Immigration
I am back in the States now, and I managed to arrive in the middle of the huge debate over immigration. Unfortunately I was too tired to stay up to hear the President’s speech and I have not yet had a chance to read the transcript.
It seems to me that the churches have a huge responsibility to add a theological voice to the debate. Not having been here, I don’t know whether churches are doing that or not (I suspect Sojourners and other magazines are). I would love to hear what is happening in your churches over the debate. Are you holding any discussion groups or Bible studies?
Just off the top of my head, there are several factors that need to be addressed. These include:
- The place of the resident alien (ger) in Israelite society, a topic I covered briefly in a previous post.
- What does “love your neighbor” mean with regard to Latin America? How do we as US Christians work for their greatest good?
- How does loving the people of Latin America compliment or conflict with loving our neighbors in America? Can the greater good be accomplished for both, or does one side lose out?
- What are the ethics of one nation amassing huge amounts of wealth and then closing off the border to those who would like a chance to share in that wealth?
Being jet lagged right now, my thought on these issues are not particularly clear, so I am going to hold off posting on them until I have a chance of making sense. But I would love to hear what others say. I think we as biblical scholars have a responsibility to aid the churches in addressing this from a faith perspective (no matter what Hector Avalos and Matthew Fox have to say).
On May 17th, 2006 at 4:23 pm
I personally admire the fact that the US Nation has accumulated an enormous amount of wealth
as a result of being committed to hard working and investing into the National economy as well as in the economies
of societies and communities beyond the US. This actually has resulted in economical prosperity in the US as
well as in other societies in Europe and Asia, as far as I know. Obviously, this has also resulted in provoking immigration
issues as thousands and thousands of people moving into the US for permanent residence. I strongly believe that
it is very helpful to move into another, economically successful country, and contribute to the new place of
residence and support their ex-home countries. Yet, I personally would not encourage staying there permanently, and instead, coming back and contribute to the
society where the immigrants are coming from would help to make the world a better place. Speaking in Christian terms, that would be expanding the Kingdom of God on earth.
I would also like to underline the unconditional attitude of Mr. Kevin Wilson towards the immigrants and promoting seeking the well-being of other non-US citizens. That is very helpful.