Nationalism & Patriotism.

I had a couple of follow-up thoughts to my earlier post, Immigration: The Hidden Underbelly.

And they center around some thoughts on the idea of allegiance. I fear that in most conversations about immigration that both sides (at least the people of God) get lost in thinking and seeing things through a purely American, national, and patriotic lens.

In response to immigration, our responsibility as Americans (specific, national, local) may be to close our borders to illegal immigrants. But as compassionate, concerned members of the kingdom of God (embracing, global) where does our responsibility lay?

As members of the kingdom of God we are not defined by borders and flags . . . imaginary lines on pieces of paper . . . concrete walls separating the same dirt and air. We are defined by a cross.

As members of the kingdom of God, this is not our home, prompting Hauerwas to call us resident aliens and for Derek Webb to sing, “My first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man. My first allegiance is not to democracy or blood. It’s to a king & a kingdom.” And as the writer of Hebrews says, “This is not our home. The insider world is not our home.”

As members of the kingdom of God we can not approach immigration from a purely American perspective. Obviously, illegal immigration is not in the best interest of us as individual people or as a individual nation.

As members of the kingdom of God we have to approach immigration as members of a community and family that is larger than America. As members of the kingdom of God we are to wrestle with the kind of broad reform that makes immigrating to another country and unnecessary.

As members of the kingdom of God we can not fight to close our borders to those who do not belong when our call as members of the God’s family is to open our arms to those who do not belong.

As members of the kingdom of God talk of turning desperate, hopeless, poor, and hurting people away is difficult to reconcile with the words and actions of Jesus.

As members of the kingdom of God nationalism and patriotism are irrelevant terms to us. They make little sense unless they are framed in the larger story of diversity in the global community of nations.

This is why I’m so frustrated with the current conversations about immigration coming from those who are pushing hardest for reform. As I said yesterday, we need distance and a consistent ethic in our positions. And we need to approach the conversation as compassionate, concerned members of the kingdom of God as opposed to staunch proponents of the flag that happens to be sticking into a particular point on this rock floating through space.

For some larger context, although I’m about 7 months late in posting this link, Aaron Monts has a great post that he wrote back in June of last year on the differences between nationalism and patriotism. You definitely need to read his distinctions.

Immigration: The Hidden Underbelly.

Since I was in an intelligence vacuum in Alabama and already had to deal with ill-informed, FOX influenced comments on immigration and Barack, and spent a couple of days in a hotel in New Orleans, I thought I’d share some more of my recent thoughts on immigration.
As a complete side note, I was told some breaking news – Barack Obama refuses to pledge allegiance to the flag. Just so you know.

To the point at hand . . . I’m a bit confused by some of the seemingly contradictory postures on immigration. Let me say up front, I’m not up for debating the issue of immigration in this particular forum. I think it is way more nuanced than I perceive it to be and I think we need an extremely broad and comprehensive vision for reform. But I’m troubled by some contradictions.

Regardless of our respective positions, I think most of us are the benefactors of the hidden underbelly of immigration. So many of those who have immigrated to America, both legally and illegally, often serve as the hidden machinery that makes our economy go. Mainly because of their cheap labor and partly due to their limited voice, immigrants often end up on the ground floor of our economy.

I wonder about the contradiction that lies in those who are often anti-immigration. Namely, that those who are the most urgent and vocal are often those who are reaping the most rewards from immigration. They complain about immigrants with rhetoric that borders on racism only to reap the benefits of lawn care, food service, hotels, farming and food production, and retail manufacturing labor to name a few that is almost entirely made up of an immigrant work force.

I wonder if those who are opposed to immigration would be willing to get rid of their perfectly manicured lawns that are taken care of by immigrants? I wonder if those who are opposed to immigration would be willing to clean their house themselves instead of it their toilets being cleaned by an immigrant? I wonder if those who are opposed to immigration would be willing to pay more money for their hotel stays in order to pay for the more expensive American labor? I wonder if those who are opposed to immigration would be willing to pay more for their food at the grocery store and more for their food at restaurants?

The majority of every house and hotel maid in America is an immigrant. The majority of every kitchen staff in America is an immigrant. The majority of every lawn care person and landscaper in America is an immigrant. The majority of every day laborer on the farms in America is an immigrant. The majority of every producer of clothing in America is an immigrant.

I wonder if those who reap the benefits of this immigrant work force, that fund our middle-class lifestyles, would be willing to go immigrant-free? I also wonder if their voices aren’t growing louder as more and more immigrants begin to move from the hidden underbelly and into plain sight . . . gradually growing in power, education, and wealth.

As much as I think there needs to be healthy and robust conversations about immigration and reform to our current policies . . . I also think that we need to take honest looks at the hypocrisy of an issue.

We can’t say one thing and do another. We have to have a consistent ethic. If you’re against immigration . . . then clean your own toilets in your house and hotel. Mow your own lawn. Grow your own crops. And make your own clothes. Then make your stand from that position of consistency as opposed to your position of contradictions.