Exodus 22:21
21 “You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
It is unbelievable to me that Christians believe it is okay to speak of and treat immigrants, in all their many forms, the way we are treating them. For those who claim the authority of scripture above all else, I cannot think of anything more antithetical to the scripture they claim to hold so dear. So dear, it is more important than our government’s laws—which also protect immigrants! I understand it is hard when the culture changes and when there seems to be no organization to the process. An example I can give you of somewhat understanding that position was when my daughter was on a soccer team with a coach who was never satisfied with what he had—he did this to every team he had. The team had plenty of players who were developing and playing well together—and we had a positive environment with the parents. It is a very rare situation in soccer. I loved that team. The coach, the leader, was the problem. He destroyed a team that could have developed and actually enjoyed the journey of developing and becoming excellent. Winning is coming at the expense of joy and development in youth sports and killing the soul of parents and kids. This coach kept inviting in guest players who had no intention of playing for the team; this team was just one of many teams they played for all weekend long. One player took my daughter’s playing time. My daughter, who paid to be on the team and showed up to every practice, lost time to a guest player who did not practice or pay. Her only function was to boost our record so our team could move up in level and attract better players. It was devastating. It changed me. I went back to our previous club and began the work of welcoming everybody—all those who were tired, mistreated, overlooked, underplayed, etc. And I was successful at it. The gathering. Jake did the work of coaching.
So I have seen both sides of the same coin. I have seen the problem with letting too many people in, with no requirements for coming in and at the expense of the people already there, and the need to gather people who are tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free. What I have learned from both of these experiences is this: I like living in a world where more people participate. When our teams got too big at the club I returned to, we created another team and did not make the split a toxic competitive thing like the last club did. Everyone was treated as a human being. I am not saying we did not make a lot of mistakes. That is also a part of being human—mistakes—but I was faithful to what I believed God desires; we all get to play and be treated fairly and with dignity.
So, let’s talk about this in terms of the immigrants who are among us. Even those who are undocumented here are not taking anyone’s jobs and/or playing time. Most people already know that. Ryan Walters, the state superintendent of public instruction in Oklahoma, wants to track undocumented people in Oklahoma through their children’s enrollment in our public schools. He is using the cost to taxpayers to educate them as his excuse to be this cruel. Governor Stitt, the very person who gave Ryan Walters his platform, has come out against this, and I know it is because businesses are putting pressure on him. Very few businesses appreciate a state superintendent like Ryan Walters. I guarantee you the liability he is to our system costs us way more money than educating undocumented kids. No one wants to move to Oklahoma with regressive politics like ours. Governor Stitt is nearing the end of his term and is realizing this. Behaving this way is not good for job prospects. Educating kids does cost money, but the benefit of having them educated is way more beneficial than the cost. And many of these businesses are benefiting from undocumented workers and need their kids in school! Caring for human beings is a good investment, no matter the cost. And do not tell me you are pro-life when you talk about kids who are on this earth living and breathing like this. That is a Sin of the highest order. Instead of excluding, why not make the path to citizenship easier? Oh, b/c that might mean paying them more.
Get real with yourself about why businesses want undocumented workers but also don’t want it easier for them to become citizens.
So why this cruelty toward immigrants? Allie Beth Stuckey talks about it in her introduction of Toxic Empathy. Yes, I am on Part 3 of this series, and we are still in the Introduction of her book. That introduction is filled with a lot of accusations and her own biblical interpretations; I want to take the time to tend to several of the statements/accusations because everything she is saying is what we are up against right now. This is the final section of the Introduction. The next post is going to be on abortion. That is how the meat of the book starts.
To begin, Stuckey is claiming progressives want open borders. False. No one has advocated for open borders. What we do not want is cruel immigration policies. Child separation is one of the worst things our country has ever done. I have also learned that Obama and the Clintons have been partly to blame. These encampments were created before Trump got into office; he just exploited it and made us all aware. He became as completely soulless about it as one can get. Because he doesn’t care. Because he is a narcissist and is not capable of empathy. His wife, Melania, doesn’t care either; she showed up at the border with a jacket that said as much. No excuses—the jacket said it, and their actions back it up—I don’t want to hear any more excuses about why she may have worn that jacket without that intent. She meant it. If you don’t know, her jacket in big, bold letters said: I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?
I believe Biden’s rather chaotic immigration policy at the beginning of his term was an over-correction to Trump’s overly cruel immigration reform. He was not doing what the coach of my daughter’s soccer club was doing—allowing people in to take jobs away from citizens (you can’t even get a job for a while) and ignore the citizens we already have. I know this because they adjusted their policies when they realized how chaotic and problematic it was becoming for the nation. Were they too slow in making the correction? Probably. But there is a reason why. First, I understand a few people were murdered by undocumented immigrants, and that really does matter, but that stat is way, way less than our own citizens murdering each other. You cannot take a risk on something good without some of the bad getting in. That is just how life is, friends. You cannot know love if you don’t know what not experiencing love is. As for the slowness, it took hard work and a lot of cooperation with other countries to make these adjustments. Unlike MAGA Republicans, most people in power know they have to think about what happens to the individuals affected when they make changes. They made the changes and made them compassionately. The number of people at our border was at an all-time low when Biden was up for re-election. Few people want to talk about that b/c immigration, like abortion, is a huge fear tactic MAGA people need to keep Trump in power.
But we re-elected Trump, and his posture toward immigration now is even more cruel than the first term. I think it has shocked some people how much crueler he has become. Legal immigrants in our country are being kidnapped, tortured, and deported without any crimes being brought against them. This actually should scare the hell out of you. These people are here legally. They will come for their citizens, too. Trump hates anyone who is against him, and he will take revenge on them. There is no disagreeing with Trump; you are disloyal if you do. But Trump told us this before he was elected; his supporters just did not take him at his word. I took Melania’s jacket at its word. She and Donald would have shown us by their actions if it weren't true. Their actions have shown that not only do they NOT care, they take joy in this. That is sociopathic and psychopathic behavior. Melania, who is also an immigrant. Trump’s first wife was, too. Trump’s mother was also an immigrant, and his father, Fred Trump, was the son of immigrants. One of my former pastors in Texas said this once: It is not a sin to be rich, but it is a sin if you forget why you are rich. It is so common for immigrants to turn on each other. This need to be special. The one who worked the hardest. It is a beast. Women do this to each other, too.
When we don’t believe in abundance, we hurt our own people. When we become wealthier and more comfortable, our empathy for others declines. We forget where we have been, and that compassion met us where we were. Or maybe it wasn’t compassionate, and the struggle to survive it was brutal. Why not be the one to help others not have to be treated so inhumanely? I did that with the soccer situation I wrote about at the beginning of this post. I remembered what happened and decided compassion was a better posture than revenge and exclusion. It created a beautiful, beloved community. It is one of my favorite things I have ever done in this life. I also would never want another person to be treated like my family was in 2022. I am advocating for teachers now because they are being used by the system as units, not human beings with real feelings and personal lives. Living with an abundant mindset makes us more empathetic and compassionate. It makes us believe and strive to create a better world where more people can thrive, including ourselves.
One of the red flag warnings Stuckey gives her audience is euphemisms. She is telling her audience that progressives use euphemisms to make emotionally charged statements to get conservatives to deny scripture and get involved with progressive activism. 🙄 What she is saying over and over is change is the problem. Even Tom Cole’s employees told us they are getting a lot of calls because people do not want change. Friends, that is just not possible. I was raised conservatively and with a lot of bad ideas about humanity, but I was taught to think critically when reading scripture. I was encouraged to rethink how I had always read scripture every time I read it. I remember one of my favorite people saying, “I hope I am not reading scripture the same way in ten years.” That was important for my development. I know because I was raised knowing how we think and interpret text changes as we grow and learn, I never got stuck like Stuckey. Her last name is perfect for her.
The euphemism she is warning her audience of when it comes to immigration is this one: Christians are called to love the foreigner. She says we are making an emotional claim on that verse to support chaotic border laws. There is a lot more to say about that, but this post is long enough. Immigration will come up again, so I will end with a passage from scripture and a passage from the book Sensitive.
Leviticus 19:33-34
33 “ 'When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
I am unsure how she will respond to the compassion and empathy portrayed in this passage. This verse is a call to action and change, not just acknowledging their plight and leaving them to deal with it alone. Read the book of Ruth. Boaz made sure Ruth ate because his faith demanded that of him. The Bible is heavy on how we treat the poor and the immigrants. It is not clear on abortion, women, and LGBTQIA+.
The Sensitive Revolution
In our loud, fast, too-much world, we must look to sensitive people, for they have lessons to teach us. They show us the value of slowing down. Of connecting deeply. Of creating meaning in our ordinary lives. More than that, sensitive people are also the compassionate leaders our world needs. They are the ones best positioned to help confront some of society’s biggest problems.
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