gracEmail
Edward Fudge
ALIENS AMONG US (1)
A gracEmail subscriber writes: "Please
share your thinking on what a Christian perspective on aliens, illegal or
otherwise, in our country should be. How should we feel toward them? How can we
significantly minister to them? What political issues cloud the real issues for
a Christian?"
* * *
Although this questioner lives in
the USA, the question concerns a worldwide reality. According to the
International Organization for Migration in Geneva, Switzerland
(IOM), 192 million people now live outside
their country of birth. This means that about one person in every 35,
roughly three per cent of the world's population, is a migrant. Those are
the people who have personally moved from one country to another. If
we include descendants of immigrants from several generations ago, the
"alien" category would encompass almost the entire human race.
My son
Jeremy, an immigration attorney, tells me that the word "alien" is
politically incorrect; the term of choice now is "foreign national."
"Immigrant" is a legal term, he says, for anyone seeking permanent
residence, while a "non-immigrant" is someone seeking temporary
residence. (When I was growing up, an "alien" was a creature from outer
space; an "alien sinner" was anyone not yet baptized and "alien baptism"
was baptism performed in a Christian denomination other than one's own. How
times have changed!)
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the foreign-born population of the United States nearly
doubled in the 1990's to 31 million, which represents 11% of the US
population. This is actually comparable to the peak arrivals of
foreign-born persons during the early 19th century. The greater difference lies
in countries of origin. Of the 11% of U.S. residents in 2000 who were born
elsewhere, 51% came from Latin America, 25.5% from Asia,
15.3% from Europe and 8.1% from other places. By contrast, almost
all foreign-born persons who came to the USA in the 19th century
were Anglo-Saxon Western Europeans -- white people of at least
nominally Christian (and primarily Protestant) faith and culture. The notable
exception were the Irish Catholics who, being different, gained acceptance only
after enormous struggle.
In other words,
before the late 20th century, those coming into the U.S. overwhelmingly
resembled the people who were already here. The "U.S." was filled by
people like most of "us" and the newcomers also looked like "us." The
significance of the fact that most foreign nationals of recent
arrival are simply different from most of "us" is almost too
enormous to be fully appreciated. That reality also challenges us to ask whether our emotional responses and intellectual reactions spring
from the spirit of Christ or originate in our fallen human
nature.
gracEmail
Edward Fudge
ALIENS AMONG US (2)
A gracEmail subscriber writes: "Please
share your thinking on what a Christian perspective on aliens, illegal or
otherwise, in our country should be. How should we feel toward them? How can we
significantly minister to them? What political issues cloud the real issues for
a Christian?"
*
* *
How can
our Savior, our Scriptures and our faith shape our perceptions and
responses regarding foreign-born persons among us? In the first place,
they call us to remember how much we all have in common. The Apostle Paul said
that God made every human being in every nation and determined the
boundaries of their original habitations (Acts 17:26). However the biblical
story makes it clear that peoples have been moving about from earliest
times, by divine intervention and by personal choice (Gen. 10:1-11:9). Given the
centuries of human history that have passed, one would be hard pressed
to argue on any biblical basis that people today should stay
forever in the lands where they were born. In fact, the story the Bible relates
is itself a narrative of constant movement.
Salvation-history
practically begins with Abram's displacement from his homeland (Gen. 12:1-3)
and it culminates in Jesus whose family fled as refugees from their
own country shortly after his birth (Matt. 2:13-15). The sense of
impermanence is so vital to biblical thinking that a band of pilgrims
becomes a favorite scriptural figure for the community of faith (Heb.
11:13-16; 1 Pet. 1:1-5). In fact, Jesus commissioned his apostles to go into all
the world with his gospel, fully anticipating that they would sometimes be
unwelcome but ready nevertheless to suffer whatever consequences might
follow (Matt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15ff).
Does it matter that our world is
different from the one in which Jesus lived? Must we not be alert,
especially since September 11, 2001, to radical and ruthless terrorists
coming here from abroad? It is right and wise to be aware of enemies who
wish to do us harm and to thwart their evil intent, as Jesus and Paul
both illustrate (Lk. 4:28-30; Acts 23:12-24). God approves of governments
protecting the innocent and punishing evil-doers (Rom. 13:1-5; 1 Pet.
2:13-14). Diligent border security helps to fulfil those goals and
enforcement of BOTH our borders ought to be a high priority. That said, we
might remember that the airplane hijackers who ushered us into this
new era of alarm had entered the U.S. legally although the legal
status of several had expired before 9/11.
gracEmail
Edward Fudge
ALIENS AMONG US
(3)
A gracEmail subscriber writes: "Please share your thinking on what a Christian perspective on aliens, illegal or
otherwise, in our country should be. How should we feel toward them? How can we
significantly minister to them? What political issues cloud the real issues for
a Christian?"
*
* *
But what about the flood of
emigrants who enter our country illegally, then drain our educational
and social systems dry? The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
estimates the number of illegal aliens at eight million in January
2000, increasing by a half-million each year since. The actual financial effects
of these illegal entrants is a social and political consideration of grave
importance about which expert opinions widely differ. Unquestionably, the U.S.
lacks the financial resources to provide birth-to-death benefits
without charge to an unlimited number of foreign nationals who might prefer to
live here -- whether those people enter legally or in violation of the law.
Local, state and federal
governments have the responsibility of grappling with such problems and for
finding solutions. However that works out, as men and women in service to God's
kingdom we have other abiding concerns. Jesus himself taught that the second
greatest command, surpassed only by the requirement to love God supremely, is to
love one's neighbor as one's self (Matt. 22:34-40). When we look
at the Old Testament passage which Jesus quotes, we discover that
the "neighbor" spoken of includes the resident foreigner as well the
native-born citizens (Lev. 19:18, 34).
Jesus further amplified this
command in his Parable of the Good Samaritan, concluding that our basic
duty is to BE a "neighbor" -- which means mercifully helping anyone we
encounter in need (Lk. 10:25-37). Such acts of mercy, this story reveals, matter
even more to God than fulfilling ritual religious obligations. This also is
confirmed by the example of Jesus himself, who went about doing good -- not
obligated by any merit on the part of the needy but rather motivated by his own
compassion and zeal for the advancement of God's kingdom.
God's people living in
any country on earth (and gracEmail subscribers are found in nations fully
around the globe), we are called to behave in a neighborly
manner to those who are our neighbors. We do this by serving the
needy, in keeping with our opportunities and resources as led by the living
Spirit of God -- whoever these neighbors might be, regardless of where
they were born and without regard to their legal status. In this way we follow
Jesus the ultimate Alien who graciously gave himself wholly for us, as we also
bear witness to the only kingdom that will endure forever and that can encompass
all humankind.
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