Here begins a recurring series of blog entries on DisciplesWorldmagazine. This is a long-planned addition to the blog, but I've been behind in my reading, especially my magazine reading. But I've resolved to read the magazine as soon as it arrives, which I've done this week.
I encourage you to browse through the recent issues of DisciplesWorld, which are kept both on the shelves in the Narthex and in the library. This publication attempts to speak to the broad experiences of our shared fellowship in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It is recommended and recognized by the general church, but it is an independent publication, which means that it is neither directed nor funded by any general church office.
The latest issue takes an extended look at a few of the issues raised by Latino illegal immigration into the United States. In some ways, this issue is more theoretical than practical for us in West Virginia; still, we can read stories of churches and Christians on the front lines. And we can reflect on them. What does Christian hospitality look like? How far does it extend? Are some churches who practice sanctuary with illegal immigrants flouting the law wrongly or rightly? What needs are we called to address among these poor migrants? Any?
It is certainly true that illegal immigration has significant impact on our economy -- many such immigrants provide lower cost labor, especially in construction, food service, agricultural, and other industries. Some of their wages are sent to their families in other countries, improving their lives. But these immigrants pose shared costs for the broader society, especially in matters of health care and education. The church is called to speak for truth. We are called to recognize and serve the needs of the poor. We are called to reach out to the outcast. We are called to be upright and responsible citizens. We are called to be law-abiding.
It seems to me that this problem poses significant political and theological problems, none of which are easily solved. Sometimes it is frustrating to be faced with seemingly insoluble problems; so we turn our heads and look away. But it is important for us to occasionally face such problems, to dig into them to better understand them, to try to imagine possible solutions -- by doing so we exercise our religious beliefs and deepen our faith; by doing so we refuse to be silently acquiescent in ignorance; by doing so we continue to imagine how much more God may be calling us to do.
There are also several other articles in the magazine, news pieces, columns, Bible studies. There are two pages on Romans which offer a particular interpretation that I probably won't dwell on in our Bible study. There is also an interview with Barack Obama, following previous interviews with John Edwards and Hillary Clinton.
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Immigration - This is more relevant to West Virginia as a whole than you might think. There is a quickly growing Hispanic (mostly Mexican) population in the Eastern Panhandle, mostly construction and agricultural/poultry plant workers. There are issues over there regarding the "Speak English" feelings and such things as church services being conducted in Spanish. This raises lots of issues, from the perceived (actual, in my opinion) insularity of the Mexican community to the expectation that immigrants learn English to the role of government in at once encouraging assimilation and intrusively enforcing anti-discrimination policies. In this particular part of West Virginia, the only obvious immigration has been SouthCentral and SouthWest Asian, mostly in technical fields. There is a quiet if devout Muslim community here, and I believe that this area shows tolerance to differing beliefs. Perhaps there is an essay lurking the the "why," but first I'll have to figure out a hypothesis.
I agree totally with Theodore Roosevelt. In 1907, he wrote:
"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."
How does that fit with celebrating heritage? Beats me. I am reminded of a billboard I saw on the Interstate a couple of weeks back, advertising a Scottish festival, featuring people trotting around in kilts, tossing cabers and such like. On the one hand, that seems totally bloody silly to me, but on the other hand I personally celebrate the woodsman/longhunter tradition, so, to each his/her own.
Roger-the-Heretic
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