I live in the East side of Denver. I went to the movies last Friday with my wife. Monday I went to Denver Health with our Sudanese guy and his mom, and later went to Wal Mart. I distinctively remember that in each of these three places, nary a word of English was spoken. I heard French (from Africans), Arabic, and Russian, but mostly Spanish.
For me, it is rich to hear ‘divers of tongues’ in my own nation. I know for others to hear other languages, especially Spanish, it is a huge threat. Sheer numbers have brought the Hispanic language and culture to a neighborhood near you.
I’ll let you decide as a citizen how you feel about a wall around the southern border of the U.S. What does it say? What does it not say?
I’ll also let you decide why the Northern border is no threat to Homeland Security.
There are deeper questions to consider, though, if you are a Christian. The people of God have always been told that they were once sojourners and aliens (Exodus 22:21; 1 Peter 2:10), therefore they ought to treat the “stranger” with mercy and even to give them a share in the blessings of the covenant. Yet are Christians willing to do this in their own church communities?
The deeper question might pertain not to the wall around the Rio Grande, but to the wall around all of our hearts. It is trite, but you know what hour of the week is the most segregated in churches in the U.S. The movie theater, the mall, the restaurant, the marketplace, Starbucks, all of these places are more representative of Acts 2 and Revelation 5, than the Christian community.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. The Bible is a dangerous and radical document–if we would just let it speak. We have an opportunity to see the massive immigration to the U.S. as a huge test for the church, but also a huge blessing. Millions of God-fearing, hard-working ‘family values’ folks, just a neighborhood away. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few–at least the ones with papers.
Señor, ten piedad, Señor, ten piedad, Señor, ten piedad.
Ah, but the Northern border IS a threat to Homeland Security… To our north lies the vast wasteland of Canuckstan, a frigid multi-cultural mosaic in which every nationality but the Anglo-Saxons is an endangered species. We are not far behind, here in the States.
I am a multi-lingual and multi-cultural human being (English, German, French, Spanish, Greek speaking, Arabic, Hebrew, and Urdu reading) who has nothing but love and respect for all the various human cultures I meet with. Yet I still believe in national states and linguistic and cultural identity. My ancestors had to learn English to become Americans, and though they left their mark on American culture, they and their immigrant compatriots did not replace their host culture or language, they joined both.
I think the Hispanics will do the same, if given half a chance, by forcing them to learn the English language. If they want the right to live in a Hispanic bubble indefinitely (my family’s Polish bubble lasted one generation), then they should return to Mexico or Central America, or wherever they came from. I’m not singling out the Hispanics for any reason other than they’re the most numerous, and because where I live, the business community has made our region a bi-lingual state for the love of money, and for no authentic sympathy for Latino immigrants.
Bringing the tenets of Christianity into this can be an interesting pastime, but serves no purpose other than to make ourselves feel like we’re showing Christ-like magnanimity. Let the tables be turned, and see what happens. Let’s be honest. If we really want to live in a Christian utopia, there’s other places we had better attend to, and quickly.
What a cool site!
If you email me I’ll tell you more about my connection with the Matrix.
I too am an Anglican priest.
I run “Liturgy” http://www.liturgy.co.nz
I don’t yet see a place here we might link?