Showing posts with label immigrants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label immigrants. Show all posts

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Syrian Migrants Traveled With the Pope

A dozen folks, three families, rode back to the Vatican with Pope Francis.

I think that's a good thing, since their homes in Syria aren't there any more. They survived, obviously, and had made it as far as Lesbos,1 an island in the Aegean Sea.

"A Gesture of Welcome"



(From AFP, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
("The migrants are travelling on the same plane as the Pope back to the Vatican"
(BBC News))
"Migrant crisis: Pope returns from Greece with 12 migrants"
BBC News (April 16, 2016)

"Pope Francis has taken 12 Syrian migrants back with him to the Vatican after visiting a camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.

"The three families, including six children, are all Muslim and had their homes bombed during the Syrian war.

"The Vatican said in a statement2 that Pope Francis wanted to 'make a gesture of welcome' to the refugees.

"Thousands of migrants are now stuck on Lesbos after last month's EU-Turkey deal to try to ease the flow....

"...Under the EU-Turkey agreement, migrants arriving illegally on the Greek islands from Turkey after 20 March will be deported unless they successfully claim for asylum.

"In return, for every Syrian returned to Turkey, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey...."

(From Community of Sant'Egidio, used w/o permission.)
("Coming back from Greek Island of Lesbos, the pope gives a lesson of concrete commitment for refugees"
(Community of Sant'Egidio))
"Three families of Syrian refugees hosted by Pope Francis in Vatican. Sant'Egidio provides first welcome"
Community of Sant'Egidio (April 16, 2016)

"...They are 12 people- 6 of them are children - who will be hosted in Vatican. They come from bombed cities, had lost everything and are in a very precarious condition.

" 'Everything was arranged according to the rules. They have their documents. The Holy See, the Greek government and the Italian government have checked everything. They have been welcomed by the Vatican and with the collaboration of the Saint Egidio Community they will be searching for work' the Pope said."
I'm glad that those folks got out of Syria alive, with documentation that passed inspection by three separate governments.

It would be nice if everyone escaped Syria with their lives, an up-to-date passport, rail pass, international driving permit, and enough Euros and U.S. dollars to set themselves up comfortably someplace else. That said —

I don't regard migrants "arriving illegally" with horror: not when they are folks who very likely are doing well to have escaped a war zone with their lives — never mind full documentation.

I've never been in that situation myself, for which I'm duly grateful.

If — and this is a strictly hypothetical situation — my family's home was a smoking ruin, along with most of the rest of Sauk Centre, Minnesota, we might head north: toward the Canadian border.

If we made it that far, we might have passed an intact Federal Building: or not.

If we had, the place might have had the forms we'd need to apply for passports - - - you get the idea, I hope.

In that strictly hypothetical situation, I might not be surprised if Canadian authorities thought we could be terrorists.3

But I would hope that they'd let us cross the border and help us stay alive long enough to establish that we weren't trying to kill anyone.

I don't "look like" a terrorist, apart from my beard: not by most American standards. But I do "look American:" Anglo-American, anyway, although I'm not; and that's another topic.4

I've seen Pope Francis called a "pro-immigrant" Pope — and 'worse.' As a descendant of immigrants, I don't see that it as a bad thing: which is just as well, and I'll get back to that.

As for the three families being Muslim — I'm an adult convert to Catholicism, with the enthusiasm for my faith that implies. Among other things, I must take truth seriously: and respect those who seek truth, including folks who don't agree with me:
" 'All men are bound to seek the truth, especially in what concerns God and his Church, and to embrace it and hold on to it as they come to know it.'26 This duty derives from 'the very dignity of the human person.'27 It does not contradict a 'sincere respect' for different religions which frequently 'reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men,'28 nor the requirement of charity, which urges Christians 'to treat with love, prudence and patience those who are in error or ignorance with regard to the faith.'29"
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2104)
I also must take what our Lord said about love and strangers seriously.

"A Concrete Gesture"



(From U.S. Department of State, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)
(Part of the Za'atri camp in Jordan for Syrian refugee. (July 18, 2013))
"...Faced with the tragedy of tens of thousands of refugees who flee death from war and hunger, and who have begun a journey moved by hope for survival, the Gospel calls us to be 'neighbours' of the smallest and the abandoned, and to give them concrete hope. It's not enough to say, 'Take heart. Be patient'.... Christian hope has a fighting spirit, with the tenacity of one who goes toward a sure goal.

"Therefore, as the Jubilee of Mercy approaches, I make an appeal to parishes, religious communities, monasteries and shrines throughout Europe, that they express the Gospel in a concrete way and host a refugee family. A concrete gesture in preparation for the Holy Year of Mercy. May every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every shrine of Europe welcome one family, beginning with my Diocese of Rome.

"I address my brother bishops of Europe, true pastors, that in their dioceses they endorse my appeal, remembering that Mercy is the second name of Love: 'What you have done for the least of my brothers, that you have done for me' (cf. Mt 25:46).

"In the coming days, the two parishes of the Vatican will also welcome two families of refugees...."
(Angelus, Pope Francis (September 6, 2015))
I don't know if today's three families include the ones promised last September. If they are, a seven-month wait could seem like a long time: or a short one, depending on how many diplomatic hurdles had to be cleared.

Either way, I am happy for the twelve folks who made it out of Syria to a reasonably secure location. That leaves more than four million who are still waiting.5

Those are just the ones we know about. A great many more apparently haven't made it into official lists; or are still alive, homeless, and somewhere in Syria.

I don't know any of them, though, and I have a roof over my head: so why should I care?

"The Whole Law and the Prophets"


About two millennia back, someone asked our Lord what the greatest commandment was:
"Jesus replied, 'The first is this: "Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength."

"The second is this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." There is no other commandment greater than these.' "
(Mark 12:29-31)
We see another angle on the same thing in Matthew 22:34-40. Here's how that ends:
"The second is like it: 23 You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

"24 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments." "
(Matthew 22:39-40)
This wasn't a new idea:
"1 'Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!

"Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. "
(Deuteronomy 6:4-5)
'Love my neighbor' is clear enough: but who is my neighbor?

Basically, everyone.

I've talked about Luke 10:29-37, the good Samaritan, and getting a grip, before. (October 26, 2014)

Since I take what our Lord said seriously, I try to love God, love my neighbor, see everyone as my neighbor, and treat others as I want them to treat me. (Matthew 5:43-44, 7:12, 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31 10:25-27, 29-37; Catechism, 1789)

It's simple, but not easy. (October 12, 2014)

Strangers and Math



(From sporki, via Wikipedia, used w/o permission.)
(Some of the 2,000,0006 folks at World Youth Day 2000, Vatican City and Rome.)

Helping folks who are in trouble is a very high priority. Matthew 25:34-46 makes that quite clear. (May 3, 2015)

Folks escaping Syria arguably fall under the "strangers" category in Matthew 25:35.

I'd like to think that leaders who have been turning Syrian refugees away do so because there are so many. Refusing shelter to all because they're afraid that a few might be terrorists — is understandable, but regrettable.

Moving, housing, and feeding even a fraction of a million strangers won't be easy. Neither will helping them settle in as at least semi-permanent members of society.

I think that helps explain why Pope Francis didn't try solving the problem by inviting all Syrian refugees to Vatican City; or even just the 660,000 who arrived in Lesbos last year — with another 3,000 coming each day.7

Vatican City covers about 110 acres, 0.44 square kilometers, a tad over an eighth of a square mile.

About 690 folks live there, so the population density is around 1,800/square kilometer, 4,800/square mile. That's between Hong Kong and Bahrain in terms of population density: quite manageable, these days.

Add 660,000, and you'd have 660,690 folks there: at roughly 1,501,000/square kilometer, or 579,000/square mile, if I did the math right.

That's a bit over 35 times as snug as Manila, Earth's the most densely-packed city, so far, at 42,800/square kilometer.

That's a lot of folks in one place: particularly if they're going to live there. I think it's worth noting that some of World Youth Day 2000's 2,000,000 attendees spilled over into Rome.

Doing What I Can


Part of our job is building a better world. (Catechism, 1928-1942, 2419-2442)

I could be overwhelmed by guilt, knowing that I haven't cured cancer, achieved a lasting peace in the Middle East, and helped millions of folks find new homes.

I could also believe that I can "...leap tall buildings in a single bound..." — but that would be crazy.

Humility, Catholic style, is having a balanced view of my abilities: or lack of them, and that's yet another topic. (August 10, 2014)

Happily, I'm expected to do what I can: not what I can't.
"As far as possible citizens should take an active part in public life. The manner of this participation may vary from one country or culture to another...."
(Catechism, 1915) [emphasis mine]
But I must do what I can as an individual, and a member of my culture, to make things better. (Catechism, 1928-1942)

I don't think I have the political clout or wealth to 'make a difference.' As I said Friday before last, my household has been making our own laundry detergent and growing produce out back to make ends meet. (April 9, 2016)

I can, however, do what I'm doing now: say that the "dignity of the human person" is vital. (Catechism, 1700, 1929)

Each of us is made in the image of God, but we're not identical. We're supposed to have different abilities and needs. We're also supposed to look out for each other. (Catechism, 1929, 1934-1938)

Acting like loving my neighbor, and recognizing the dignity of everyone, matters?

That's not easy. But like I've said before, it's important:
1 Folks have been living on Lesbos for ten millennia, give or take, maybe more. Mytilene, their capital city, goes back three millennia: probably. Hittites called the island Lazpa during the late Bronze Age.

These days it's chiefly famous for being where Sappho came from. Nearly all of that poet's works got lost in the shuffle when Rome was a superpower.

About her personal life, I'll go along with this:
"The only contemporary source for Sappho's life is her own poetry, and scholars are skeptical of reading it biographically. Later biographical accounts are also unreliable."
(Sappho, Life, Wikipedia)
We may, eventually, piece together more of what happened before and immediately after the Late Bronze Age collapse. I've mentioned that, and why I don't rant about folks who aren't exactly like me, before. (October 16, 2015; July 12, 2015; April 5, 2015)

2 A "working translation" from the Director of the Holy See Press Office's statement:
"...Traduzione in lingua inglese

"Statement of the Director of the Holy See Press Office

"The Pope has desired to make a gesture of welcome regarding refugees, accompanying on his plane to Rome three families of refugees from Syria, 12 people in all, including six children. These are all people who were already in camps in Lesbos before the agreement between the European Union and Turkey.

"The Pope's initiative was brought to fruition through negotiations carried out by the Secretariat of State with the competent Greek and Italian authorities.

"All the members of the three families are Muslims. Two families come from Damascus, and one from Deir Azzor (in the area occupied by Daesh). Their homes had been bombed.

"The Vatican will take responsibility for bringing in and maintaining the three families. The initial hospitality will be taken care of by the Community of Sant'Egidio.

"[00623-EN.01] [Original text: Italian - working translation]..."
(Dichiarazione del Direttore della Sala Stampa della Santa Sede, 16.04.2016 [Statement by the Director of the Press Office of the Holy See][internal link mine] (April 16, 2016))
3 Most Americans do not, I am sure, think of ourselves as "terrorists." However, I can imagine circumstances where folks elsewhere might assume that Americans are mass-murderers just waiting to snap:
4 Wikipedia says that "...Anglo-American is a rare term occasionally used to refer to an English American and/or an English Canadian...."

I'm descended from European immigrants, so I "look American" by some standards. On the other hand, one of my ancestors was not at all pleased when another of my ancestors married the daughter of a 'decent' family:
5 The UNHCR says they know of 4,837,208 "Registered Syrian Refugees." (April 11, 2016)

The bad news is that millions of folks from Syria have no homes, and are trying to survive by leaving the war zones. The good news is that quite a few other folks are trying to help.

More, not an exhaustive list:
6 World Youth Day attendance:
  • Buenos Aires (1987)
    1 million
  • Santiago de Compostela (1989)
    Over 500,000
  • Czestochowa (1991)
    1.6 million
  • Denver (1993)
    600,000
  • Manila (1995)
    Approximately 4 million
  • Paris (1997)
    1.2 million
  • Rome (2000 Jubilee)
    2 million
  • Toronto (2002)
    800,000
  • Cologne (2005)
    1.1 million
  • Sydney (2008)
    400,000
    (Source: National Catholic Register (August 5, 2011))
7 About two thirds of a million folks, 660,000, arrived in Lesbos last year, officially. It's hard to get solid numbers about the Syrian mess: small wonder, considering how many folks are trying to get out. It's what politicos sometimes call a 'fluid' situation.
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Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Attacks in Paris: People Matter




(From BBC News, used w/o permission.)
("The names of victims have started to emerge. Top left to right: Nohemi Gonzalez, Marie Mosser, Djamila Houd. Middle left to right: Juan Alberto Gonzalez, Guillaume Decherf, Nick Alexander. Bottom left to right: Mathieu Hoche, Thomas Ayed, Valentin Ribet"
(BBC News))
"Paris attacks: Who were the victims?"
(November 16, 2015)
"Information about the 129 Paris terror victims has been emerging over the last two days, with France saying more than 103 bodies have now been identified.

"More than 20 foreigners from a number of countries were killed.

"Desperate for any news, relatives and friends of the missing have turned to Twitter to search for their loved ones...."
Another article tells about efforts to find folks who are still missing: either dead, or hospitalized and not able to say who they are. I'll get back to that.

This article gives Djamila Houd's age, and where she was from, but no other details. Marie and Manu's employer had given their personal names, but not their surnames.

A few names from that BBC News article —

"Dado," the nickname of a man killed at the Bataclan. Hugo Sarrade, Cedric Mauduit, Mathieu Hoche, Quentin Boulanger, Guillaume B Decherf, Marie Lausch, Mathias Dymarski, and Lola Salines, had been at the Bataclan, too.

No pressure, and this is just a suggestion: but praying for everyone involved couldn't hurt.

Missing



(From Getty Images, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
("More than 250 people are seriously wounded and not all have been identified"
(BBC News))
"Paris attacks: Search goes on for missing"
BBC News (November 16, 2015)
"Among the many arresting images from Paris since the Friday attacks was that of the distraught father pleading with French Prime Minister Manuel Valls for news of his missing daughter, Nathalie Jardin.

" 'I don't know where my daughter is,' said Patrick Jardin. 'I don't know if she's still alive or in which hospital she might be.' His daughter had been working at the Bataclan concert hall as a lighting director.

"Confirmation of her death emerged on Monday but the search goes on for several others missing since Islamists opened fire on the Bataclan and several other sites in Paris on Friday night....

"...Hospitals in Paris said in a statement on Monday that of the 80 people admitted in a critical condition, 29 remained in intensive care. Another 49 are still being treated but are no longer in a critical condition.

"One nurse posted a message on Sunday saying that some patients who were not in a critical condition had not been identified and were labelled as 'X'...."

(From Twitter, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
("People took to Twitter to appeal for the search for Lola Ouzounian to continue" (top left)
"Venezuelans have also been tweeting appeals for Sven Alejander Silva" (Top right)
"For days, appeals have been put out to no avail in search of 17-year-old Remi Suquate" (Bottom left)
"One of the missing was named as Jean-Michel Ovide, the father of a friend" (Bottom center)
"Friends took to Facebook and Twitter to appeal for information about Franck Pitiot" (Bottom right)
(BBC News))

Most folks killed in Paris last Friday were French. Many were young. The BBC News article gave ages for 18 victims: nine in their 20s, five in their 30s, three in their 40s, and a man in his 60s. Many were among the 89 killed at the Bataclan concert hall.

Many folks killed at the Garissa University College in Garissa last April were young, too. It may be easier to feel bad when someone with most of life still ahead dies, and that's another topic.

I think it's wrong to kill folks because they're at a restaurant or rock concert. As I keep saying, murder is wrong. (September 27, 2015; September 6, 2015; April 12, 2015)

Life and Love


Murder is wrong because human beings are people: all human beings. Genesis 1:27 says1 we're made "in the divine image."

We are rational and therefore like God, made in the image and likeness of God. We have free will. We can decide to act, or not act. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1730-1825)

All humans are people, with equal dignity: no matter where we are, who we are, or how we act. (Catechism, 360, 1700-1706, 1932-1933, 1935)

Deliberately killing an innocent person, is wrong because human life is sacred. Everyone's life is precious. (Catechism, 2258, 2268-2283)

By "everyone," I mean everyone: including the folks who murdered innocent people in Paris.

My faith says that I mus love God, love my neighbors, see everyone as my neighbor, and treat others as I'd like to be treated. (Matthew 5:43-44, 7:12, 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31 10:25-27, 29-37; Catechism, 1789)

At the moment, I don't feel all warm and fuzzy about ISIS leaders and many American governors — I'll get back to that — but I must love them.

That does not mean that I think France should stop acting against ISIS.

Governments are obliged to protect their citizens, citizens have a responsibility to cooperate with their country in its defense — and governments must let citizens who are pacifists serve their country in other ways. (Catechism, 2310-2317)

My faith doesn't require me to let someone kill me. My life is important, too. Interestingly, the rules for individual defense and national defense are very similar: and nowhere near 'I thought he was going to kill me, so I killed him first.' (2263-2267, 2307-2317)
"Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality. Therefore it is legitimate to insist on respect for one's own right to life. Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow:
If a man in self-defense uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful: whereas if he repels force with moderation, his defense will be lawful. . . . Nor is it necessary for salvation that a man omit the act of moderate self-defense to avoid killing the other man, since one is bound to take more care of one's own life than of another's.66"
(Catechism, 2264)
The basics are simple: I must love God, my neighbor, and myself. Applying those simple principles gets complicated: or difficult, at any rate:

It Could Be Worse



(Screen capture from BBC News video, used w/o permission.)
("Many US states say they will no longer welcome Syrian refugees"
(BBC News))
"Paris attacks: US states halt taking Syrian refugees"
BBC News (November 16, 2015 (November 17 in UK))

"More than a dozen US states say Syrian refugees are no longer welcome due to security fears after the Paris attacks.

"Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan said he was suspending the acceptance of new arrivals until after a review.

"Alabama, Texas and several other states issued similar statements but a State Department spokesman said the legality of this action was still unclear...."
Since a poll showed that 52% of Americans felt 'less safe' with Syrian refugees coming into the United States, I can see why state governors might want to keep those particular foreigners out. There's a major election coming up next year.

Only 17 state leaders had jumped on this bandwagon when the BBC News article came out:
  • Alabama
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Louisiana
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Mississippi
  • New Hampshire
  • North Carolina
  • Ohio
  • Texas
  • Wisconsin
    (source: BBC News)
A few hour later, more than half the states were saying 'no' to Syrians seeking refuge here:
  • States whose governors oppose Syrian refugees moving in
    • Alabama
    • Arizona
    • Arkansas
    • Florida
    • Georgia
    • Idaho
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Louisiana
    • Maine
    • Massachusetts
    • Michigan
    • Mississippi
    • Nebraska
    • New Hampshire
    • New Jersey
    • New Mexico
    • North Carolina
    • Ohio
    • Oklahoma
    • South Carolina
    • Tennessee
    • Texas
    • Wisconsin
  • States whose governors say they will accept refugees
    • Colorado
    • Connecticut
    • Delaware
    • Hawaii
    • Pennsylvania
    • Vermont
    • Washington
      (Source: CNN)
I draw a measure of relief that governors of my two 'home' states, North Dakota and Minnesota, have had the common decency to keep quiet about this. I am not among the 52% who would feel 'safer,' knowing that my political leaders were refusing sanctuary to folks — based on national origin.

Here's a map of the situation, as of last night:


(From CNN, used w/o permission.)

It could be worse.

The President could be signing an order to round up American citizens with Syrian ancestry.

Something like that happened before.

On February 19, 1942, during World War II, Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066.

Folks whose crime was having 'un-American' ancestors were rounded up and herded into internment camps. Many had their property confiscated. About two thirds of the Japanese were American citizens, many others had lived here for decades. German-Americans and Italian-Americans were blacklisted, too.

The good news is that the roughly 120,000 men, women, and children whose ancestors were Japanese were not killed. Eventually, after wartime hysteria cooled down, they were released.

Decades later, in 1988, Public Law 100-383 even acknowledged that the Roosevelt administration might have made a mistake.

Still later, the Department of Justice got around to looking for the folks whose property was legally stolen — "Justice Department Announces Potential Eligibility of Japanese Americans Who Lived in Phoenix Area for Redress Payments."

The Department of Justice announcement was dated August 3, 1994 — 52 years after the roundup was okayed.

Exodus 20:15 and Deuteronomy 5:19 say the same thing: "you shall not steal." Respect for legitimate authority is part of my faith: but that does not mean that someone who has political or economic power can ignore rules that apply to 'ordinary' people. Stealing is stealing: even if the President rewrote part of the Decalogue. (Catechism, 1897-1917, 2401, 2408-2409)

And that's yet another topic.

'A Stranger, and You Slammed the Door in my Face'


There's a somewhat-corny poem associated with a statue in New York Harbor:
"...A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles....

"...'Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!'..."
("The New Colossus," Emma Lazarus, via Wikipedia)2
That's a nice sentiment, and as a Euro-American I'm in no position to argue against letting foreigners into 'my' country.

More the point, I'm a Catholic, so I must think that "alleviating the miseries of refugees" is important. (Catechism, 1911)
"The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin. Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him.
"Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants' duties toward their country of adoption. Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens."
(Catechism, 2241)
The last I checked, the United States is still one of "the more prosperous nations." With a population of around 322,000,000, I think we can handle the economic burden of reviewing entry requests for around 10,000 refugees from Syria.

I also think careful background checks make sense. A few of those Syrians might be terrorists. So might folks coming from France, Belgium, or any other nation.

But — governors appealing to nativism or fear notwithstanding — I am pretty sure that most of those Syrians are fleeing terrorists: and hope that the United States and countries in Europe give them a chance to live.

I'll admit to a bias. Many of my ancestors were "of low type," and regarded as a threat to America. (September 25, 2015; September 18, 2015; June 21, 2015)

A few words about strangers and getting a grip, and I'm done for today.
"5 Had not the men of my tent exclaimed, 'Who has not been fed with his meat!'

"Because no stranger lodged in the street, but I opened my door to wayfarers -...."
(Job 31:31-32)

"The LORD protects the stranger, sustains the orphan and the widow, but thwarts the way of the wicked."
(Psalms 146:9)

"Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,

"naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' "
(Matthew 25:34-36)
Background:
More of my take on living in a big world:
1 I must take the Bible, Sacred Scripture, seriously. (Catechism, 101-133)

But I must not pick a few verses I like and warp them around my personal preferences.
2 As a descendant of the "wretched refuse," I think this is a good idea:

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Sunday, October 26, 2014

Neighbors, Love, and Upping the Ante

When a scholar of the law asked Jesus for the greatest Commandment, my Lord gave two:
"He said to him, 22 'You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

"This is the greatest and the first commandment.

"The second is like it: 23 You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

"24 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.' "
(Matthew 22:37-40)
Those two 'first' Commandments show up in Luke's Gospel, too. That time, the conversation's followed by the 'good Samaritan' story.

The Samaritan: An Unexpected 'Good Guy'


After two millennia, the shock of a Samaritan being the 'good guy' in this sort of story has worn off. Jews and Samaritans did not get along: at all.

These days, it'd be like telling a story in a redneck bar: where a coal miner, poor farmer, and truck driver wouldn't help the accident victim: but an east Asian immigrant did.

"Love your neighbor" wasn't a new idea:
"1 Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD."
(Leviticus 19:18)
Jesus raised the ante, by redefining "neighbor." No, that's not quite right. What Jesus did was remind us that humanity is a single — sadly dysfunctional — family. Again, that's not a new idea: Genesis 10:1-32, and all that.

Genesis?! What with odd notions about faith, poetry, and science that have been ricocheting off the walls for the last few centuries —

Reality and Reason: a Rant


I'm a Christian, a Catholic. As far as I'm concerned, God is large and in charge. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 268)

Since God's God, and I'm not: I don't try forcing reality into some box I made.

God made, and is making, everything. God makes us "in the image of God." (Catechism, 31, 279-301)

God gave us brains, and expects us to use them. (Catechism, 1730-1742)

God made us stewards of this creation. Stewards, not owners. We're in charge of this world, and responsible for its maintenance — to future generations and to God. No pressure. (Catechism, 373, 2415, 2456)

Ancient Mesopotamians didn't know everything about how the universe works. I'm okay with that. I'm also okay with the idea that God doesn't conform to what some Europeans wanted to be so, a few centuries back. (July 15, 2014)

We're supposed to be curious about this creation, it's order and beauty: learning more about how it works, and using that knowledge in our capacity as stewards. Science and technology are part of being human. (Catechism, 27, 31-35, 282-289, 355-361, 2292-2296)

Basic Principles - - -


Okay: I've had a cup of coffee, walked around a bit, and calmed down. Let's see, where was I? The greatest Commandment, the good Samaritan. Right.

The rules are simple, but not easy. (October 12, 2014)

The basic principles are:
Those principles made sense when Hammurabi's law code set up penalties for slander, theft, and other offenses.

They make sense today, and will when the Code of Hammurabi, United Nations Charter, and whatever comes next, are seen as roughly contemporary. (August 31, 2014)

How we apply those principles: that keeps changing.

I talked about positive law, human-made rules; and natural law, universal principles; two months back. (August 29, 2014)

Knowing what's right and what's not is important: so is acting as if that knowledge means something.

I'm responsible for what I can do as an individual, and as a member of my culture. (Catechism, 1928-1942)

I'd like to end world hunger, establish a lasting peace, and cure the common cold. That's not gonna happen. For starters, I don't have the connections or power to get any of that done. Helping the local Knights of Columbus council raise money for charities is about my limit.

Besides, when it comes to solving the big problems: things take time.

- - - and the Long Haul


Slavery became illegal in several countries — after 19 centuries of teaching that we should love God, love our neighbors, and see everybody as neighbors. Even more remarkably, a sizable number of folks in those countries started thinking that owning other people is wrong.

Maybe, after another 19 centuries of passing along these principles, we'll have an "international authority with the necessary competence and power" to resolve conflicts without war. (Catechism, 2307-2317; "Gaudium et Spes," 79 § 4)

And maybe, sometime around the 38th century, a sizable number of folks will think that's a good idea.


(From aaronsimscompany, via DeviantArt.com, used w/o permission.)

Meanwhile, we have work to do:
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Sunday, July 6, 2014

Strangers and Standing Orders


(From NASA/Jim Grossmann, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)
(Some of America's new citizens at the Kennedy Space Center. July 1, 2010.)

When thirteen colonies declared independence from England, 238 years ago, my ancestors were still in Norway and the British Isles. They had different reasons for uprooting themselves and crossing the Atlantic.

Some came because they worshiped in the 'wrong' church. Others, because they wanted an alternative to poverty and famine. One came to keep a relative company on the ocean voyage: and stayed because she experienced near-terminal seasickness on the trip.

I'm here because America tolerated immigrants: grudgingly at times. As each new wave arrived, some 'regular Americans' accepted them, others didn't. Then there was the appalling matter of slavery. It took two centuries and a major war to sort that mess out:

The Irish and Other 'Threats'



(From Rjensen, via Wikipedia, used w/o permission.)
("No Irish need apply" highlighted in this New York Times ad, from 1854.)

Some of my ancestors were none too pleased when one of those Irishmen came sniffing around their daughter. When asked about her daughter's suitor, one of my foremothers said, "he doesn't have family: he's Irish." (November 13, 2008)

I can understand her attitude. Quite a few 'proper' folks were convinced that those Irish were violent, indolent, and chronic drinkers: hardly the sort one would want marrying into the family. The daughter of a decent family and that Irishman got married, anyway. I think we earned our reputation for being garrulous and charming, and that's another topic.

When my father's father died, my father received a small inheritance from his maternal grandfather. My father figured that his grandfather didn't want 'that Irishman' to spend the money on whiskey and horses. Not that my father's father would have done so: but ethnic stereotypes often outvote reality.

I've never seen an "Irish need not apply" notice in a store window or the daily paper, America has had an Irish president, and most Americans seem to think the Irish are okay.

Now other ethnic and religious groups are on 'least wanted' lists.

Immigrants and the Greatest Commandment


The last I checked, the average American household doesn't spend more than our counterpart in the United Arab Emirates, but our consumer spending per household is the second-highest in the world. This is not a poor country.

Our economy could be doing better: but it could be a great deal worse. I think our "problem" with folks wanting to move here exists in large part because we're still one of the better places to raise a family.

I don't see immigrants as a problem, partly because all of my ancestors are immigrants. Wanting to exclude folks who are trying to do what my forebears did makes no sense. Not to me.

Even if I did feel that this should be the 'United States of Just Me and Mine,' I couldn't: or shouldn't, at any rate.

I'm a Catholic, and we have rules about that sort of thing. Here's what my Lord said about the greatest commandment:
"Jesus replied, 'The first is this: "Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength."

"The second is this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." There is no other commandment greater than these.' "
(Mark 12:29-31)
We get pretty much the same thing in Matthew 22:34-40 and Luke 10:25-28.

The way I see it, given America's wealth and the standing orders to love our neighbor as ourselves, welcoming immigrants is an obligation.

"... A Stranger and You Welcomed Me...."


Over the last two millennia, some of the smartest folks in the world have realized that we can't love God if we hate our neighbor: and that everybody is our neighbor. The Catechism has a whole section devoted to how and why we should love our neighbors: all of them. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2196-2557)

Right after discussing the duties of parents and children; and pointing out that family ties are important, but not all there is to life; we get V. The Authorities in Civil Society, and this bit of instruction:
"The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin. Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him.
"Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants' duties toward their country of adoption. Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2241)
The idea of treating folks who moved from another country the same way we treat old neighbors isn't particularly new. Here's part of what the Pentateuch has to say about immigrants:
"You shall not oppress an alien; you well know how it feels to be an alien, since you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt."
(Exodus 23:9)
" 'When an alien resides with you in your land, do not molest him.

"You shall treat the alien who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you; have the same love for him as for yourself; for you too were once aliens in the land of Egypt. I, the LORD, am your God."
(Leviticus 19:33-34)
Life is very a high-stakes game, as my Lord pointed out in Matthew 25:31-46.

That includes treating strangers with dignity, respect, and charity:
"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,

"naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' "
(Matthew 25:31-36)
We're supposed to treat folks in need the way we'd want to be treated. (Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31)

The idea of reciprocity we call the Golden Rule isn't, or isn't quite, unique to Christianity, and that's another topic. (May 25, 2014)

Immigration is a topic that often inspires more sound and fury than sense.

I think that folks who entered this country illegally are, technically, guilty of breaking this country's rules. I also think that those of us who were born here need to treat them with the respect we'd like to experience if we were in their position.

Besides: "legal" isn't always right, "illegal" isn't always wrong; and that's another topic.(July 2, 2012; July 1, 2012)

Finally — I think that America will be in trouble if folks ever stop trying to move here.

Related posts:
While some Americans were getting upset about the Irish and other threats to the 'Anglo-Saxon States of America,' Emma Lazarus wrote "The New Colossus." Two decades later the poem was engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the Statue of Liberty's lower level.

Some of what it says about the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free" may seem insensitive these days: but I like the idea that folks are still trying to break into America.


(Image from Daniel Schwen, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)
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Sunday, April 28, 2013

Still Coming to America

Spiritual and political ambulance chasers oozed out the woodwork after the Boston Marathon bombing.

Over the last two weeks I've seen 'prophecies' about the Marathon attack, and drearily familiar warnings that America must 'keep those foreigners out.'

Objections to foreigners being allowed into America are almost funny, since they usually come from folks who are as blatantly European-American as I am.

'Prophecy"R"Us' Long-Term Prospects: Bleak

Wannabe 'prophets' may be sincere, but I know better than to either believe them or try that racket myself. I think it's fairly safe to see Jeremiah 28:15-17 as a strong indication that waiting until God says 'go' is prudent. Then there's Acts 13:5-11.

As for divination and other efforts to make deals with spiritual agents: that isn't prophecy, it's a really bad idea. The spirits and powers we'd contact aren't working for God, and are not safe to be around. What the Church says about that sort of thing is, basically, 'don't.' (Catechism, 2115-2117)

America, Land of People Like Me?

I'm related by marriage to folks in the Lakota nation. Even without that personal connection, I'd have been very relieved when America's national government started paying attention to a long backlog of broken treaties: and that's almost another topic.

By now only about 1.15 percent of the 316,000,000 or so folks we call "Americans" are 'ethnic Americans.'1 The rest of us are descendants of immigrants from just about everywhere: with more coming each month. I like it that way, and would be very concerned if folks stopped coming to America.

My ancestors are mostly Norwegian and Irish, so I 'look Anglo.' Being melanin-deficient helped us fit in, although some of my more recent ancestors were appalled when a young Irishman married their daughter. (November 13, 2008)

Family history and growing up in the '60s helped me embrace Catholic teachings about neighbors. Enlightened self-interest helped, too. (December 8, 2010; Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 11, 2009))

Prosperity and Obligations

Even when we're not enjoying economic good times, Americans have it pretty good. I'm not upset about that, but prosperity comes with obligations:
"The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin. Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him.

"Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants' duties toward their country of adoption. Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2241)
Welcoming 'the foreigner' can't, or shouldn't, involve giving newcomers enough to keep them alive, but keeping them out of the social and economic mainstream of a nation.
"Access to employment and to professions must be open to all without unjust discrimination: men and women, healthy and disabled, natives and immigrants.219 For its part society should, according to circumstances, help citizens find work and employment.220"
(Catechism, 2433)
Psalms 146:9, Proverbs 3:5, and Matthew 25:35 Make it fairly obvious that treating strangers right is a good idea.

Expectations and Reality

As a 'religious person,' I've been pegged as a conservative, and sometimes as intolerant. That's understandable. Folks who scream hate and Bible verses, or seem to assume that God follows their political beliefs, have made a regrettable impression.

I'm a Catholic, a convert, and take my faith very seriously. Among other things, that means that I must not expect everyone to be just like me. I'm not allowed to merge into the crowd, either: and that's another topic.

Related posts:
1 "United States," World Factbook, CIA (page last updated April 18, 2013)
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Saturday, June 9, 2012

Population Explosion, Birth Dearth, and a Changing World

'The population explosion' was a popular crisis in my youth. It almost made sense. Particularly since the 'Baby Boom' after World War II was quite real, and folks don't seem to remember that change happens. Even what's changing changes.

The impending death of humanity from overcrowding was 'obvious, to someone who took a few data points from around the middle of the 20th century, and then did a straight-line or exponential extrapolation from them.

That sort of thing can be an interesting exercise in mathematics. The 'overpopulation' panic wasn't, in my considered opinion, sensible. But it was all the rage for a remarkably long time.

Fallout From "The Population Bomb"

Ehrlich's book, "The Population Bomb," convinced quite a few folks that having babies would destroy us all. Today, a half-century later, some countries are discovering why letting folks feel okay about having babies is a good idea.

Basically, an individual human being won't last much more that a century, if that. If you're going to keep a culture going: someone's going to have to keep providing new human beings.

Don't get me wrong: I think there's more to life than utilitarian considerations, and I've been over that before. (October 7, 2011, February 2, 2009)

Japan's Population Crisis, 2012

Today's Japan has a population crisis, but it's not Ehrlich's 'bomb:'
"Lack of babies could mean the extinction of the Japanese people"
FoxNews.com (May 11, 2012)

"Japan has a problem, a lack of children, and it seems likely there will be even fewer in the future.

"Japanese researchers have now warned of a doomsday scenario if it carries on this way with the last child to be born there in 3011 and the Japanese people potentially disappearing a few generations later.

"Academics from the city of Sendai, which was hit hard by last year's tsunami, calculate there are now 16.6 million children under the age of 14 now in Japan.

"And they say that number is shrinking at a disturbing rate of one every 100 seconds.

"So if you do the mathematics, as they did, then the country will have no children within a millennium...."
I think a 'birth dearth,' a comparative lack of children, is a problem for Japan, and some other countries. But I think it's a problem for today, and maybe for the next century.

After that? Quite a lot can happen in a thousand years. My guess is that more folks in Japan and elsewhere will rediscover the advantages of having a family: at least, I hope so.

Change Happens

Norway is one of my ancestral homelands, so last year's mass-murder there held my attention rather strongly. I posted about the perpetrator's trial last month:
There isn't a good excuse for deciding to be a xenophobic mass-murderer. On the other hand, I think I can see what may have gotten Anders Behring Breivik upset about changes in Norway.

Population, Migration, and All That

Here's another comparison of Norway and America:
  • Norway (2007 estimate)
    • Ethnic groups
      • Norwegian 94.4%
        • Includes Sami, about 60,000
      • Other European 3.6%
      • Other 2%
    • Population
      • Growth rate 0.327% (2012 est.)
      • Net migration rate: 1.69 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)
      • Total fertility rate 1.77 children born/woman (2012 est.)
  • United States (2007 estimate)
    • Ethnic groups
      • White 79.96%
      • Hispanic about 15.1%
      • Black 12.85%
      • Asian 4.43%
      • Amerindian and Alaska native 0.97%
      • Native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.18%
      • Two or more races 1.61%
    • Population
      • Growth rate 0.899% (2012 est.)
      • Net migration rate: 3.62 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)
      • Total fertility rate 2.06 children born/woman (2012 est.)
    (source: Norway, "CIA World Factbook" (last updated May 29, 2012)),
    "United States" (last updated May 9, 2012), CIA World Factbook)
You probably noticed that the percentages for ethnicity in the United states add up to substantially over 100%. That's partly because the U.S. Census uses cultural norms as the basis for defining Hispanic, among other groups: and there's a great deal of overlap. Moving on

Norway's population is growing - slowly, but it's 'positive growth.' That's quite impressive, for a country where each woman only has on average about 1.77 children during her life. That's well under the two-point-something needed to replace folks who die. My guess is that Norway's growth is due to immigrants: those folks whose presence Breivik couldn't stand.

More Statistics - or - The Incredible Shrinking Countries

I think Japan's declining birth rate is a real concern: particularly for folks living in Japan. But that country, and Norway, don't make the 'bottom 10' when it comes to either growth rate or fertility rate.

I'm not sure if this could quite be called a listing of 'winners' and 'losers.' But eventually, a country with fewer citizens each year will face some serious issues: like who pays the taxes.

Another point is that death happens to everybody. Countries whose people aren't raising enough children must either depend on immigration to fill roles left vacant as folks reach the end of their lives.

I'll just call the lists "Population Growth Rate," and "Total Fertility Rate:"

Population Growth Rate
Bottom 10
Cook Islands -3.136%
Northern Mariana Islands -2.449%
Moldova -1.014%
Saint Pierre and Miquelon -0.978%
Jordan -0.965%
Syria -0.797%
Bulgaria -0.796%
Estonia -0.65%
Montenegro -0.633%
Ukraine -0.625%
Top 10
United Arab Emirates 3.055%
Burkina Faso 3.073%
Burundi 3.104%
Gaza Strip 3.108%
Turks and Caicos Islands 3.17%
Ethiopia 3.179%
Uganda 3.582%
Niger 3.63%
Zimbabwe 4.357%
Qatar 4.93%
(2012 estimates, source: Population growth rate, "CIA World Factbook" (2012))

Total Fertility Rate
Bottom 10
Singapore 0.78 children born/woman
Macau 0.92 children born/woman
Hong Kong 1.09 children born/woman
Taiwan 1.16 children born/woman
British Virgin Islands 1.22 children born/woman
Korea, South 1.23 children born/woman
Belarus 1.27 children born/woman
Czech Republic 1.27 children born/woman
Lithuania 1.27 children born/woman
Montserrat 1.27 children born/woman
Top 10
Congo, Republic of the 5.59 children born/woman
Afghanistan 5.64 children born/woman
Zambia 5.9 children born/woman
Ethiopia 5.97 children born/woman
Burkina Faso 6.07 children born/woman
Burundi 6.08 children born/woman
Somalia 6.26 children born/woman
Mali 6.35 children born/woman
Uganda 6.65 children born/woman
Niger 7.52 children born/woman
(2012 estimates, source: Total fertility rate, "CIA World Factbook" (2012))

Europe: It Could be Worse

I haven't run into a discussion of this, but the European Union European Union has more than economic woes.

Folks in the EU aren't even close to raising enough children to be the next generations of Europeans. The EU's fertility rate is 1.58 children born/woman. The good news is that EU population is growing: slowly. The EU population annual growth rate is 0.212% (Population growth rate, "CIA World Factbook" (2012))

I took a quick look at some countries in the European Union:
  • France 2.08 children born/woman
    • Growth rate 0.497%
  • Netherlands 1.78 children born/woman
    • Growth rate 0.452%
  • Luxembourg 1.77 children born/woman
    • Growth rate 1.135%
  • Denmark 1.74 children born/woman
    • Growth rate 0.239%
  • Sweden 1.67 children born/woman
    • Growth rate 0.168%
  • Belgium 1.65 children born/woman
    • Growth rate 0.061%
  • Portugal 1.51 children born/woman
    • Growth rate 0.181%
  • Germany 1.41 children born/woman
    • Growth rate -0.2%
  • Austria 1.41 children born/woman
    • Growth rate 0.026%
  • Italy 1.4 children born/woman
    • Growth rate 0.38%
  • Greece 1.39 children born/woman
    • Growth rate 0.06%
    • (2012 estimates, source: Total fertility rate, "CIA World Factbook" (2012))
The only shrinking country in that list, with 'negative growth,' is Germany. The others are growing - but not having enough children to keep up with the death rate. Not even close.

Immigration can be a fine thing. I think it's one reason that America has managed as well as we have. So far, we're still having new folks move in, with fresh ideas and the get-up-and-go it takes to move from one country to another.

I'm not sure how folks in Europe, the "European" ones, are going to react as more realize what's happening. At this rate, most Danes, Swedes, and Austrians won't look the way Danes, Swedes, and Austrians did before the 21st century.

The Attitude of This 'Hyphenated American'

I don't mind today's America 'looking different' from the one I grew up in. It's the way things work here: and anyway: I'm a mixed lot of Norwegian, Irish, and Scots, who married a German-Dutch-American woman.

I suppose our kids are 'Norwegian-German-Dutch-Irish-Scots-German-Dutch-Americans.' Some of us look a bit like Celts now; my wife and #3 daughter are learning Soo Bahk Do, a Korean martial art; and that's another topic. Topics

Living in a Big World

By today's standards, I'm not 'of mixed race.' But just a few generations back, one of my ancestors was appalled at what was sniffing around her daughter. My paternal grandmother married the smooth-talking Irishman anyway. (November 13, 2008)

By now, my extended family has roots in ancient North America and the Philippines, as well as Europe. "Diversity" isn't a priority: but it's not something we avoid, either.

When I became a Catholic, I had to change some of my beliefs and attitudes. What didn't change was how I felt about being part of a catholic outfit - an association that's literally καθολικός, universal:
I've almost finished the last post in this quartet: "Taking Life a Thousand Years at a Time," but won't post it until tomorrow morning.

Finally, as I've said before, what the Catholic Church teaches is simple:
That sounds simple, and it is. What's hard is embracing those principles, and living a life that reflects love of God, and of neighbors: all neighbors.

This post is the third in a series of four:
  1. "The World isn't Flat"
    (June 9, 2012)
  2. "Catholics, Families, and Hope"
    (June 9, 2012)
  3. "Population Explosion, Birth Dearth, and a Changing World"
    (June 9, 2012)
  4. "Taking Life a Thousand Years at a Time"
    (June 10, 2012)
Other related posts:
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Marian Apparition: Champion, Wisconsin

Background:Posts in this blog: In the news:

What's That Doing in a Nice Catholic Blog?

From time to time, a service that I use will display links to - odd - services and retailers.

I block a few of the more obvious dubious advertisers.

For example: psychic anything, numerology, mediums, and related practices are on the no-no list for Catholics. It has to do with the Church's stand on divination. I try to block those ads.

Sometime regrettable advertisements get through, anyway.

Bottom line? What that service displays reflects the local culture's norms, - not Catholic teaching.