitality to the stranger/alien/foreigner. Additionally, he ignored Jesus’ own implication that those who fail to welcome the stranger were standing against him “I was a stranger and you did not welcome me… depart from me I never knew you” (Mt 25). Clearly, Sessions and the many Christians who agree with him show that many people are beginning with their answers. How do we affect change when the positions of people are so entrenched? At the moment, the best answers I can come up with regarding working toward a more just world are stay uncomfortable, keep thinking, keep trying, and support those who are actively struggling to affect change.
If anyone has any advice on helping people to re-think justice issues I would welcome your insights.
Peace,
Dave
They're here illegally. They have no right to be here. A woman who gives birth here automatically makes the child a US citizen and she's entitled to welfare. Many of the people coming are criminals or they commit crimes here. Hispanics as a group have high illegitimacy rates and high incarceration rates. They vote overwhelmingly democratic which is why the Democrats and the media want them here. Not only that, they will bankrupt America. America is already a bankrupt nation. There's $20 trillion in debt. The Federal Reserve creates money out of thin air to pay off the bonds as they mature because very, very few people them at the rates they're offered at. The rest of the world is waking up to the fact that America will never pay off its debt.
The globalists want to abolish borders everywhere. They want to destroy national cultures and patriotism. They want a one world government with Satan leading it. And it's coming.
It's literally true that Hispanics as a group get more in benefits than they pay in taxes.
The media tries to make immigration an emotional issue because they can't win with logic. People need to be rational about it. We can't let everyone into America who wants to come here. There are over 1 billion people living south of the Rio Grande between Mexico and Argentina. We can't let them all in.
Thanks Barncat. I appreciate your thought-provoking response. I have been struggling to decide what to write about and was a little hesitant to engage such a controversial topic. I'm inclined toward getting a long, but recognize that as uncomfortable as it can be, perhaps conversation with those we disagree with is a healthy way forward. I plan to use your critique as a starting point to go a little further in reflecting on the topic in my next post (I hope you read it and share your response).