As I've stated in an earlier post...I believe people living in this nation should pay taxes, have proper documentation, learn English, and follow the legal processes of our country. But listening to the non-Hispanic people around me, I don't believe that would be good enough to satisfy what they really want. Maybe it's because I live in a so-called Red state...but I really get the sense that what most non-Hispanics in Texas want is for all the Mexicans to go back to Mexico and get "the heck outta here."They all act as if all they want is for "illegals" to pay taxes and attain documentation. But if you listen carefully you hear an awful lot of resentment and bitterness about people who are supposedly stealing jobs (although both Arizona and Texas are currently in the midst of a huge un-skilled labor shortage as noted in the 4-9-06 Dallas Morning News) and bringing in a "foreign" way of life. They have to pretend to be in favor of "legalization" because otherwise their racism would be exposed. And yes...it all stems from a racist nativism. The same ugly nativism that the English-Americans displayed against Irish immigrants. The same ugly nativism that the Irish showed to the Italians and the Italians to the Blacks and Chinese. And so on and so on and so on.
What saddens me the most is many of these people complaining about "those darn Mexicans" call themselves Christians. And I think to myself...how would Jesus handle this situation? Jesus reached out to the hated Samaritans and other social outcasts. Jesus spoke Aramaic when he had to and Hebrew in other situations. He was universal in his love. He didn't play upon nationalistic pride. He even commanded respect to be given to the pagan Roman Caesar.
Do you actually think the Mexican's want to live in fear in this country? Do you think they want to be seperated from their families for years at a time? Do you think they want to work for endless hours on mindless jobs for little pay with no benefits? Don't you think they want to spend a little bit of their money on luxuries rather than having to send 90% of their paycheck back home? Do you think they enjoy the life they have here?
Absolutely not! They are here out of desperation. They are doing whatever they can to help keep their families alive. If they were Americans we'd call them noble. Why is Mexico in such bad shape? Do you think maybe it has something to do with the constant meddling and political intrigue the American Government used to destabilize Mexico for a century? Now many Mexican citizens feel no other recourse but to come here to survive. Ironic isn't it? We are finally seeing the effects of our unilateral arrogance in Latin American affairs... Supporting dictators and pursuing policies to destroy the Mexican economy for our benefit.
I can no longer sit back and allow my fellow Christian Americans rail about this issue without exposing their hypocracy. If I remain silent I am as guilty as those Germans who sat by and allowed the Jews to be persecuted on Kristallnacht in 1936. And we all know where that eventually led. Go ahead, call me an alarmist. But I doubt most Germans would have ever thought genocide could be possible in their nation either.
We need to enforce the law compassionately. We need to help encourage the peace loving, law abiding "illegals" become legal citizens or attain proper documentation. We need to help them learn English...not because English is God's favorite language...but because that will help them have a greater chance to be a positive contributor to American society and help achieve a greater level of financial success.
And most of all...we need to love them as Christ loves us. That should be the basis of all our actions...whether or not they reciprocate that love. Yes, some of these protests may be misguided. But that doesn't mean we respond with hate. We should respond as Christ would.
