“But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.”
Acts 15:5-9
One of the big controversies as the apostles went out to preach the good news of Jesus victory over death was whether or not these truths should be shared with the gentiles. The Jews were used to thinking of the gentiles like some in this country think about immigrants, homosexuals, Muslims, or atheists. Peter, transformed by the resurrection and filled with the spirit, understood that Christian love had to wash away this old bigotry. Physical rites like circumcision had become empty rituals. It was the practice of Jesus teaching through faith and good works that made the new man.
Last Sunday our local paper, who sponsors this blog, printed a letter complaining that immigrants and their supporters (ACLU) aren’t “American”. He felt that rather than adopting our ways, immigrants are, with the help of the ACLU, were imposing their customs on us. He took particular offense at the fact that some immigrants pray to Allah or study the teachings of Buddha. Among his recommendations was to amend the constitution to require at least one parent of any native born child to be a citizen in order for that child to also become a citizen. The author is an example of those “love it or leave it” citizens that blame whatever is wrong on groups they fear or misunderstand.
Government facts describe an immigrant population that wants to adopt our ways. Their demand for English language classes outstrips our supply. 75% of all Spanish speaking immigrants are functional English speakers within 15 years. Their kids all speak English. They are more likely to marry less likely to divorce. Their higher birth rate keeps our population growing which creates more consumers. Their kids go to college. Within a generation 50% marry outside their group.
Immigrants also fuel our economy by starting a higher percentage of new small businesses than the rest of us. That’s where 80% of the jobs are today.
The ACLU is a popular target for these folks because its mission is to protect the rights of unpopular minorities like immigrants. The ACLU does that by challenging our judiciary to really define what laws mean. They’re often criticized as promoting a liberal political view. What you don’t hear is the ACLU activity for conservative causes like the KKK, gun ownership groups, Oliver North, and the Westboro Baptist Church pickets.
Finally, the founding fathers did believe in God, but they also created the first country in the world to prohibit state sponsored religion. They guaranteed that every law-abiding person born here could be President regardless of race, gender, or creed. They didn’t mandate prayer, the name of God, or the manner in which people could worship. None of that was by accident. Like it or not, they created a nation designed to welcome all. Those of us descended from immigrants are living the results of their wisdom.
Those of us who are Christians have even a higher calling. We are called to treat every person as our brother. We are called see them as they really are, made in God’s image and likeness because in God’s eyes there is no difference between us and them.
I’m studying American Lit. right now and this is poignant. To quote Booker T. Washington, one of America’s greatest writers: “To those of the white race who look to the incoming of those of foreign birth and strange tongue and habits for the prosperity of the South, were I permitted I would repeat what I say to my own race, ‘Cast down your bucket where your are.’ Cast it down among the eight millions of Negroes whose habits you know, whose fidelity and love you have tested in days when to have proved treacherous meant the ruin of your firesides. Cast down your bucket among these people who have without strikes and labour wars, tilled your fields, cleared your forests, builded your railroads and cities, and brought forth treasures from the bowels of the earth, and helped make possible this magnificent representation of the progress of the South. Casting down your bucket among my people, helping and encouraging them as you are doing on these grounds, and to education of head, hand, and heart, and you will find that they will buy your surplus land, make blossom the waste places in your fields, and run your factories. While doing this, you can be sure in the future, as in the past, that you and your families will be surrounded by the most patient, faithful, law-abiding, and unresentful people that the world has seen. As we have proved our loyalty to you in the past, in nursing your children, watching by the sick-bed of your mothers and fathers, and often follwing them with tear-dimmed eyes to their graves, so in the future, in our humble way, we shall stand by you with a devotion that no foreigner can approach, ready to lay down our lives, if need be, in defence of yours, interlacing our industrial, commercial, civil, and religious life with yours in a way that shall make the interests of both races one. In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as a hand in all things essential to mutual progress.
There is no defence or security for any of us except in the highest intelligence and development of all. If anywhere there are efforts tending to curtail the fullest growth of the Negro, let these efforts be turned into stimulating, encouraging, and making him the most useful and intelligent citizen. Effort or means so invested will pay a thousand per cent interest.”
This excerpt is from Chapter XIV of “Up From Slavery” dated 1901. It could have been written yesterday about all foreigners throughout our country not just the South. So how far have we really come?
Ria,
Wow, what a quote.
It is an incredible example of ra. the Confucian concept of seeking your own in anothers good.
I think that we have come a long way. At any point in time, however, there is a bell curve of opinion. The Early Adopters get it (20%), the Practical Adopters (50%) are looking for proof before they will accept it, and the Late Adopters (30%) refuse to change. Fortunately mortality will eventually cleanse us of those who refuse to change and old ways of thinking slowly fade from practice to memory.
Jeff