Monday, May 08, 2023

Or: Interpretation Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

Lots of interesting proof texting going on here (apologies, this is going to get redundant due to the nature of Twitter): Christian charity and love abounds, eh? And yes, somebody went for the sheep and the goats: By that time Camp had...decamped.

I do not present this as an argument for using scripture as a club; nor even as a sword and shield.  It is an object lesson in how you can't cudgel those who disagree with you, into agreeing with you.  Love replaces fear, but love is fearfully slow and frightfully inefficient, which is what makes fear always seem to have the upper hand.  But the problem is not "invasion" and the answer is not quoting the Prophets (although they did have a lot to say about this situation, which critique of Israel feeds straight into the idea of the basileia tou theou.)

I heard a report on MSNBC this morning about the end of Title 42 and the people gathered on the border, this time outside San Diego.  The reporter noted there are two fences there, and in the space between migrants have begun to camp in hopes of being picked up by Border Patrol and being given a chance to file an asylum request.  The people interviewed were from all over:  Jamaica, Europe, South America, Central America.  And they all sought to escape horrific conditions at home, and opportunity in this "land of opportunity."

I thought, in part, about the conditions they fled.  They felt powerless to stay and change things; and probably they were.  What power do we have if our army decides to declare martial law?  But we have more power to stop that in our country, both due to culture and the culture of the rule of law, than many citizens in many countries do. They are fleeing real persecution, real anarchy.  We fear, largely, the ghosts of our imagination.

We need to help these people:  it's both the humane and decent thing to do, and it's in our national security interests (since "Pastor" Camp wants to talk in terms of caring for our own families first).  Primarily, though, we need not be afraid.  Of the many consistent messages in the Holy Scriptures, that is perhaps the most important one to apply to this situation. And the best proof against our fear is to care for the homeless and the orphan, the oppressed and the imprisoned, the poor and the destitute.  Truly, in helping them we help ourselves.  That's what Camp can't see; but the rest of us can, if we only will.
at

No comments:

Post a Comment