June 2018 – By Another Way

Resisting…with love

The barbaric disregard for human and civil rights displayed by the current administration in the detention of migrant families and the separation of children from parents has met with swift and strong resistance from those who hold the right to life and the rights of families as sacred to our nation and civilization. This resistance has been, for the most part, completely nonviolent, but full of passion and not without anger.

What could prove to be a significant detrimental distraction to the good resistance that is occurring at the border and at detention centers around the country, is the story of several administration members being heckled at Washington area restaurants, and Sarah Sander’s case being asked to leave.

The incident has sparked a controversy which could threaten to take the heat off the administration’s policies and lies on the border, by allowing them to paint themselves as victims, and could also lead to acts of violence. Rep. Maxine Waters’ urging her constituents to similarly ostracize Trump cabinet members whenever they see them could motivate unwise acts as well.

Admittedly, Sarah Sanders is not a nice persona in her public role. “At the podium” she shows unmasked distain for both those to whom she condescendingly replies in the press and for anyone (especially any democrat) who does not like Trump’s “my way or the highway” solutions, constitutional or not, to problems real or imagined. Her grasp of truth is tangential on the best days. Anyone of her statements can be challenged with facts and evidence and they often are. But attacks should not be personal.

Calling out any member of the administration for their words and actions is fair game and can be helpful if done is a respectful way. But the request for her to leave the restaurant has already led to threatening tweets from Sander’s boss. A restaurant of the same name—but not the one that asked her to leave—was already assaulted with eggs.

We need to keep the discourse civil as much as we can. “When they go low, we go high,” is still good advice.

This is not a sign of weakness but of strength. If we want to be witnesses to the love of Jesus we need to act like Jesus. We have do not have a story about Jesus asking anyone to leave a table. Rather, his table fellowship was radical in that it included people from all sectors of society. We could use those occasions to engage in meaningful dialogue with those with whom we disagree. Until we do so, we will grow our divisions.

Today’s Gospel says:

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the Law and the Prophets.” Mt.7:12

When moved beyond the aspirational, these words are hard. They are even more difficult when you find a person’s actions to be rude, harmful to others, or even destructive.

That is why, in the next verse, the golden rule is referred to as the “narrow gate” that leads to life. (Mt.7:13)

The love that must motivate our resistance is not sentimental, warm-fuzzy love. It is a firm commitment to respect each individual as a human person, doing for them nothing less than what we ask them to do for others.

World Refugee Day 2018

We are outraged by the current treatment of refugees massing and being turned away at our southern border. The greatest offense comes from the abhorrent, immoral, abusive and destructive separation of children from their parents. The God who welcomes little children and who over and over again, tells us to care for widows, orphans and “strangers”. Will not look kindly on how our nation acts today—and none of us are innocent.

Today, on World Refugee Day, I put my outrage aside for a few moments to celebrate the refugees I have come to know and to encourage readers to follow the advice of Pope Francis to “Share the Journey” with refugees.

For almost 12 years I visited immigrants in detention in our NJ jails with First Friends. A few have been characters who I will not miss, but the overwhelming majority have been people whom I enjoyed sharing hours with speaking on a phone and looking through a plate glass window under the strict supervision of the jailers. About half of those who I met were deported, the others have been returned to their former lives. Although I visit only in New Jersey facilities, none of those I visited came from New Jersey. They either lived in New York City of were refugees who arrived at the Bergen County Jail from the borders where they asked for asylum. I have brought wives and children to the jail to say good-bye before deportation, brought parents to visit, given a few bucks to their —accounts and helped post a bond a couple of times.

The large majority of those I visited do not keep in touch and I understand because that time is one they want to forget. A few have kept in touch over the years through Facebook and phone calls, and one lived with us for nine months after his release.

I was also blessed by the four weeks I spent at a refugee camp in France where I met so many good people looking to start their lives in places where (relative) peace reigned.

Each of these men and women have helped open my heart and helped me to see how blessed we are in the US, and to realize the truth: that I did nothing to deserve my birth to a good Irish-American family in America. No one has anything to say about the country into which they were born or the color of the skin they will live with. We all have a right to live in peace. That realization helps keep me humbled and aware that I should be sharing the good news I have received.

Pope Francis, last September asked us all to “Share the Journey” with migrants and refugees. He recommends we learn four verbs to govern our responses to migrants and refugees who now number over 65.6 million worldwide. That number is still growing.

First, we are asked to welcome them, to make it easier and simpler for them to come to our country…working to put a stop to separation of mothers and children at the border is a start. Secondly, we are asked to protect them, an ongoing effort to defend their rights as newcomers. We do not want them detained indefinitely even with their children. Thirdly, to promote them is to create paths they can follow to achieve their potential as human beings. Finally, we are asked to integrate them into our society in a way that is respectful of, and does not cause them to lose, their own cultural identity,

Over the years, I’ve had many opportunities to share the stories of refugees so I am so happy to pass on the pontiff’s suggestions. You can read about some encounters of my friends and I in earlier blog posts such as The Tables Turned.

One practical way to “Share the Journey” is to sit down and “break bread” with migrants or refugees. You can do it in your home, or in a larger group, such as your congregation. Pope Francis hopes we will listen and hear some truth they have to share that we may need to hear. Get beyond discussing what we do for a living and how many children we have to sharing what our dreams and hopes are and what fears we have. If we are honest in our sharing, we will see that the hopes and dreams are the same. When real listening takes place, the walls that already exist between us begin to crumble and the need to build more walls becomes just a bad memory.

What is most exciting is that sharing the journey present an opportunity for “us and them” to become “we”.

One human family.

Happy World Refugee Day!

Father’s Day Rally for Immigrant Families

The morally reprehensible actions of our government at the southern border, separating immigrant children from their mothers and fathers, done in our name, and with our tax dollars, cannot be allowed to continue. The pathetic efforts of Jeff Sessions to use scripture to justify separating parents and children makes my stomach turn. To justify this repulsive program is to turn my back on the moral wisdom of western civilization passed on to me through my family and church.

These families fleeing violence in their native Honduras, or Guatemala, or El Salvador want nothing more than safety for their children, to which they have a right. The right of persons being persecuted to seek asylum is enshrined in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United States is a signatory to that document. Those who believe our national sovereignty is threatened by the United Nations ought to recall that our own Declaration of Independence claims that every person on earth is created equal and has God-given, inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Those are rights of all, people not just of U.S. citizens.

I have witnessed the damage done to unaccompanied youth who are denied a place to live in peace. During the fall of 2016, I met many youngsters who were coming to realize that their dream of immigrating to England would be denied. Some of these 15 and 16-year olds had trekked across Africa and the Mediterranean Sea to get to Europe and eventually to Calais. They told of the abuse they suffered on the journey, especially in Libya. Some were inflicting harm on themselves including suicide, others fell victim to traffickers, still others, just disappeared. For some of the young on the border they have faced many of the same abuses on the journey north, many are defenseless in the face of traffickers and now their hopes of living without war and violence are dashed.

Years ago, a group of my (all white) neighbors and I journeyed to a parish in Elizabeth, New Jersey to meet on a Saturday afternoon with undocumented immigrants, to ‘listen to their stories’ and share a light meal of home-made Peruvian empanadas. The young men told us how they were truckers in their home country, but that the gangs had taken their trucks and put them out of business. They had no funds to replace the trucks, no land to farm and no way to feed their children. They came to the U.S. to work so they could send money home to feed their children. One among us who was not very welcoming of refugees was moved by the sincerity of the desire of the undocumented young fathers to feed their children. When asked if he understood why they crossed into the U.S. without papers, my friend remarked, “How could I call myself a father, if I would not do the same?

If you agree that this policy of separating children must end, please contact your elected federal officials. You can find their contact information here. If you see a demonstration against this practice announced, join it, even if it is a first time for you. I also ask your prayers for the many volunteers working on the border to show love and respect to these immigrant families. There are congregations of religious sisters and Catholic Charities that could use your prayers and perhaps donations.

I cannot finish without wondering how much of the violence from which these immigrants flee is U.S. inspired. Clearly the war in El Salvador was a factor. What other military incursions have we managed? How many guns have been sold to these countries? How many of their leaders have been trained at the Fort Benning School for Assassins?

I’m currently reading a book by Kerry Kennedy written about her father, Robert. F. Kennedy. Allow me to close with a quote from RFK.

All great questions must be raised by great voices,
and the greatest voice is the voice of the people—speaking out
—in prose, or painting or poetry or music;
speaking out
—in homes and halls, streets and farms,
courts and cafes
—let that voice speak and the stillness you hear
will be the gratitude of mankind.