Arizona, Immigration, and the Law

We heard just the other day that a Federal Court judge had put a stay on implementation of  much of the Arizona iimmigration law.  This stay is based upon the judge's belief that these aspects of the law overstepped constitutional boundaries, and intruded in federal jurisdictions.  It is a decision that is seemingly unpopular with many, one the Arizona governor Jan Brewer has appealed, and one the local sheriff apparently plans to flout.  But it is one applauded by many religious leaders, especially within the Roman Catholic Church.   

I recognize that the Arizona law is in part a reflection of frustration with the inability of the Federal Government to come to grips with immigration.  There have been attempts to rectify the situation, but there hasn't been the political will to accomplish reform, in part because there is no consensus on what  to do, as well as conflicting agendas.  There are business leaders who are largely Republican that want to broaden access for migrant workers, because they need these workers.  These are also the folks who are hiring undocumented workers.  On the other hand there are Democrats who are concerned about civil rights, and thus concerned about the civil rights issues involved, and yet they have constituents concerned about loss of jobs.  Then mix into this a growing nativism, and you have the foundations of a stalemate.

As for the law itself, it simply goes way to far.  Not only does it step on the toes of  the federal government, but it creates untold numbers of problems, including potential for abuse of civil rights.  Proponents of the law say they don't understand why there is all the fuss about producing documents.  But, most of these proponents are white and unlikely to ever be asked to produce such documents such as a birth certificate.  How many of us carry proof of citizenship?   Few if any.  But, if you're Latino, well that's different.  Why?  Because you fit the profile of someone who society believes might be here illegally.    Therefore, one could be a Brit living here illegally, probably having overstayed one's visa, or maybe even a Canadian, but no one would ask for documents, but one could be Latino, having lived here legally one's life, but be required to produce documents -- because they fit the profile.  Suspicions are based on profiles.  You can train the cops and mean well, but the pressure is on in Arizona to show results.  And so rights will be abused.     

Now, what would be best would be for Congress to get behind a reform measure that is realistic and that provides needed security.  I realize in today's political climate that's not likely, but this would be helpful.  It is also time for a broader discussion about immigration.  Why people have come here to the US, and why they continue to come.  Its time w reflect on the benefits that immigration provides to the nation.  After all we are a nation of immigrants.  Even Native Americans migrated here from Asia thousands of years ago.  We also need to recognize that migrants aren't the cause of drug related crimes.  Yes some are involved, but they're not the cause.  The cause is the insatiable appetite on the part of Americans for cocaine and other drugs, signs that the American "war on drugs" has been a failure.

My hope is that the Supreme Court will throw this law out so that we can get on with resolving the real problems.

Lincoln, the Know Nothings, and Nativism Old and New

Earlier I wrote about my disgust with both Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich's demagoguery concerning Muslims in America.  Actually, Palin's rant wasn't as dangerous as Gingrich's.  But both are what some call "Christianists," and in their understanding of "real American" is quite narrow.  The Nativism that is driving the debate in Arizona and in New York is not new.  It has a fairly strong pedigree, that goes back to the early days of the Republic.  It fueled the dispossession of Native Americans from their lands, kept blacks in servitude, excluded Asians, and targeted Catholics, especially Irish Catholics.

Back in the 1850s a political movement emerged that came to be known as the "Know Nothing Party" -- a party that targeted Catholics.  It had some political success and even recruited a former President to run on its behalf in 1856 -- Millard Fillmore.  The response that Abraham Lincoln gave in a letter to friend Joshua Speed dated 1856 speaks clearly to what is happening today.  Although the majority of the letter speaks to the question of slavery and the impending admission of Kansas to the union, the letter also speaks volumes not only to the situation then regarding immigration and the other, but to that which exists today. 

I am not a Know-Nothing. That is certain. How could I be? How can any one who abhors the oppression of negroes, be in favor or degrading classes of white people? Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declaring that "all men are created equal." We now practically read it "all men are created equal, except negroes" When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read "all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics." When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty -- to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocracy [sic].

So, in response to Gingrich's demand that no mosque be built whilst churches can't be built in Saudi Arabia, perhaps we who love liberty should move not to Russia but to Saudi Arabia, for if the "Know Nothings" of today take over, then at least we'll not live with they hypocrisy of our pretensions of liberty for all.  

Healing for the Nations -- Sermon

Revelation 21:22-22:5

    In The Last Battle, the final volume of The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis picks up on an important theme in Revelation.  Like the author of Revelation, Lewis describes evil as a consuming power that lives off pain, suffering, and destruction.  In this story, an imposter poses as Aslan, and speaks to the people of Narnia who long to hear Aslan’s voice.  The imposter is controlled by the Calormenes, a rival nation that serves the evil god Tash.  The Calormenes want to control Narnia and so they exploit the Narnians’ longing for Aslan.  Jill and Eustace, two travelers from our world, help expose the imposter, but not before Narnia is destroyed.  There is great sadness in this book, but there is also good news.  That is because Narnia gives way to a new creation, the land of Aslan, into which those who are faithful to Aslan are invited to enter.   Like Revelation, The Last Battle describes what theologians call eschatology.

    What is interesting about Lewis’ story is that he offers a rather inclusive vision of the future.   You see, it’s not just the Narnians who get to enter this new world of Aslan.  Both Ermeth, a Calormene warrior, and Puzzle the donkey, who in his innocence allowed himself to be used as the fake Aslan, are invited into this new world.  In Lewis’ mind, God has a much more inclusive understanding of reality than we do many of us.    

    Before we can get to the vision that the author of Revelation and Lewis offer us, we must first recognize that there are a multitude of voices calling out to us, not all of which are wholesome and life giving.  Sometimes, when we feel uncertain and afraid, we allow ourselves to listen to voices that claim to be godly, but are not.  We live in a world where evil resists the justice and mercy of God.  Nation rises against nation, people against people, family against family, neighbor against neighbor.  Out of fear, we seek safety and security in ever tighter groups, making us susceptible to a message of “us against them.”   Iraq, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Darfur, Israel/Palestine, Sudan, Somalia, Mexico, and the Congo are all torn apart by tribal, ethnic, or religious strife, but they’re not alone.  We see it here in our own communities, where nativism – just to name one example – is on the rise. 

    In our text this morning we hear a word that exposes the darkness that is present in our midst, and welcomes us into the light.  It is a message of healing – not just for individuals, but for the nations.  I know this doesn’t sound much like a Mother’s Day sermon, but I think there is a connection.   You’ll just have to wait and see!

1.   A LIGHT IN THE WORLD

    The promise of Revelation is that no matter what happens God is present with us.  It’s in this promise of God’s resolve that we find  hope, and this morning we hear the promise that healing will be given to the nations who make their way into the New Jerusalem, where God and his Lamb serve as both Temple and Light.  

    In this passage, the symbol of evil is the darkness that seeks to extinguish the light, for if the light can be extinguished then the people will be lost.    But no matter how encompassing the darkness might be, we hear the promise that the light of God will continue to shine into the darkness.  Therefore, there is no need to fear.   In fact, In this vision of God’s new creation, there’s no need for walls or gates, for that which is evil has no place in this new creation.  That which is unclean and false – whether it be hatred or anger, self-centeredness or rebellion, shall be burned away in the refiner’s fire.     
  
2.  GOD'S HEALING PRESENCE

    The vision moves from the light that shines into our darkness, to the healing waters of the river of life that winds its way through the city.  Along this river stands the Tree of Life.  The leaves of this Edenic Tree, which is sustained by the River of Life,  provides healing to the nations, even as the leaves of an aloevera plant brings healing to our bodies.  These leavers are a salve to the wounds brought on by human strife.

    Now these nations aren’t just political entities, for the Greek word ta ethne, which  gives us the word ethnic, speaks of every group, tribe, and race that inhabits this world of ours.  Yes, everyone is invited to experience healing in the city of God.   As Paul suggests in Galatians, in Christ “there is now neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free” (Gal. 3:28).  Our physical distinctions may not be erased in the kingdom, but these distinctions will no longer decide our place or our relationships, for in Christ we have all been made one body.  Therefore, there are no second class citizens in the kingdom of God. 

3.  TOWARD THE HEALING OF THE NATIONS

    The words "the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations" (22:2) can be found in Ezekiel (Ezk. 47:12) as well as here in Revelation, and as I consider these words I think about our cities and our neighborhoods, which often are ethnic powder kegs, ready to blow at any time.  We know about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but what about the walls that divide us here in Southeast Michigan?   I’ve been told many times about the invisible wall that divides Detroit from Oakland County.

    When we read a text like this, it’s easy to assume that God will make everything right on the far side of eternity.  But, what if the new creation, the new Jerusalem has implications for life in the here and now?  If the kingdom of God is already present in our midst, initiated by Jesus in his life, his death, and his resurrection, how might we participate in God’s work of transformation?  How might we be part of the solution?

    The text speaks of the waters of life and the Tree of Life, which offer healing to the nations.  If we can move beyond seeing nations as political entities and see this as describing tribes and families and groups, then perhaps we can better grasp what God is calling us to do.  We live decades after the Civil Rights era, but many of us still live in self-imposed ghettos and enclaves, where suspicion, jealousy, and even hatred are present: African, Korean, Arab, Persian, Latino, Native American, Chinese, Vietnamese, Hmong, Anglo, Indian, Jewish, Romanian, and on and on.  Color, language, and culture remain divisive.  Many of us fall prey to fear of the other.  And often, as illustrated in Lewis’s book, this fear breaks out into violence. 

    We may feel overwhelmed by the news, but there is a word of hope in this passage of Scripture.  The church has been called to serve as agents of healing and reconciliation.  God desires to use us to pour out the living water into the world, so that the dry lands might once again bear fruit.    In our discussions over the last year or so, using the Unbinding the Gospel materials, we talked about prayer and faith sharing.  As the living waters take hold in our lives, we are freed to speak and live God’s healing presence in a broken and hurting world. 

    Consider what Martin Luther King told moderate Southern whites many years ago.  He said that the greatest tragedy of the Civil Rights era wasn’t the "strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people."   Indeed he wrote: 

    No social advance rolls in on the wheels of inevitability.  Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals. [Martin Luther King quoted in And Don't Call Me a Racist!  9th edition, (Argonaut Press, 1998), 141].

    And so how does this call to join in the work of bringing healing to the nations fit into our Mother’s Day celebration?  Well, before Mother’s Day was a big consumer bash, Julia Ward Howe, the author of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” made a proclamation that  called on women to honor mothers by becoming peacemakers.  Writing in the aftermath of the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War, she called for an end to the seemingly endless conflicts and wars that plagued the world.  She called on the women of the world to rise up and bring healing to the nations, declaring:

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace. 

There is a connection between Revelation and Mother’s Day, and it is found in this call to bring peace and healing to the nations.    May we all heed this call to be agents of healing in the world! 

Preached by:

Dr. Robert D. Cornwall

Pastor, Central Woodward Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Troy, Michigan

May 9, 2010

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Here be Nephites -- Sightings

I have long had a fascination with the history of the Mormon church.  It, like my own church, has its roots on the American frontier.  In fact, a number of early Mormon leaders, including Sidney Rigdon and Parley P. Pratt, were "Campbellites" prior to joining with Joseph Smith.  So, my ears perk up when I hear something new emerging from the LDS community.  In today's edition of Sightings, Seth Perry and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Chicago, writes about a new theory as to the identity of the Nephites -- suggesting a Heartland Theory that has Nativist tendencies -- a movement within the LDS church that has implications for its future and may even include Glenn Beck among its supporters.  Intriguing essay!

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Sightings 4/29/10

Here be Nephites

-- Seth Perry

The Book of Mormon is widely viewed as the quintessentially American scripture of a quintessentially American faith, but in strictly geographical terms this designation is more complicated than it might first appear. The Book’s modern manifestation is definitely American – Joseph Smith, New York farmer, said that he dug it out of a hill near his home. Believers regard the text as having an ancient history also, though, and here the geography is less clear. According to the text, its authors were pre-Columbian inhabitants of the New World, but its geographical terms are oblique: The characters war and proselytize over a “land northward” and a “land southward,” connected by “a narrow neck of land.” Many readers have assumed that what’s described is the Western Hemisphere – North and South America connected by the isthmus of Central America. Among other things, though, this scale is too vast for the characters’ descriptions of their travel: With the farthest cities mere days apart, the whole story seems to take place within a few hundred square miles. For some time, conventional wisdom has identified that area as Mesoamerica, stretching from modern-day central Mexico to Honduras. Mesoamerica hosted advanced pre-Columbian civilizations, the thinking goes, and the land forms fit, to a certain eye. The LDS Church has no official stance on the matter, but it has tacitly endorsed this view. Significant Church resources are committed to archaeological and ethnographic projects in Mesoamerica, and Church-sanctioned visualizations of the Book of Mormon story, replete with palm trees, do not appear to be set in, say, southern Illinois.

There is a swelling movement within the Church, though, that prefers to believe that the story took place in Illinois, among other North American locales. Bruce Porter and Rod Meldrum’s Prophecies and Promises: The Book of Mormon and the United States of America is the latest salvo in this argument. The authors’ “Heartland Model” theory hinges on the numerous Book of Mormon prophecies concerning a future “mighty nation” in the New World, “a land of liberty” (2 Nephi 1:7), “choice above all other lands” (Ether 2:7), established by “Gentiles” who will come “out of captivity” and revolt against their “mother Gentiles” (1 Nephi 13:17). This nation, the prophets recorded, would exist on “this land” – in other words, the land on which the prophets themselves were then living. Porter and Meldrum believe that the prophets, then, must have lived within the current borders of the United States, since they don’t find Mesoamerica particularly “choice”: “In what way could any Central American nation be considered a mighty nation above all other nations?”

The other side’s response has been, among other things, to demonstrate from the same texts that “this land” could just as easily mean “this continent,” which would not eliminate Mesoamerica; the debate goes on. But the fact that some people are looking for sacralization of the “heartland” in the Book of Mormon just now is interesting. Fifty-seven percent of the “quintessentially American” faith’s members now live outside the United States, and most growth is happening in those less “mighty” places, such as Central America. Scholars have long wondered how Mormonism’s American character affects its overseas growth, asking whether Mormonism can take authentic root in places where the American Constitution and apple pie are unknown. The Heartland Model, though, signals the need to wonder about the other side of the equation – how is international growth affecting Mormonism at home?

Whatever else it is, the Heartland movement looks like a ripple of nativism, a twitch of insecurity among Americans in a globalizing faith. Mormons are increasingly identified with conservative politics, and in its very name the “Heartland Model” conjures the right’s renewed rhetoric of American exceptionalism. Glenn Beck – piercingly conservative but rather quietly Mormon – shilled for an April conference put on by Porter’s company, founded to promote (and monetize) the Heartland Model. And Prophecies and Promises voices a familiar-sounding political message: Rededicating the United States as the Promised Land, the authors tell us, should give believers “a more comprehensive view of the individual responsibilities…to protect the freedoms established by the Founding Fathers who came out of captivity to create this nation in the Land of Promise.”

There is a lot more change to come if Mormonism is to be the “world religion” it aspires to be. For all of the growth overseas, for example, the vast church hierarchy is still overwhelmingly composed of white American men. When and if such features begin to shift, the impulse discernible in the Heartland Model is only likely to grow stronger.

Reference:

Bruce Porter and Rod Meldrum, Prophecies and Promises: The Book of Mormon and the United States of America (Digital Legend Press, 2009).

Seth Perry is a PhD candidate in History of Christianity at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

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In this month’s Religion and Culture Web Forum, Web Forum editor emeritus Spencer Dew explores the relationship between Jack Kerouac’s religious thought and its expressive practice in the act of writing: “Indeed, his entire oeuvre can be read as an expression of his personal religious stance, a kind of ‘fusion’ of Catholic theology with notions taken from Buddhist philosophy and practice.” Through a close reading of Kerouac’s novella Tristessa, Dew suggests that such a fusion—despite exemplifying Kerouac at his writerly best—leads to a solipsism that is ethically troubling, and likely reflective of Kerouac’s personal and professional shortcomings—especially later in his life. “Devotion to Solipsism: Religious Thought and Practice in Jack Kerouac’s Tristessa,” with invited responses from Benedict Giamo (University of Notre Dame), Nancy Grace (College of Wooster), Sarah Haynes (University of Western Illinois), Kurt Hemmer (Harper College), Amy Hungerford (Yale University), Omar Swartz (University of Colorado, Denver), Matt Theado (Gardner-Webb University), and Eric Ziolkowski (Lafayette College). http://divinity.uchicago.edu/martycenter/publications/webforum/index.shtml

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Sightings comes from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

The Stranger in our Midst

The people of God have long been a wandering people.  The Old Testament is filled with directives concerned with the way the alien is to be treated -- because they had been strangers in a strange land.  From the Torah we hear this directive:

33When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. 34The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.  (Leviticus 19:33-34)

It is in the light of passages such as this that we must hear and consider the debates in this land concerning immigration.  Immigration reform has been stalled for years, in large part because there simply is not the political will to get done what must be done.  The parties are too polarized and thus we find ourselves stalled and the problem worsens. 

It is in that context that the state of Arizona has taken matters into their own hands and enacted a new law that gives the police almost unlimited powers to stop and question a person, whom they might deem to be illegally in the country.  What they have done is criminalize being present in the country without proper documentation.  The possibilities of misuse and abuse of the law are endless.  While nativist sentiment fuels this movement in part, there are a lot of other factors involved as well.  I my mind no good can come of this law.  It will only exacerbate the problem. 

Now, having lived for much of the past 30 years in Southern California (until my recent move to Michigan), I understand the complexities of the issues facing Arizona.  Due to an unwillingness on the part of Congress to address immigration issues, the states bordering Mexico have become increasingly agitated about the costs and dangers of dealing with immigration issues.  Immigration issues impact hospitals, schools, housing stock, crime, and more.  People are exploited for economic gain. 

Although border states must deal most directly with immigration related issues, it's important that we all contribute to them.  Our desire for cheap labor and cheap goods, combined with business interests wanting to make the most profit, has led to the increased use of undocumented immigrant labor.  Undocumented workers don't tend to be unionized, don't complain about hours or pay, will work in less than savory conditions -- but often pay taxes, including Social Security (for benefits they'll never claim).  As for the illegal drug trade -- we fuel this by our insatiable demand for drugs.  It is obvious that the "war on drugs" has failed, and that the demand from the north keeps the drugs flowing.   If immigration reform is to happen, we must take responsibility for our own actions.

So, as an op-ed in the Arizona Republic suggests, Arizona has taken on the aura of a police state.  The people of Arizona recognize that civil liberties are at stake, but they don't seem to care.  And, the likelihood is that a rather extreme sort of leadership likely will come to the fore in Arizona.  Similar movements could emerge in other states -- including California. 

So what do we do?  Jim Wallis has called for churches to not cooperate.  Some are calling for a boycott of Arizona.  But, perhaps the best thing we can do is push for Congress to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform that is fair and just, that recognizes that you can't simply move 11 million (whatever the current number) of people out of the country.  Many of these families have children who have lived all their lives in the states.  For all intents and purposes they are as "American" as I am, only they lack the proper papers.  Businesses also must come clean and obey the law -- as a commentator on NPR said yesterday, if there are no jobs people won't be moving north.

Let us reason together on this and come up with an equitable solution. 

1Let mutual love continue. 2Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:1-2)