Monday Music: Let Justice Roll Down

A song by Aileen Vance, recorded by singer/songwriter, Lea Morris. Sharing today in commemoration of Martin Luther King Day.

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Voting Your Faith and Values as a Citizen

 

Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching

I talked about the dangers of single-issue voting in my post on Sunday. To run with one issue to the exclusion of all others has resulted in many miscarriages of justice. For those who may not be familiar with the breadth of Catholic Social teaching, I have taken the following themes from the website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. There follows a comparison with the Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism.

Life and Dignity of the Human Person

The Catholic Church proclaims that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. This belief is the foundation of all the principles of our social teaching. In our society, human life is under direct attack from abortion and euthanasia. The value of human life is being threatened by cloning, embryonic stem cell research, and the use of the death penalty. The intentional targeting of civilians in war or terrorist attacks is always wrong. Catholic teaching also calls on us to work to avoid war. Nations must protect the right to life by finding increasingly effective ways to prevent conflicts and resolve them by peaceful means. We believe that every person is precious, that people are more important than things, and that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person.

Call to Family, Community, and Participation

The person is not only sacred but also social. How we organize our society -- in economics and politics, in law and policy -- directly affects human dignity and the capacity of individuals to grow in community. Marriage and the family are the central social institutions that must be supported and strengthened, not undermined. We believe people have a right and a duty to participate in society, seeking together the common good and well-being of all, especially the poor and vulnerable.

Rights and Responsibilities

The Catholic tradition teaches that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Therefore, every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities--to one another, to our families, and to the larger society.

Option for the Poor and Vulnerable

A basic moral test is how our most vulnerable members are faring. In a society marred by deepening divisions between rich and poor, our tradition recalls the story of the Last Judgment (Mt 25:31-46) and instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.

The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers

The economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God's creation. If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected--the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to the organization and joining of unions, to private property, and to economic initiative.

Solidarity

We are one human family whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever they may be. Loving our neighbor has global dimensions in a shrinking world. At the core of the virtue of solidarity is the pursuit of justice and peace. Pope Paul VI taught that if you want peace, work for justice.1 The Gospel calls us to be peacemakers. Our love for all our sisters and brothers demands that we promote peace in a world surrounded by violence and conflict.

Care for God's Creation

We show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation. Care for the earth is not just an Earth Day slogan, it is a requirement of our faith. We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God’s creation. This environmental challenge has fundamental moral and ethical dimensions that cannot be ignored.

A View from A Different Perspective

As a comparison, here is the witness from a different faith perspective, on the other end of the spectrum, so to speak:

The Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalists Association found on the UnitarianUniversalists Association website:

Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote seven Principles, which we hold as strong values and moral guides. We live out these Principles within a “living tradition” of wisdom and spirituality, drawn from sources as diverse as science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience.

As Rev. Barbara Wells ten Hove explains, “The Principles are not dogma or doctrine, but rather a guide for those of us who choose to join and participate in Unitarian Universalist religious communities.”

1.      1st Principle: The inherent worth and dignity of every person;

2.     2nd Principle: Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;

3.     3rd Principle: Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;

4.    4th Principle: A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;

5.     5th Principle: The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;

6.    6th Principle: The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;

7.     7th Principle: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

*   *   *   *

Most faith traditions have a holistic vision for a fair and equitable society. When you go to the polls to vote, consider how to best implement your values and hopes for a better world.

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Monday Music: Brothers and Sisters (Evan Pezant)

Local Birmingham artist Evan Pezant has written a song worth hearing today
as we seek a path to equality and justice.

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When He Called for His Mama

This meme was posted by Sara Miles on Twitter. She included the invocation: 

Holy Mary, Victor over the Serpent, stand beside us.

If you heard Rev. Al Sharpton's eulogy at George Floyd's memorial service in Minneapolis, you learned that Floyd's mother is deceased, which makes his call all the more poignant. This meme does not diminish anyone's experience but speaks to the core of something vital to all of us.


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Songs of Social Consciousness: A Change Is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke)

"It's been a long time comin', but I know a change is gonna come." Sam Cooke's recording was released in 1964. His clear, plaintive cry epitomized the civil rights movement which was coming into full flower.

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A Nation's Hope

On Inauguration Day, 2017, I began a series of journalistic poetry that I called, “Bearing Witness to the Times.” With that first poem, I spoke of how we can find hope. Today I still think that this is how we find our way back home.

When Hope Is Set in Stone

(Thoughts on inauguration day)

Photo by Martin Child / Robert Harding

(Getty Images)

We put our heroes in marble

Thinking we give them honor

When in fact

We do it for ourselves.

Having learned that we can so quickly

Misplace our values

Or set aside our highest ideals,

We chisel from the stone –

Or cast in bronze –

Those images we admire.

Thomas Jefferson Memorial (Wikipedia photo)

    
        Justice and wisdom
        Come through those marble faces,

        As do fidelity and compassion –

        Because our own hands

        Carved them 

        While we were delighting

        In our better angels.

Martin Luther King Memorial
Photo by Alan Kkotok

Marble faces and bronze statues

Look out on our parades

Whether we march in hope

Or walk in fear and hatred.

If we stop to look back

Into their unchanging eyes

There is a chance

We might remember

Why we set those ideals in polished rock.

Perhaps we will recall

Those better days

When we etched our hopes in stone.

                                 ~ Charles Kinnaird

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Re-Visioning John the Baptist

How about a John the Baptist who looks like Fabio and preaches like Mister Rogers?

With some help from Leonardo da Vinci and Episcopal priest Penny Nash, that is the image emerging for me this week. The Rev Nash, on her blog, Penelopepiscopal, makes the connection with her post, “Fabio in the Wilderness.” Check it out here.

It was synchronicity, or perhaps “the spirit of God,” that brought this home to me to meditate upon during this Advent season. Last Sunday, during the Gospel reading from the third chapter of Luke, I heard, as if for the first time, what John the Baptist was teaching. He told the people, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise." To tax collectors, he said, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you." Soldiers were advised, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages."

As the priest closed the Gospel book and turned to give the homily, I was thinking that what we heard was almost like a brief synopsis of the teachings of Jesus. Certainly it was something of a prelude to his coming, and the people responded to John’s message with hope and expectation. Some even thought that perhaps they were seeing the Messiah standing before them.

The priest reiterated in the homily that John was explaining to the people that the way to prepare for the reign of God is to start sharing what we have and to treat others fairly. Then I read Penny Nash’s homily on her blog where she bring da Vinci’s painting to the fore along with the Gospel reading to give us a new image for the forerunner of Christ. She has much more to say about it, and I recommend her post to you.

As we wait in Advent for the celebration of Christ’s first coming, there is something new for me in re-visioning John the Baptist. So my words today are not my own. They are a repeating of things heard and seen this week, and offered here so others may catch a glimpse.

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Image: St. John the Baptist
Artist: Leonardo da Vinci
Medium; Oil on walnut wood
Courtesy of Wikipedia

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Monday Music: A Change Is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke)

Sometimes hope for change comes to us from those who ache the most for change

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Stand as One: Empowering Marginalized Voices in Birmingham

Everyone in the Birmingham area, please note the following announcement concerning the challenges we are facing in terms of forging an inclusive community that promotes justice and human rights for all citizens.

Stand as One: Empowering Marginalized Voices in Birmingham – Press Release

Individuals and groups throughout our diverse community are seeking ways to come together to address common challenges and make Birmingham a strong and inclusive community. A group of individuals representing different faith-based, community, and academic organizations has come together to plan a program that will identify our common challenges and begin to identify ways we can work together to address those challenges to create a stronger Birmingham. The program will be offered on February 16 from 6:30--‐8:30 pm at 405 Campbell Hall on the campus of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (1300 University Blvd, Birmingham, AL 35233). The program is entitled “Stand as One: Empowering Marginalized Voices in Birmingham."

Panelists representing the following organizations will discuss challenges faced by the groups they serve, strategies that they are implementing to address those challenges, and begin to plan ways to promote collaboration and hope in order to come together and Stand as One for justice and human rights.

Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice

Black Lives Matter Birmingham Chapter

Birmingham Islamic Society

Disability Rights & Resources

Greater Birmingham Ministries

Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama

Magic City Acceptance Center

National Organization of Women Birmingham Chapter

For further information please contact: Tina Kempin Reuter, PhD, Director, Institute for Human Rights, The University of Alabama at Birmingham; email: tkreuter@uab.edu,  (205) 934-5643.

Program Sponsors include: Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Birmingham Black Lives Matter Birmingham Chapter, Birmingham Islamic Society, Birmingham Public Library, Greater Birmingham Ministries, Law Firm of John Charles Bell, Immigration Attorneys (sponsor for Spanish interpreter), Unitarian Universalist Church of Birmingham, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Institute for Human Rights, UAB Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, and Magic City Acceptance Center

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Enriched by Other Voices and Views

 “This imam and the nun work together for healing and reconciliation saying Muslims and Christian in Central African Republic never had a conflict. It is all about politics.”

My friend Don is a well-read academic who is constantly informing me of numerous volumes that he has read, especially in the fields of ethics and religion. He recently sent me a fascinating quote from a new book by Daniel Maguire*, Christianity without God:

"Chang Tsai (1020-1077), a major thinker in the Confucian tradition, produced what is seen as "a Confucian credo."  It begins by saying that the earth and universe are his father and mother:

Therefore that which fills the universe I regard as my body and that which directs the universe I consider as my nature.  All people are my brothers and sisters and all things are my companions.  Show deep love toward the orphaned and the weak ... and those who are tired, infirm, crippled, or sick; those who have no brothers or children, wives or husbands, all are my brothers who are in distress and have no one to turn to.

Francis of Assisi would embrace every word of that credo.  So, too, would Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hannah, and Jesus.  The moral vision contained therein should not fall victim to unnecessary and futile disputes over a deity's existence or nonexistence, its unicity or multiplicity.  When it comes to appreciating what we are and what we have in this privileged little corner of the universe, god-talk should not divide us.  What would be refreshing is a moratorium on god-talk so that together we could explore alternatives to earth's current social, political, economic, and ecological distress."                      
                                                                                              ~Daniel McGuire

I have yet to delve into Maguire’ book, but the quote from the Chang Tsai reminded me of the interesting dynamic in Chinese culture that I learned about when I lived in Hong Kong. There you have, at different times, Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism coming into play, with one or the other more emphasized depending on the times and the situation. In our own culture, we also hark back to different influences at different times. For example, why are there so many towns in the U.S. settled by Scots-Irish and English immigrants who named their towns after cities in ancient Greece (Troy, Athens, Sparta, Argo, Corinth, Delphi, etc.)?

It also reminded me of how much my own philosophy has been enriched by giving myself permission to listen to wisdom from many different cultures. Some of that wisdom includes, just to name some of the more prominent in my pantheon of influence:

• Black Elk's vision of the world (Black Elk was of the Lakota Native American tribe)
• St. Francis of Assisi
• Krishna's concept of three ways of knowing God outlined in the Bagavad Gita
• Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and the parables of Jesus
• The Baptist concept of "soul competency"
• Writings from the Quakers
• Writings from the American Buddhist community
• Trappist monk, Thomas Merton 
• Reb Zalmon Schachter-Shalomi of the Hasidic community
• Rumi and Hafiz, poets of the Sufi Islamic tradition

I realize I am being a bit stream-of-consciousness, but I was reminded of all the happy influences around us. Perhaps some of these strands will be topics for future blog posts.

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* Daniel C. Maguire is Professor of Ethics at Marquette University and the author or editor of many books, including (with Larry L. Rasmussen) Ethics for a Small Planet: New Horizons on Population, Consumption, and Ecology, also published by SUNY Press.

Photo: from The Parliament of the World’s Religions Facebook page: “This imam and the nun work together for healing and reconciliation saying Muslims and Christian in Central African Republic never had a conflict. It is all about politics.” See the full story at UNHCR TRACKS


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A Southern White Boy Looks at Ferguson – Again

“Atticus–” said Jem bleakly.

He turned in the doorway. “What, son?”

“How could they do it, how could they?”

“I don’t know, but they did it. They’ve done it before and they did it tonight

and they’ll do it again and when they do it — seems that only children weep.”

― Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird

“The past is never dead. It's not even past.”

― William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun

Back in August I wrote a piece on the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. In that post, I simply asked readers to listen to the voices of two African Americans, culinary historian Michael Twitty, and novelist Ralph Ellison. I stated that “I cannot pretend to offer any solutions. I cannot even pretend to claim understanding. I have been trying, however, to listen. The only recommendation I can offer is that we stop and listen.”  As you can see, I begin this post by quoting two Southern white people and I offer another brief comment from my own Southern white perspective.

Why Ferguson Is Significant

It is difficult for us white folks to conceive of the world that African American's have grown up in. Furthermore, "white privilege" is a term that is difficult for some of us to stomach in the South because so many of us grew up either poor or struggling working class – we don't see ourselves as "privileged," but in terms of how we benefited from a social system set in our favor, we have been privileged. It is only relatively recently that I have begun to grasp the fact that the nice tidy world I grew up in, filled with caring and generous people at school, church, and on the town square, was paralleled by a dystopian terrorist state that my African American counterparts existed in. Nothing was safe or sure for them, and even their most agreeable times were dominated by fear of what could happen to them or their loved ones at any time and without hope for legal recourse. 

So while my upbringing in the South was full of idyllic moments, I had no understanding at the time of the world that black people lived in. They cooked and cleaned for whites – even raised white folk's children, but they were kept under control by tactics of terror. There were enough beatings and lynchings that were ignored by the legal system, and enough incidents of black people being "accidentally hit" by cars as they walked down the road to act as a warning to anyone who dared to challenge the system. My state even had its constitution re-written in 1901 to keep whites in power and to keep blacks suppressed in poverty and even slave-like conditions. Birmingham, Alabama is, after all, the place that South African officials visited to study and learn from prior to enforcing its apartheid system of government. It is difficult to fathom that my world with such joy and kindness existed side by side with systemic terror and evil. That is why Ferguson is significant. It points out the two worlds that continue to exist side by side in this beloved country.

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Photo: Peaceful protest in Durham, N.C. on Nov. 25

Credit: Robert Willett Time News Service

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Can We Do the Right Thing?

I was in a discussion last week with some friends and the topic of sin came up, particularly the Christian concept of sin as found in the New Testament Greek term, hamartia, which is often translated, “missing the mark” (The same word was used in ancient Greek drama to describe a "tragic flaw" in the protagonist). The discussion with my friends reminded me of some thoughts I shared several years ago at the Birmingham Unitarian Church when I was asked to participate in one of their services. In preparing for that service, I had harked back to one of my most eye-opening days in seminary when my pastoral care professor, Dr. J. Lyn Elder, shared his translation of hamartia. 

The Greek word begins with the negative "a" (as in agnostic, atheist, amoral, etc.) but we pronounce it ha-martia because it is one of those Greek words with the "breath mark" at the beginning: ἁμαρτία. Dr. Elder translated the word as "non-involvement," stating that "martia" was a term often used to describe military involvement, thus “a-martia” could be understood as non-involvement.  I did a quick online check (not claiming that to be a scholarly act) and found that according to Strong's Greek Lexicon, the word hamartia comes from the Greek root words, "not a part of." If martia was a military term, that might explain the common translation of hamartia to mean "missing the mark" as in not hitting the target, but the concept of non-involvement gave me a whole new take on the New Testament concept of sin. The translation of a single Greek word does not by any means convey the sum of all truth, but it can often open up new ways to think about a topic.  Here is the idea as I presented it to my Unitarian friends:

My Understanding of Sin

by Charles Kinnaird

My earliest understanding of sin probably was formed before I even had heard the word. When I think back on my early childhood, I had been given definite views of right and wrong. I understood from my parents and from my interactions with siblings and playmates that it was wrong to be selfish, wrong to be greedy, and wrong to do anything that would hurt others. I remember hearing the Golden Rule in Sunday School when I was about six years old, and it made complete sense to me. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," was uncomplicated and easily grasped, though often not attained by the impulsive child that I was (nor by the impulsive human that I am).

When I became older, I remember hearing about sin, always in a religious context, and with it came a list of things not to do because they displeased God. By the time I was a teenager there was an ever growing laundry list of things that were considered to be sinful. Among Evangelical Christians it was popular to define sin as "missing the mark," supposedly a translation of the Greek New Testament word hamartia. It was not until I was an adult that I heard a translation of that word that made sense. I learned that the Greek word martia was a term that meant involvement. Thus the term hamartia is the negative which can be translated "non-involvement." So as a young adult I began to understand sin as non-involvement in what God is doing. My understanding of what God is doing is that God creates, nurtures, and helps beings to grow toward their full potential. So if we are not involved in creativity, if we are not involved in nurturing the environment, if our actions do not contribute to well-being of others, then we are not involved in doing what God does.

I still hold to that concept of sin being non-involvement. But to be honest I can't be involved in everything that I consider to be a worthy endeavor. I have to trust that there are others to pick up my slack. Even so, whether an action is deemed right or not may be measured by how that action is one of nurturing, healing, helping or creating.  The older I get, the more I go back to my earliest understanding of sin and how to avoid it: don't be greedy, don't be selfish, don't hurt others, and do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Our Immigration Dilemma

Alabama State Capitol

I just returned from a run to the post office. While I was there, I saw a young Hispanic woman at the customer island counter in the process of packing eight separate boxes. Each box was identical in size, and from what I could see as I walked past she was packing each box with jeans, shirts, and sneakers.  I did not want to intrude with questions about what she was doing, but I assumed that she was in the process of mailing things back home to family members. There are so many stories of immigrants who come to the U.S. in order to send money and needed items back home to support their families. I imagined what this young woman must be feeling, her sense of industry and her ability to make life a little better for her people back home. This has been happening in so many towns in the U.S. for years.

The scene I witnessed also reminded me of the fiasco of an immigration law passed in my home state of Alabama. The State legislature passed the harshest immigration law in the country, which many citizens oppose and are asking for the law to be repealed. Instead, the State House is about it try to pass some amendments to strengthen the law and make it more palatable to the business community. The law has already been seen to be unjust and has been harmful to the state’s economy. It should be abolished rather than amended.

Here are my other thoughts about the young lady I saw at the post office. Assuming she is an immigrant, she works very hard and has contributed much that our community needs (we gladly accept immigrant labor to pick our crops, roof our houses, tend our lawns and clean our buildings). I also know that she does indeed pay taxes – with every items purchases and with every paycheck receives she is paying taxes ( last year in Alabama, immigrants paid $132 million in taxes).  She is also loving under much more stress and fear since the passing of our state’s immigration law. I recall my conversation with an Hispanic pastor named Antonio who compared life under the new law with life under the Samosa regime in Nicaragua. I also recall the article in U.S.  Catholic about the difficulties of the Hispanic community in Opelika, Alabama due to our new law (“Alabama to Latino immigrants: No room at the inn”).

There is no question that the immigration laws need to be changed. Since we are so dependent upon immigrant labor, we need new laws that will make it easier for Latino immigrants to work in the U.S.  That legal reform however, must take place at the federal level. Immigration policy is under federal jurisdiction. The problem is that today so many are reacting out of fear.  The U.S. Congress is afraid to do anything of any consequence for fear of the ballot box and congressmen’s fear of not being able to stay in power. State governments are operating out of fear of losing control and seeing too many brown-skinned people around. There has to be a better way to reform our immigration policies. There has to be a way in which all parties can operate with purpose and industry rather than with fear and prejudice.

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UPDATE: Unfortunately, the Alabama State Senate has voted not to repeal HB56, but instead has voted to change the law without repealing it. Read the press report in The Montgomery Advertiser here. An earlier article has a little more detail here. As the song says, "Not dark yet, but it's gettin' there"

FURTHER UPDATE - May 17, 2012: Here are just a few recent statements about the harmful effects of Alabama’s Immigration law. (For the record, I have found no one crediting this legislation as good or helpful, even when I Google "the good thing about Alabama's immigration law.")

From Jeb Bush:

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/01/27/413038/jeb-bush-alabama-immigration-turned-off/?mobile=nc

From the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/opinion/alabamas-disgrace.html?_r=1&smid=fb-share

From Fox News Latino:

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/05/13/alabama-immigration-crackdown-prompts-farmers-to-scale-back-production/

ONE MORE UPDATE - June 26, 2012: When my state refused to repeal or even budge on its Immigration law, it became all to clear to me that Alabama will not do what is just and right in this situation unless and until the Federal government intervenes. I should have known this. The same was true with it's Jim Crow laws, civil rights and integration (but one can always hope that his state will do better).

Yesterday's Supreme Court ruling on the Arizona Immigration law it a sure step toward correcting Alabama's law. As reported in The New York Times, immigration is a matter of federal jurisdiction , not individual states:

The justices make it clear that this case is about the power of the federal government to set immigration policy and to pre-empt, to a large degree, state policies that can infringe on that federal power. An expert on immigration law, Micahel A. Olivas, explained: "We can't have 50 different immigration policies, 50 different foreign policies."

The only part of the Arizona Law that the court tentatively upheld was the  allow law enforcement to determine immigration status  of someone detained for other reasons if there is legitimate suspicion. When this part of the law is enacted, it will likely lead to racial profiling which may then be struck down by the court.

So in short, there is some hope yet for justice. Will congress now embark on serious immigration reform?
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Previous posts on Immigration:

Alabama's New Immigration Bill

Alabama's Anti-Immigration Law: The Faithful Take Action

G92 Immigration Conference: Seeking a Just and Ethical Solution to the Immigration Dilemma

More on the Plight of Undocumented Immigrants

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G92 Immigration Conference: Seeking a Just and Ethical Solution to the Immigration Dilemma

This is my fourth blog post on immigration. My first post on the subject was to tell what I thought about Alabama’s harsh anti-immigration law. Later I told about what one Episcopal parish is doing in response to that law. Shortly after that, I related what one Catholic writer was saying about the topic.  Last Thursday I attended the G92 Immigration Conference at Samford University and was able to hear what Evangelicals are saying about our country’s immigration problem.

Looking to Biblical Texts

The G92 in the conference title refers to the number of times the Old Testament scriptures make reference to how we should treat the alien in our midst (ger, the Hebrew word for alien, or stranger, is used 92 times in scripture). Indeed, there was no indication that the Bible calls for anything other than welcome, respect and mercy, in ones dealings with alien sojourners.

The conference had two concurrent tracks, a Student Track and a Pastor Track. The opening session was a combined gathering at Reid Chapel for a student convocation led by Matthew Sorens and Jenny Yang. Sorens and Yang have co-authored a book, Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate, which outlines a biblical basis for how immigrants should be treated. Their presentation demonstrated that in biblical times as in our own day, 1) immigration was often necessitated by famine and hardship, and 2) immigrants were of benefit to their host country.  Calls for hospitality toward the stranger in our midst are a recurrent them in scripture.  The presenters made the point that helpful immigration reform would make illegal immigration more difficult while making legal immigration easier.  The point being that immigrants come to this country because they have a need to provide for their families, and we need the labor those immigrants can provide.

The Constitution and Society

The next session I attended was led by Constitutional law expert, David Smolin, of Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law. He began by pointing out that there have been test cases across the country in which laws were written to push the legal envelope regarding immigration. Alabama’s anti-immigration law pushes the envelope farther than other state laws have done so far.  It was designed to make life unlivable for undocumented immigrants.  Smolin mentioned two constitutional problems with the Alabama law: the matter of whose job it is to enforce the law, and the problem of interfering with how local law enforcement prioritizes its duties.

Immigration is a federal policy. It is the Federal government’s job to enforce immigration law – immigration is not within the state or local government’s authority.  Furthermore, the Alabama law interferes with local law enforcement by making the processing of undocumented immigrants take priority over all other aspects of law enforcement.

Smolin added that the worst provisions of the Alabama law have not been put into effect. One provision of the law enlists private citizens to notify authorities of undocumented aliens. Courts, however, have already determined that you cannot prevent an undocumented person from attending school. Moreover, written law prohibits profiling.  Another provision yet to be implemented is the Harbor provision. The law as written goes far beyond the notion of hiding someone out from the authorities.   As currently written, the law makes all citizens responsible for determining immigrants’ status.

While some parts are not in effect, and others have not been enforced yet, Smolin pointed out that the Alabama anti-immigration law is designed to instill fear. 

Before beginning his presentation, David Smolin, to get a feel for his audience, asked how many of us were not sure whether Alabama’s anti-immigration law is good or bad. A few people raised their hands. When asked how many thought it was a terrible piece of legislation, most in the room raised their hands. When asked how many thought it was a good law, no one raised a hand. In counterpoint to the audience’s sense of the legislation, toward the end of his presentation, Smolin said that now is the time to contact our state representatives, because they are still under the impression that most citizens support of the new law.

A Panel Discussion

In the afternoon there was a panel discussion moderated by Noel Castellanos, CEO of Christian Community Development Association.  The panel was made up of local pastors. Included on the panel were Dr. John Killian, of Maytown Baptist Church (and Vice President of the Alabama Baptist Convention); Dr. Michael Wesley, of the Greater Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, Rev. Carlos Gomez of First Baptist Church in Center Point, and Rev Ron Higey, of Birmingham International Church.

The opening statements from each pastor set the stage for discussion. Dr. Wesley, who pastors an African American church, stated that as an African American, he understood the disparity and disenfranchisement felt by the immigrant community. Dr. Killian said he did not think the county could economically sustain the current level of immigration and that the current law does not affect ministry to people. Rev. Higey asked the question, how can Christians defend an oppressive law?  Rev. Gomez stated that many have left our state out of fear because of the way the Alabama law criminalizes people. Those same people are able to live in Mississippi or Florida, so they leave Alabama.

Moderator Noel Castellanos pointed out that in Alabama, the Catholic, Episcopalian, and Methodist Bishops have come together to speak out against Alabama’s Immigration Law. He added that sometimes the sense is that Evangelicals are not out weighing in on the issue and asked what pastors can do.  Killian stated simply that we just needed to reassure people that churches will not arrest people and there is no reason to fear since all the Alabama law does is to reinforce the federal law.  Higey countered that immigrants do indeed have reason to fear when they cannot even pick their children up from school for fear of getting pulled over by the police.

Wesley stated that what is needed on the part of Christian leaders is vision, courage, discipline and endurance. He emphasized that discipline and endurance are needed because we must make difficult choices and changes now so that things can be better in the future, and that that is the only way for things to get better. He framed it as “scheduling the pain first so you can enjoy the benefits later.” He stated that the African American community supports immigration reform, adding that “there is no chance that we [African Americans] will go back to those hard labor jobs. It is in the country’s best interest to allow immigrant labor.”

I posed a question to the panel by framing Alabama’s immigration law as a continuation of the old attitude that was seen in the Jim Crow laws, and that since evangelical churches did virtually nothing to reverse Jim Crow, did we have any hope that churches today will be any different? Dr. Killian’s response was first to admit how terrible Alabama’s segregation laws were and how we have, thankfully, moved past that awful period.  He then begged to differ that the anti-immigration law was anything like the Jim Crow laws since “those were laws that oppressed our own people, and the current law has to do with illegal aliens.”

One person in the audience named Antonio identified himself as a pastor who grew up in Nicaragua under the Samoza regime and lived during the conflict between the Contras and the Sandinistas. He had made his way to the U.S. where he has now lived for several years.  His comment was simple and profound: “Mercy and opportunity is something that everyone should have at least once in his life.”

 [Later in the evening I had opportunity to talk with Antonio in between sessions. He told me that he is a minister to the Hispanic community at Victory Baptist Church in Jemison, Alabama. I asked him about the fear element among Hispanics, and he confirmed that there has been a great deal of fear in the wake of Alabama’s new law. He added that living here as an Hispanic is now much like it was living under Samoza or the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. “I see people who get stopped by the police, and they end up having to pay a $3,000 or a $5,000 dollar fine. If they pay it then they are okay. That is a lot of money for someone who is a laborer. It reminds me of in Nicaragua, everyone knew that if you pay money to the police, they will leave you alone. Whenever you give too much power to the police, then you have trouble.”]  

Throughout the discussion, Dr. Killian was the only one who reinforced the stereotype of a white conservative out-of-touch Christian. I am assuming that since he is a Baptist he calls himself a Bible-believing Christian.  Apparently he did not bother to take note of biblical injunctions on hospitality to the alien in our midst. In fact, he never quoted scripture to back his claims, nor did he even refer to scripture. The only thing he quoted was state and federal budgets and budget deficits as reasons why we should proceed not only with the status quo, but also that our harsh immigration law is just what we need. I am glad he was there to give that extra dynamic to the discussion, and to highlight that there are those in our state who continue to think that everything is just fine (for white citizens). He was very instructive in demonstrating the wrong side of the debate, in my opinion.

A Word from Georgia

After dinner, Paul Bridges, Mayor of Uvalda Georgia, told the group about his experience in Georgia with that states anti-immigration law.  Mayor Bridges was a delightful man who related to us how important agriculture is to his rural town. He emphasized how important immigrant labor is to them. The Vidalia onion is a major multi-million dollar product grown in his area, as are numerous other vegetable crops. There is a very short window of opportunity in which to harvest the crops to get them to the market. Bridges shared with us how efficient and skilled the immigrant workers are in their harvesting, how hard-working they are, and how family-oriented they are.

When he and other farming colleagues saw Georgia’s new immigration law, they were appalled by the implications and what it would do to the farm industry. He identified himself as a Republican, but was very displeased by what “some hot-shot Republicans in the State House” had done in passing the law. His closing words were, “I went back and read the Bible – I just read the red-letter parts of what Jesus said. I have read Georgia’s law and let me tell you there is nothing Christ-like about it. I have also read Alabama’s law, and there is nothing Christ-like about it, either!”

A Southern Baptist Resolution

During the closing session, Dr. Richard Land, President of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, led the “Public Forum on Immigration and Evangelicals.” He presented a resolution that was passed by the Southern Baptist Convention which met in Arizona in 2011 (you’ll remember that Arizona was among the first to pass anti-immigration legislation). The resolution cites numerous references from scripture which advocate hospitality toward the alien and other passages which denounce exploitation of workers and mistreatment of the poor. It also recognizes the rule of law and the increasing diversity of the U.S. along with the acknowledgement that many come to this country desiring a better future for themselves. The resolution does not support any kind of amnesty, but decries any form of bigotry, harassment, mistreatment, or exploitation as inconsistent with the message of Christ. There is also a call for the government to do more to secure borders and to hold businesses accountable for hiring practices “as they relate to immigration status.” (You can read the entire resolution here)

Dr. Land, in his concluding remarks suggested that one way for our government to deal with the immigration problem would be to implement something akin to the Marshall Plan for Mexico. By assisting Mexico to creating a better life for its citizens, fewer people will be forced to cross the border in search of jobs and income.

[Side note: I had never met Richard Land until this conference, but knew of him. I had always had a negative, visceral reaction in mind and body whenever I saw him as a guest on some cable news talk show. The reason for that reaction is that Dr. Land came into his position after the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention. I left that denomination in 1983, and Dr. Land always brought to mind those days of conflict with the far right.  Listening to his presentation, however, at least on the subject of immigration, I was able to find points of agreement. Afterwards, I went up to Dr. Land, shook his hand and told him I liked him a lot better in person than on those news/talk shows.]

Dispelling a few myths

Among the discussions throughout the day, there was an attempt to clarify some misunderstandings regarding undocumented immigrants. One is the notion that they are a drain on the economy. In fact, undocumented immigrants do pay taxes which support local schools and other services. Every time they pay rent or buy groceries, they are paying taxes. One participant noted that immigrants pay more taxes than necessary because they want to avoid any possibility of being audited or noticed by the government. Richard Land pointed out that economically, we need immigrant labor and we need immigrant taxes. He added that the government “makes out like a bandit” by collecting Social Security taxes from immigrants who will not collect social security benefits, and that the same is true with state taxes.

The take away points for me from the G92 Immigration Conference were: 

• We are more dependent upon immigrant labor than most of us realize.
• We are in dire need of immigration reform which will make it easier for immigrants to work legally in our country. 
• We must do some self-inventory and correction regarding our mistreatment, exploitation, and bigotry toward immigrants.
• It was beneficial for me to meet with people more conservative than I am to realize that there are indeed areas of common ground.
• Most beneficial was my personal interaction with Antonio, who has lived the struggle to come to our country in order to find a better life. I was fortunate to be able to get his perspective on things and to hear his words, “Mercy and opportunity is something everyone should have at least once in his life.”