Letter from Episcopal Church leaders on Trump administration immigration executive orders

Dear People of God in the Episcopal Church:

Yesterday, Donald Trump was sworn in as president of the United States. We pray that he and all of our elected officials will, in the words of the Book of Common Prayer, have the wisdom and strength to know and to do God’s will and be filled with the love of truth and righteousness.

Even as we gave thanks for a peaceful transfer of power, we learned from news reports that the new presidential administration has issued a series of executive orders that are a harbinger of President Trump’s pledge to deport undocumented immigrants at a historic scale, restrict asylum, and direct other immigration actions. We read this news with concern and urge our new president and congressional leaders to exercise mercy and compassion, especially toward law-abiding, long-term members of our congregations and communities; parents and children who are under threat of separation in the name of immigration enforcement; and women and children who are vulnerable to abuse in detention and who fear reporting abuse to law enforcement.

As Christians, our faith is shaped by the biblical story of people whom God led into foreign countries to escape oppression. Exodus tells us the story of the ancient Israelites escaping slavery in the land of Egypt and wandering in the wilderness without a home. In Leviticus 19:33-34, God commands that we remember this sojourn as part of our own story of faith: “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The 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.”

Now, as Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:12-19, we are no longer aliens. Christ Jesus has made us citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. As we read in 1 Peter 2:9-12, we have received God’s mercy, and we must demonstrate this sacrificial love in our lives and deeds. Because our true citizenship is not here on earth but in heaven, we are called to transcend the earthly distinctions made among us by the leaders of this world. We must proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is promised to the persecuted and answer Christ’s call to welcome the stranger among us. 

This vision of God’s kingdom, this new reality, is the one to which we Christians are pledged in our baptism above any political preference or policy, and to which our church must bear witness through word and deed. This sacred call shapes both our churchwide commitment to stand with migrants and the ministries of congregations across our church who serve vulnerable immigrants and refugees in their communities.

Since the late 19th century, The Episcopal Church has followed this call by welcoming immigrants and refugees to the United States, and today, Episcopal Migration Ministries is one of 10 resettlement agencies through which refugees enter this country. Our Office of Government Relations is a persistent advocate for immigration resolutions adopted by General Convention, and works with ecumenical and interfaith partners to urge compassionate and humane policies that at the same time recognize the need to protect borders and address security threats. Thousands of Episcopalians participate in this ministry of advocacy through the Episcopal Public Policy Network.

As more immigration enforcement policy changes are announced, our churchwide ministries will continue to provide practical pathways to protect the most vulnerable among us. We invite you to join us by:

• Advocating with our members of Congress by using this action alert to take action to protect immigrants, known as Dreamers, who were brought to the United States as children and have lived here most of their lives. The long-standing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that offers a respite from the fear of deportation is at risk, and Congress must take action. 
• Standing against mass deportation using this action alert, which would have severe consequences for our communities and economy.
• Supporting orderly border management that is proportional and humane and respects the right of asylum.
• Supporting programs that protect vulnerable groups of people, including Temporary Protected Status (TPS), Deferred Enforced Departure (DED), humanitarian parole, and the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
• Speaking out against anti-immigrant rhetoric and actions, including race-based targeting, vigilantism and violence, family division, and detention and deportation without charges or convictions. As Christians, we must stand against these expressions of hatred and fear with a clear witness to our sacred promise to respect the dignity of every human being.
• Encouraging our congregations to use the resources of the Office of Government Relations and the Episcopal Public Policy Network as we embody the Gospel through direct witness on behalf of immigrants in our communities.

Across our church, migrants are members of the Body of Christ and part of our congregations and communities, and our common life is richer thanks to their contributions. To our siblings who are at risk of deportation or of being separated from those you love, know that your story is our story, and your dignity is inseparable from our own. We stand with you, and we will face these challenges together.

As one church united in the Body of Christ, please pray especially for families who live under the shadow of separation, and for all who seek asylum for protection from persecution. Pray, too, for the people of our congregations and dioceses who work tirelessly to serve immigrants and refugees, and who now face new and heartbreaking challenges to their ministry.

Finally, as faithful Episcopalians have done for decades, please join us in giving generously to Episcopal Migration Ministries and its ministry with refugees seeking a new life in the United States.

In Christ’s Peace,

The Most Rev. Sean Rowe
Presiding Bishop

Julia Ayala Harris
President of the House of Deputies

https://www.episcopalchurch.org/publicaffairs/letter-from-episcopal-church-leaders-on-trump-administration-immigration-executive-orders/

Poetry Corner: Punk Rock

 

They busted the windows on Wall Street today
Trash cans filled with garbage and old food made the first crack
And sent all the happy people in nice suits scurrying
For once thinking about something other than the numbers
That make them better at ignoring the rest of us.
They stepped over the banana peels and potato chip bags
The crushed soda cans that should have been recycled instead 
On their way to the exits, the only light they were
Suddenly focused on—But that kind of thing isn’t really my style. 

They’ll gather up a million men and women tomorrow
And put them in matching T-shirts that say “Not Going Back”
With rapidly practiced chants, call-backs to great leaders
Of yesterdays gone by, times we thought we had moved beyond
Times we assumed we had put behind us. I can join them
Of course I can. It’s the least—the very least, if I’m honest—
I can do, right behind merely sending money on my phone
While I stream Agatha All Along on Disney Plus. But
It still doesn’t quite feel like the thing I was created to do at this time.

They dyed their mohawks in rainbows and shoved the middle finger
Into the air while their fans screamed and moshed and bled
Showing camaraderie, empathy, solidarity the only way
They understood fully, with anger, with energy, with activity. 
And it felt amazing to jump, and yell,  and raise my fist, and shout obscenities 
At the powers, and yet… Even when they kissed—tongues and leather 
And lace and fingers and hair—Man on man, woman on woman, 
Man on woman, trans on trans, Trans on straight
Straight on till sunrise… It still was not enough. 

Yesterday I am a writer. Tomorrow I paint in words. Today
I have words or many colors, many spectrums that correspond 
To those that swirl in the sky, dance in the puddles, blur through smoke
“Vandalize” city walls with slogans: Trans rights are human rights.
Abortion is healthcare. Gay and proud. Black lives matter.
I have all these, and my keyboard has been selfish, complacent,
Too satisfied in my place of safety. But no more. 
I cannot break windows. My knees may give out on a march. 
My money can only go so far. My shouting can be drowned out by other music. 

But I can write. And by God, I will. We are not going back. 

(c) 2024 Sean Taylor

Visit my Poetry.com site.

Poetry Corner: When We Had No Flag

 

by Sean Taylor

When we had no flag 

There were only white sheets, hanging on clotheslines 

Flapping on windy days, 

Waving greetings like so many neighbors on so many dusty paths

White not for surrender 

But for sleeping, for rest because white was easy 

Easy to bleach our odors away, 

Dirt and sweat from one person's work, one man's labor, one woman's toil

One day we  painted bars deep red

Crimson with the blood of the people who lived here first 

But there wasn't enough

So we added more from the backs of the people we owned

And so we painted what was left blue

Blue with the bruises of our slaves and red with their stripes 

Even if we had to wrench the paint out of the whips after use, 

Twisting leather until our fingers too were as calloused as theirs

We found some white remained

But it was not for sleeping, not anymore; it was for the Virgin Innocent

Our children who would inherit a world 

Built on the paint dripped from the wounds of those we had  conquered

Perhaps it's time again

Wash day for the flag, with fresh bleach to clean away the red and blue

To allow the colors to surrender and fade

And once more flap greetings in the wind

Perhaps you, or me, 

or that woman over there, the one in all the colors of the rainbow

Or that vermin, that enemy, that animal,

Could be the bleach to get the job started

To speak the change we all should hear

Whistling in the wind

That blew when we had no flag

(c) 2024

Visit my poetry.com site.

Let America Be America Again -- Langston Hughes

Editor's Note: This is the poem I think of and hear in my head every time I hear the words "Make America Great Again" or see one of those red caps. 

=====================================

Let America be America again.

Let it be the dream it used to be.

Let it be the pioneer on the plain

Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—

Let it be that great strong land of love

Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme

That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty

Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,

But opportunity is real, and life is free,

Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There’s never been equality for me,

Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?

And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,

I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.

I am the red man driven from the land,

I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—

And finding only the same old stupid plan

Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,

Tangled in that ancient endless chain

Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!

Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!

Of work the men! Of take the pay!

Of owning everything for one’s own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.

I am the worker sold to the machine.

I am the Negro, servant to you all.

I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—

Hungry yet today despite the dream.

Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!

I am the man who never got ahead,

The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream

In the Old World while still a serf of kings,

Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,

That even yet its mighty daring sings

In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned

That’s made America the land it has become.

O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas

In search of what I meant to be my home—

For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,

And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,

And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came

To build a “homeland of the free.”

The free?

Who said the free? Not me?

Surely not me? The millions on relief today?

The millions shot down when we strike?

The millions who have nothing for our pay?

For all the dreams we’ve dreamed

And all the songs we’ve sung

And all the hopes we’ve held

And all the flags we’ve hung,

The millions who have nothing for our pay—

Except the dream that’s almost dead today.

O, let America be America again—

The land that never has been yet—

And yet must be—the land where every man is free.

The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—

Who made America,

Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,

Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,

Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—

The steel of freedom does not stain.

From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,

We must take back our land again,

America!

O, yes,

I say it plain,

America never was America to me,

And yet I swear this oath—

America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,

The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,

We, the people, must redeem

The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.

The mountains and the endless plain—

All, all the stretch of these great green states—

And make America again! 

From The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Copyright © 1994 the Estate of Langston Hughes. Used with permission.

Day 1 Promises: Calling Londontown

If those promised executive orders on Day 1 happen (the ones from the 2023 speech) I could be on the frontline to face a civil rights suit as long as I continue to support and validate my trans students and accept them as they are. My options are either shut up and hide or speak out boldly, and as those who know me know, I don't do "shut up and hide" very well. 

#NotGoingBack
#TheEnemyWithin

Years ago, Geoff Moore and the Distance recorded a song written by Dave Perkins called "Calling Londontown." I'm sure they were thinking ahead to those days when Christians would be persecuted by the followers of the Beast, but I'm seeing that song a lot differently as we begin our baby steps into a Christian Nationalist State.

She said, run, take the radio

Keep your head low tonight

Lights through the tree line, no time

I can hear the sirens calling

I can hear their footsteps falling, oh...

Calling Londontown

Calling Londontown

Can you hear me now

Calling Londontown

Pressed to the cold ground

Writing these words down

Pray for the others

Your sisters and brothers

The underground

My secret obligation

Transmit our situation, oh...

Calling Londontown

Calling Londontown

Can you hear me now

Calling Londontown

Nobody thought these days would come

Days of martyrdom

But now, if you believe

If you believe at all

You will go to the wall!

I can hear the sirens calling

I can hear their footsteps falling, oh...

Calling Londontown

Calling Londontown

Can you hear me now

Calling Londontown

Foundations of My Politics

For those wondering, the foundations of my political opinions begin here: 

"What best benefits those in need and those abused or misused by our systems or society (or even other countries -- refugees, invaded countries, etc.)? And what rights might need to be seen in a new light to make the promises of the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness more equitable for all (not equal but equitable and accessible)?" 

 Not here: 

"What does my (me, me, me) wallet feel like right now?"  

As a person of Christian faith, that's just the way I see and understand Jesus, and if I'm to be a "little Christ" then I should want to strive to be like him. 

 My Bible says to die to self and to love and serve others -- even my enemies -- and even those who take advantage of that kindness (and go the extra mile and hand over my coat as well - Mt. 5:40-41). 

 Again, NOT A SLAM ON ANYONE ELSE, just explaining where my views are founded.

It's Doesn't Have to Affect Me To Matter to Me

Politics and Jesus

Pardon Me, Your Disdain for Biblical Context Is Showing

 “Foreigners who live in your land will gain more and more power, while you gradually lose yours. They will have money to lend you, but you will have none to lend them. In the end, they will be your rulers." Deuteronomy 28:43-44

I'm seeing this more and more as a meme to indicate that foreigners should be unwelcome as if this passage has anything remotely to do with the idea of "illegal aliens." 

Let's start with biblical context. Here's the whole passage (long but necessary):

Blessings for Obedience

28 If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:

3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

7 The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

8 The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

9 The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. 11 The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.

12 The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13 The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

Curses for Disobedience

15 However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you:

16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.

17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.

18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

20 The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him.[a] 21 The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. 22 The Lord will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. 23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. 24 The Lord will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

25 The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. 26 Your carcasses will be food for all the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 27 The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. 28 The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. 29 At midday you will grope about like a blind person in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.

30 You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and rape her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit. 31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. 33 A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days. 34 The sights you see will drive you mad. 35 The Lord will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.

36 The Lord will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone. 37 You will become a thing of horror, a byword and an object of ridicule among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you.

38 You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it. 39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. 40 You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off. 41 You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity. 42 Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.

43 The foreigners who reside among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. 44 They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the head, but you will be the tail.

45 All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. 46 They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever. 47 Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, 48 therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.

49 The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. 51 They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or olive oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. 52 They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you.

53 Because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you. 54 Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, 55 and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities. 56 The most gentle and sensitive woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter 57 the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For in her dire need she intends to eat them secretly because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of your cities.

58 If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the Lord your God— 59 the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. 60 He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. 61 The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed. 62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 Just as it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.

64 Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known. 65 Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. 66 You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. 67 In the morning you will say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening, “If only it were morning!”—because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see. 68 The Lord will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.

So... the context for the verse is a judgment from God akin to those outlined in the books of the prophets. It's a warning to follow God or face punishment. Part of that punishment will be political defeat and having strangers take over your power and leave you powerless. This is all God's doing, not the work of foreigners. The foreigners are only the tool used by God to punish the Jews for disobedience. 

Therefore, using this verse to warn against foreigners and intimating that it is their nature and character to take over is not only bad biblical study, but it is also revealing your willingness to prooftext scripture in order to back up your political/cultural/sociological beliefs. So, to be fair, it's also bad Christianity. 

If anything, it is a warning to obey God, not to fear foreigners. "The Lord will send on you curses..." (from bad crops to rape to theft to all kinds of things) In other words, fear God, not the foreigner. 

Now, all this applies and matters only to those who believe in Christianity, so if you are not a believer, I'm well aware of the insider-ness of these arguments. But for those who do believe, the point is you need to do their homework better to understand what your references are actually saying. 

Now... why God would include/allow things like rape and worshipping other gods as part of a punishment is another discussion altogether. ;) 

#DoBetter #BeBetter

A State of Affairs...

As long as the left supports abortion rights, no matter how biblical their other goals may be, nothing they do will cause them to be supported by evangelicals. 

As long as the right opposes abortion, no matter how unbiblical their character and goals may be, nothing they can do will cause them not to be supported by evangelicals. 

Issues of individual character matter less to American Christianity (with a few outliers) than being able to stop others from doing the sins evangelicals feel are the "critical" ones for believers. In other words, the Fruit of the Spirit takes a back seat to judging the toothpick in another person's eye.

"Family Values"

What they mean when they say "family values" - straight, white, suburban, 1950s ideals where you hid the sins beneath the veneer of civic politeness and patriotism. No gays. No trans. No uppity blacks talking about unfairness in the system. Submissive women doting on husbands. 

What I mean when I say "family values" - actual values that the Bible and other holy books espouse: kindness, patience, service, love, goodness, gentleness, love for the poor, widows, and orphans, the rich refusing to hoard up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy.

Immigrant’s song

by John Fischer

It’s hard to talk about Christianity in American culture right now without getting tangled up in politics — something I prefer not to do from the Catch if I can help it. But on the currently contested issue of immigration, I can’t help it. Mainly because there is a biblical mandate, both New and Old Testament, to welcome and make room for the stranger and the foreigner. If we are going to be marketplace Christians, we need to exhibit God’s attitude toward strangers and foreigners regardless of what our government does, and God is always placing them first. We may disagree over what we want the country to do or how they do it, but there is no discussion when it comes to us individually.

This is true for us as believers wherever we are in the world. Over forty times in the Old Testament, the Jewish people are admonished to welcome the stranger and the foreigner. And both Jesus and Paul speak of the same thing to us as followers of Christ. Hospitality toward strangers is built into our spiritual DNA.

Perhaps we can learn something from our Jewish friends. A recent article I read from a reputable source pointed out that there is a strong movement among Jews in America to aid and assist their Muslim neighbors and provide hospitality toward Muslim refugees among others. Syrian refugees can take English courses through a free program at a New York synagogue. One Rabbi claims that the current attitude of shunning immigrants being exhibited in America is “a betrayal of what this country stands for, what we Jews stand for, and is a terrible recollection of our own history… There has been an incredible coming together of synagogues around the country to welcome Muslim refugees. Jews really understand what it is to be ‘the other’ and to arrive in a strange country.” And now this same hospitality is being extended to Afghan refugees. 

What is it to be “the other?” Many of us don’t know.

Read the full article: https://catchjohnfischer.com/2021/09/14/immigrants-song/#more-18081

Celebrating Independence (and independence of thought)!

Yesterday was a day for celebration, but today is a day for reflection. 

Just a reminder that Independence Day did not in fact bring independence to any but the former Europeans who declared they were no longer citizens of the Crown, and had little bearing on the then freedom of the new country's members of the population who were (a) still not seen as citizens or (b) given the right to vote or (c) still legally owned by others as slaves. Women, folks who didn't own land, and slaves still had a long way to go toward freedom, equality, and independence. It's good to enjoy the holiday as the beginning of something awesome but history is important and reminds us that it wasn't true independence for all (who were supposedly "created equal"). It's also okay to love your country and see it as a work in progress, not a finished system. It was a fantastic and radical first step, but it still had a long way to go and a lot of other people to include.

There is a school of thought out there that I think honestly believes that if you criticize something about the U.S., you can't be a patriot or love being American and be thankful.  (Not directed at anyone in particular. Just a general acknowledgment from being on social media.) I find that an odious thought.

If my job as a citizen was to simply to say that all our history and all our national documents and all our ideals are all above critique and we shouldn't question them because that makes us U.S.A. haters, then where does the opportunity to learn from our mistakes come from? Particularly if we refuse to admit we make any because we're 'Murica, dammit." Where can the opportunity to see our documents as living drafts that need to change as our country grows come from? 

I love my kids, but they still have issues to learn from and to change, just like I do. I love my country the same way.

For me, loving America means so much more than having the biggest flag on the block. It means so much more than relegating patriotism to whether or not someone stands or kneels during the national anthem. It means I'm proud of some of what we've done, and I have the freedom to change the other things I'm not proud of us about. It means I have the freedom to understand and acknowledge that we have a mixed bag in our history of both good and evil, and I have the right to confront the evil. It means I have the freedom to make a statement by my words and actions. It means I can respect and love my country without seeing its symbols as synonymous with its goals or even its ideals. I can love freedom and even turn away from the flag because I honor the sacrifices of those who gave their lives to keep us free. It doesn't mean I always need to turn away though, but if I feel the country is in need of understanding a shortcoming, I have the freedom to address it as it behooves my conscience. 

For me loving my country means loving it with my whole heart warts and all, but instead of calling those warts triumphs, I can freely admit what they are and apply a balm to repair them and makes us even better. For me loving my country means I have the freedom and the responsibility to speak out even during times of national celebration without it diminishing my love for it.

[Link] A Dr. Seuss Expert Cuts Through the Noise on the Cancel Culture Controversy

By Adrienne Westenfeld

On March 2, the nation’s annual Read Across America Day (a holiday once synonymous with Dr. Seuss, designated on this date to honor his birthday), Dr. Seuss Enterprises released an unexpected statement. The venerable author’s estate announced that it has decided to end publication and licensure of six books by Theodor Seuss Geisel, including his first book under his celebrated pen name, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street (published in 1937), and If I Ran the Zoo (published in 1950). “These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” the statement read, alluding to their appalling racial and ethnic stereotypes.

The estate’s decision prompted days of relentless cable news coverage from Fox News, as well as cries about “cancel culture” from prominent conservatives, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who accused Democrats of “outlawing Dr. Seuss” on the House floor. Sales of Seuss’ most-beloved books skyrocketed amid the discourse, topping Amazon and Barnes and Noble’s online bestseller charts throughout the week. Meanwhile, copies of the now-discounted books soared in price, with resellers listing those titles for up to $500 on eBay.

Dr. Philip Nel, a distinguished professor of children’s literature at Kansas State University and the author of Was The Cat in the Hat Black?, tells Esquire that this conversation about racism and prejudice in Seuss’ books has been underway for decades. Even during the author’s lifetime, Nel reports, Seuss was roundly criticized for racial and gender stereotypes in his books, yet he was also the author of actively anti-racist narratives, like Horton Hears a Who and The Sneetches. Nel spoke with Esquire by phone to explain how we should understand this ongoing conversation about updating and curating Seuss' legacy, as well as how we should talk to children about books that contain racist content.

Read the full article: https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a35738910/dr-seuss-racism-books-cancel-culture-interview/

Flipping the Script... Yes, Please...

As those of us who claim to believe and follow the Christianity that so many politicians tend to swing around like a "vote for me" sign weigh our choices, let's be sure not to forget the character we're supposed to aspire to. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23, NASB)

Sometimes I feel like we have these two backwards, and by "we" I mean those of us who claim to be "little Christs," particularly when we approach the public forum.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

The acts of the flesh are obvious: ...hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions... (Galatians 5:19-20)

Vonnegut on the Beatitudes

 

What Does It Really Mean To Be Pro-Life?

I'll admit I'm pretty fed-up with abortion being the single issue that most Christians tag onto to call themselves "pro-life." And just so you know what to expect, I'm about to argue that there's a huge different between being pro-life and pro-baby (or pro-fetus, or whatever nomenclature you prefer to use for your views).

My criteria for what I'm going to argue:

1. I believe life begins at conception. I believe that everything we need to become the person we will be is inside us at that point. Religiously speaking, that means I have a soul at that point. Scientifically speaking, it means genetically I can't grow up to become a chicken or a tree. It means that I'll develop a certain eye color, hair color, height, skin color, genetic predispositions, etc.

2. I believe each individual is created in the image of God and is to be treated with value and dignity -- even when and especially when they don't act like they deserve it. Putting dirt on the color blue doesn't make it less blue. It merely covers up the dignity that is intrinsically there beneath the dirt.

3. I believe physical life ends only when our brain is dead and we cease to be more than a body carrying on activities based on machinery.

4. I believe life continues beyond the point of physical death and that the soul endures.

What I'm about to say that will probably make some readers angry:

1. If you support a national or individual embracing of a campaign of violence against our political enemies (through war, murder, terrorism, etc.) then you are not pro-life. You are pro-baby and anti-enemy. In other word, if you're pro-violence in any way, you're not pro-life. You're pro-whomever you're fighting for.

2. If you EASILY choose the life of an unborn child over the life of a mother, you are not pro-life. You are pro-baby. If you are truly pro-life, the well-being and health of the mother will have the same weight and importance to you. That's not to say that you can't seek alternative options to ensure the health of the mother, but her life will not be something you value less than that of her unborn child.

3. If you support a system of capital punishment that kills a convicted felon without offering the opportunity to rehabilitate, then you are not pro-life, you are pro-baby and anti-bad guy. If you suport a system that legally destroys the lives of convicted felons in a prison system that merely institutionally reinforces the cycle of violence and locks them away without seeking to bring out their basic human dignity and look for the image of God within them and rehabilitate, then you are not pro-life. You are pro-baby and not pro-duration of the life cycle.

4. If you embrace (at worst) hatred or (at best) disdain for those who by their own actions or your own perceptions you see as your enemies, and seek to either harm them through either action (political, personal, etc.) or inaction (leave 'em be and let 'em get what's coming), you are not pro-life. You are pro-baby. You are very much anti-dignity of life except for those you choose to like.

5. If you protest the funeral or anyone to draw attention to your "pro-life" cause, at the expense of the dignity of another individual's last opportunity to give his or her family and friends the value of a dignified goodbye, you are not pro-life. You are an asshole who is more concerned with politics and pet issues than you are human beings. When anything comes before love for all other human beings, you are NOT pro-life.

6. If you are truly pro-life, you are concerned with the welfare, safety, health, and mortality rates of people all over the globe due to political climates that enslave, destroy, debilitate, etc.; poverty, economic woes; etc. If you can turn a deaf ear because it isn't happening in your country, then you're not pro-life. You're not pro-baby. You're just pro-American-baby. 

7. If you are truly pro-life, you value life, period. In my case, that's from conception to long after death. You value the human being's dignity throughout that span, and you look for the image of God created within him or her, regardless of how his or her actions may have placed him at odds with your view of moral rights and wrongs.

8. If you are truly pro-life, you love humanity and the human experience.

9. If you are truly pro-life, you love fetuses, you love newborns, you love children, you love teenagers, you love young adults, you love regular adults, you love old adults.

10. If you are truly pro-life, you love those who agree with you and those who don't, you love your friends and your family AND your enemies.

11. If you are truly pro-life, you seek to affirm that all individuals are capable of being redeemed and/or rehabilitated (even while acknowledging that those two aren't always necessarily the same thing.

12. If you are truly pro-life, you love good people and bad people, law-abiding and law-breaking, saviors and destroyers.

13. If you are truly pro-life, you understand conceptually that society may require death in certain situations because of politics or warfare or even public safety, but you can never willingly embrace the enjoyment of another person's death, love for killing or wanting to have people be no longer living, or feel vindicated that some enemy is dead and no longer a problem to you.

14. If you are truly pro-life, then, in the words of John Donne, every man's death diminishes you, and you regret and feel them deeply.

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A caveat: I'm not saying it's not okay to be pro-baby. Be pro-baby. I'm sure as a political issue, those looking to turn over Rowe v. Wade welcome all the pro-baby folks they can find. But don't call yourself pro-life as if life only equates to conception. If you want to be pro-life, embrace a love of life and lives for the full human lifespan. Being pro-life is not a mere political tag. It's not a sign posted outside a voting booth. It's an all-encompassing way of seeing humanity through the eyes of the God who created it, or at least it's a way of trying to see humanity that way, as best we can in our own failing whoring, imperfect, more often than not unloving way. 

More of That Straight Talk Stuff We Keep Hearing About in Politics

Everybody seems to think that straight talk is the best way to do politics. We'll here's some more of it... Let's hope this can catch on in Washington, or even better, among the groundswell of the American public.

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On the Treatment of the Poor and Immigrants:

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. -- James 1:27

"Jesus answered, If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'" -- Matthew 19:21

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in." -- Matthew 25:35

"They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely." -- Mark 12:40

"The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice." -- Ezekiel 22:29

"This is what the LORD says: For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not turn back [my wrath]. They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name.'" -- Amos 2:6-7

"So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me,' says the LORD Almighty." -- Malachi 3:5

"On the contrary: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.'" -- Romans 12:20

Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. -- Luke 14:12-14

The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God”. -- Leviticus 19:34

He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigners residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. -- Deuteronomy 10:18-19

When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands. When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. -- Deuteronomy 24:19-21

Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. -- Isaiah 1:17

And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. -- 1 Corinthians 12:26

On the Treatment of Your Enemies:

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. -- Matthew 5:44

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. -- Romans 12:19-21

But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. -- Luke 6:27-36

Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. ... Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you -- Matthew 5:38-39, 43-44-48

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‪#‎hateisnevertheanswer‬
‪#‎wallsdividenotwelcome‬
‪#‎povertywontjustgoawayifyoucloseyoureyes‬ ‪#‎therearemoretofaithissuesinpoliticsthanjustabortionandprayerinschools‬ ‪#‎peopleIthinkaremyenemiesarentreallymyenemies‬ ‪#‎myrealenemiesareinsidemychoicesandmynature‬

Obama and Romney Respond on Poverty

"What happened today was unprecedented. Christian leaders from across the theological and political spectrum came together to demand that the presidential candidates directly address the issue of poverty.

"And because of the faith community’s witness, the candidates responded. Check out what President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney had to say.

"Election seasons often sow deep divisions within our churches. The political pundits focus on the most contentious issues. Super PACs are spending millions of dollars on negative advertising. Sadly, we are often 'One Nation, Divided Under God.'" -- Jim Wallace, God's Politics Blog

 

http://sojo.net/blogs/2012/09/12/video-obama-romney-answer-faith-leaders-call-address-poverty-election