The same sentiment affected the early Jewish Christians. They wanted to hug Jesus close to themselves, keep him as their "property." Only Jews were allowed to become Christians. They rationalized, saying: What would Jesus have wanted with Gentile (non-Jewish) converts anyway? Wasn't he the JEWISH Messiah?
But then Peter, leader of the Jewish Christians, received word that a Gentile, Cornelius, believed in Jesus and wanted to become a Christian. And Peter had the courage to break with his community and enter Cornelius, a Gentile's, house, breaking the Jewish ritual purity code. Cornelius fell at his feet. Peter recognized their equality in Christ by raising him up, saying "Get up. I myself am a human being." Peter then spoke, saying that he had discovered the truth: God shows no partiality. People in every nation are acceptable to God. And while he spoke, the Holy Spirit fell upon all the Gentiles who were listening to the word of God. The circumcised believers - the Jewish Christians - were astounded. They were so used to hugging Jesus to themselves as their own property that they found sharing him with a wider group of people very hard indeed. And yet Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, had the courage to order these frightening strangers, so very different in culture, to be baptized!
One of the main reasons that Jesus commands us to love one another is to help us overcome this tendency to see our group as superior, even to hug Jesus to ourselves as our own property. Notice that Jesus COMMANDS us to love one another - because Jesus knows how hard it is to step outside our comfort zone and become acquainted with the frightening stranger. And, if we admit to ourselves that some of these frightening strangers even believe in Jesus, we don't want to admit it fully. Because, if these people of different colors and different cultures are true, fellow believers, beloved by God, we might have to treat them as spiritual equals. We are no longer superior. We might have to say to those who are different from us, "I myself am nothing more than another human being" - as Peter said to Cornelius.
We have to admit it: there are those white citizens of the United States who want to preserve a white Christian country. Somehow, for them, both qualifications must apply: white AND Christian; yet, in their minds "white" is the priority. In effect, they hug Jesus to their white selves and consider non-white -- or at least those "darker" than themselves - Christians as what - inferior Christians? Make-believe Christians? Not members of the Mystical Body of Christ? Even when they're baptized and the Holy Spirit has fallen upon them? Oh, but these folks love Jesus so much that they believe that only whites can give Jesus proper worship, and only whites can keep the ideals of the United States alive.
Notice I use the words "United States." As Matt Malone points out in the April 16, 2018 issue of "America," America itself is one land mass which embraces both North and South America, in fact all of the Western Hemisphere. Malone quotes President John F. Kennedy: "This New World of ours is not a mere accident of geography. Our continents are bound together by a common history, the endless exploration of new frontiers....And our people share a common heritage, the quest for the dignity and the freedom of man."
America's second largest ethnic group - although they have no common "racial" identity - is Latinos, whom some here nevertheless consider "non-white," or at least incapable of becoming contributing Americans. I have this on the authority of a Puerto Rican friend, as light-skinned as I, who has been called "non-white" and slighted by guests at a retreat house. Often we think of the English Pilgrims as the first settlers in the U.S. In fact, the first non-indigenous, European language spoken in the United States was Spanish, not English, spoken by the Spanish settlers of St. Augustine, Florida, founded in 1565. English settlers founded Jamestown in 1605. Catholicism was first brought to what is now the United States by Spanish-speaking people. Many of the cities of the Southwest were built by Spaniards, Mexicans, and indigenous people. Santa Fe, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Antonio among others were built around Catholic parishes and missions.
Latinos, both citizens and immigrants, are overwhelmingly Christian. Although their treatment by many ethnically British/European Christians has not been, well, Christian. Especially in our "new" policies regarding any Latinos either trying to get into the country or in the country, either illegally or even legally. Perhaps we want to keep/send them out to get their birthrate here down. That won't work.
In the same issue of "America," Antonio De Loera-Brust, points out that "Despite the headlines and reports on undocumented immigrants or the beliefs of some of the fans of the border wall proposed by the president, the largest source of growth in the U.S. Latino population is not immigration, but births in the United States. Over one-third of all U.S. Latinos are still under 18; six in ten are younger than thirty-three. In an otherwise aging population, the Latinos of the United States are a young people. America's Latinos are increasingly assimilated, with record numbers speaking English, a trend driven by the young." Note that: young Latinos SPEAK ENGLISH. They want to belong here.
The profile of illegal border crossers has also changed dramatically in recent years. Last month, U.S. agents encountered nearly 10,000 unaccompanied minors and “family units” consisting of a child with an adult relative. The vast majority are from Central America. Rather than sneaking across, those border crossers typically turn themselves in to U.S. agents to request asylum protections, citing the lethal threats of gang violence in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, nations with some of the highest homicide rates in the world.
On May 16, 2018, Stuart Townsend wrote in "Forbes" magazine:
"On several occasions, Donald Trump has described Central American street gang members as 'animals' and recounted gruesome killings in detail. Yet when women have fled with their children from Central America to escape these same street gangs, Trump administration officials have bullied and threatened – not the street gangs, but those fleeing the gangs.
"Members of the Trump administration, including Donald Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen, have shown little concern for protecting the human rights of women and children escaping violence in Central America. The administration has made no effort to work with Honduras, El Salvador or Guatemala to address the root causes of the violence and persecution – or provide alternative ways victims in the region can gain protection.
"Television coverage of a group of primarily women and children heading through Mexico prompted Donald Trump to threaten the Mexican government and request U.S. governors to send National Guard troops to assist at the border against the individuals in the 'caravan.' After a smaller group of Central Americans arrived at the U.S. border, they approached to request asylum, though many were told to wait outside the port of entry in San Ysidro.
"Journalists spoke with those who left their homes and traveled to the U.S. border: 'Death threats from local gangs, the murder of family members, retaliatory rape and political persecution prompted members of the caravan to flee, members of the group have told Reuters.'
"These stories will not surprise anyone who has followed the situation in Central America. 'Widespread violence across Honduras remained a key factor of forced migration from the country,” reported Amnesty International. “According to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, between January and October, 14,735 Hondurans sought asylum worldwide..."
"The Trump administration is ending temporary protected status for (tens of thousands of) Hondurans who have been allowed to live and work in the United States since 1999, after a hurricane that ravaged their country....
"Determined to rein in both legal and illegal immigration, the Trump administration since last year has scrapped protections for citizens from several countries. On Friday, the Homeland Security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, said she had determined that conditions have improved sufficiently in Honduras to warrant suspension of protected status for its citizens in the United States, according to a department statement....the Trump administration argues that the only criteria the government should consider in continuing the program is whether the original reason for the designation - in this case devastation from the hurricane - persists."
Since Honduras has made substantial progress in post- hurricane recovery, there can be, as supporters of the decree state, "no honest basis for an extension."
I guess that twenty years in this country, jobs (85% participate in the labor force) , homes, bank accounts, bank loans (20% have mortgages), children born here - plus the fact that this will be a death sentence for many being sent back to a country in the grip of political repression and violence - do not seem to be an "honest basis for an extension. Yet over 600 faith leaders have signed a letter asking the administration for an eighteen month extension, calling the decision "unconscionable."
Perhaps if they'd arrived from Norway - a country our President fervently wishes would send us immigrants - there wouldn't have been a problem with their staying.
Which brings me to the quote at the beginning of this article: "Guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." Are these government - sanctioned immigration policies and attitudes a refusal to see and welcome Christ in other Christians? Are they hardening our hearts?
Pat Murphy, a Scalabrini priest works at Scalabrini-run Casa del Migrante in Tijuana, Mexico. a place of caring for those deported from the U.S. For these people, the American Dream does not exist. They have an excruciating sense of failure. Casa del Migrante provides food, clothing, medical services through the Red Cross, and a psychologist on staff to help people develop the tools to start their lives over. Father Murphy says, "The wall is a physical barrier. It will deter some people. I worry more about the wall that Trump is creating around people's hearts. It's going to take a long time to get over this...People also have a right not to migrate. People don't want to leave their homes. There's corruption in Mexico, violence in Honduras. People are running away, trying to find a new life."
If non-Hispanic whites hug Jesus to themselves, considering everyone else counterfeit Christians of no particular worth, this is a dangerous attitude with severe spiritual and economic repercussions. Hugging Jesus to ourselves as our exclusive property narrows our hearts to embrace only a few, when God shows no partiality. Christ's COMMAND was and is for us to love one another. His intention was and is to be loved throughout the world and for all of his followers to be One in mind and heart. Hugging Jesus to ourselves is an attitude which will always prevent us from developing immigration policy which is both just and merciful.
Hugging Jesus to ourselves is an exclusionist attitude which rejects a large number of the Body of Christ, including those trying to enter the country legally and legal immigrants who are already enriching our country in the arts and sciences. It sets us up to enact an immigration policy which is dangerously flawed, anti-family, and detrimental to our economy. Perhaps Trump's bias against non-white immigrants - i.e. anyone with a darker skin than his who comes from a "shit-hole" country - is a sign that, while the Holy Spirit falls on those outside our country, the Holy Spirit has ceased falling on a good number of us - because our hearts are too hard to allow the Spirit in.