Showing posts with label illegals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label illegals. Show all posts

Thursday, 23 January 2025

A question of loyalty versus compassion.

During Trump's second inauguration as US President, a bishop made a direct appeal to the President to have mercy on the LGBTQ+ community and undocumented migrant workers. Trump, in his campaign speeches, promised to go hard on illegal immigration once he took office. Previously, the Biden administration had a lax stance on immigration. Trump also declared that there are only two genders in the USA: male and female, unlike the spectrum of over 68 gender expressions advocated by liberal thinkers. 

The decree would automatically make millions of immigrants to the US illegal, and the woke generation is fearful that there would be a witch hunt against the LGBTQ+ community.

This issue regarding immigrants coming to America is not new, as far as the world's biggest economy is concerned. It has been ongoing since the Cold War. America has itself to blame for its predicament. America, being the self-proclaimed leader of the free world, took it upon itself to curb the spread of communism, especially in its backyard. Central and South American countries have been in turmoil for a long time. To ensure that left-leaning leaders do not take over, the US placed despotic, US-friendly puppet governments. These leaders were opposed by their own people, and over time, a resistance guerrilla army emerged. The people were caught in the crossfire between the military forces of the government and the rebel militia. As economic activities came to a grinding halt, the citizens, especially the rural population, began to flee.

Suddenly, the US had a problem at its borders in the 70s and 80s. Thousands of refugees from El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala started flocking to its borders and sneaking into the US. News of illegal immigrants from El Salvador succumbing to the elements as they traversed deserts hit the headlines. They were escaping US-supported death squads in their country. Many churches in the US, led by a Presbyterian minister, Rev John Fife of Tucson, Arizona, took it upon themselves to aid and harbour these illegal aliens as they made their way into America.

The way they looked at it was like this. During WW2 Hitler's Germany, millions of Jews are brutally killed because of the apathy of many Germans, including their religious leaders. Christianity, being the saviour of the underdogs, as evidenced by events during Jesus' lifetime, had a moral right to defend the oppressed and the persecuted. The dilemma was whether to flaunt the law to attain a higher purpose or to conform as good citizens. It was not just a question of nationalism versus belief but of being human.

In the 1980s, these stories were of national interest. All parties, political leaders, the general public, and the legal system took an interest. Rev. John Fife and members of the Sanctuary Movement, which by then included over 2,000 churches and had spread to Canada, were charged with abetting the entry of illegal immigrants into the country. A public debate ensued. On one side, there was the faction supporting the Government's desire to maintain law and order, as they had been doing for ages. Then there was the other side, who blamed the US, which had started the whole fiasco in the first place. There was a compulsion to provide a safe haven for the victims.

Probably bowing to the pressures of public sentiment at the time, the accused were let off with a slap on the wrist. They were not imprisoned but received suspended sentences and probation. It was considered light for a crime against the State.

(P.S. In the rush to build and control a waterway that bypassed Cape Horn, America supported a Panamanian resistance group fighting for independence from Colombia. Not to mention the Banana Wars in South America after the US acquired the country following the 1898 US-Spanish War. America instigated various resistance groups to protect its business interests. With such a long history of meddling, it is no surprise that trouble comes back to bite its southern end. To complicate things, in the name of preserving American business interests, Greenland may be 'invaded' via gunboat diplomacy!)


Sunday, 29 July 2018

Putting the seal of God?

It is quite comical that how verses from the same book of the Bible is used on either side of the divide in America on the issue of immigration. Quoting the book of Romans, one side claim that leaders are ordained by God. Hence, their decree is equivalent to God's command on Earth, and the people are dutybound to follow. 

Paradoxically, detractors argue that it is taken out of context. Texts that were preceding and after that verse that were omitted.  The Good Book reminded the followers of the times when the people were themselves slaves in Egypt and how they were ill-treated. Everyone is a sojourner on Earth, just passing through. Words like 'feed your enemies if they are hungry, give them a drink if they are thirsty', 'do not reap to the very edges of your field, leave them for the poor and the foreigner', and 'love your enemy as yourself' may denote that one should for the unfortunate.

But life is not so simple. Scholars have decided that the passages clearly defines foreigners and strangers. Strangers deserve justice and mercy while law-restricted foreigners do not.

That is the danger when one decides to opt to follow scriptures literally and not use the mental faculties to determine what is best is for mankind, taking into consideration the perspectives of time and context. One would resort to cherrypicking and indiscriminative rationalisation by invoking the name of God.
“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God” (Romans 13:1).

“Be afraid. Be very afraid.”*