The Great American Oxymoron

In God We Trust; It’s Our Neighbor We Can’t Stand

The Justice of Injustice

In a Texas courtroom Monday, 25 migrant children lined the pews — a 6-year-old pretended to fly an airplane, a 3-year-old played with the mic, and a teen girl tried to make eye contact with a friend. The judge reminded everyone of what was at stake.

“I see you’re smiling and think these proceedings are funny, but I need you to pay attention,” the judge told the teen girl. “They could determine whether you remain in the country or are removed.”

Migrant children as young as 2 are showing up at immigration courts nationwide, many without attorneys, to make their case to stay in the US and avoid deportation.

The judge later asked a group of 15 minors without attorneys: “Is this your first time in immigration court?”

They all answered, “Yes.”

“Do any of you want voluntary departure?” the judge asked.

No one raised their hand. Another child stretched her hands playfully toward the sky.

From CNN Exclusive: Inside the Texas courtroom where toddlers face immigration judges

A Tale of Two Cities

What does a U.S. Secretary of War, who proclaims himself as the leader of a militant theocracy on earth, have to do with three-year-old’s standing unrepresented before an immigration judge in Texas? Behind both is a Bible-centric world view that redefines justice as that which furthers the self-interest of those sitting at the top and reinforcing their fundamentalist Christian worldview. A war crime is not a war crime as long as it serves the interest of the chosen. Rather, this word view attempts to force Jesus’s hand to usher in the Kingdom of God {as they see it}, using military to destroy fishing boats, lying about casualty counts, and firing those generals and admirals who do not embrace their religious pogrom, redefining injustice as righteousness.

To accomplish this, the theocratic leader must edit out the teachings of Jesus about loving our enemy and the poor in favor of blind loyalty to the theocratic master on earth. Along with this comes a blind loyalty to the zealot nationalist leaders of Israel, which is separate both from the nation of Israel and the spiritual Israel (people who are equally shocked at what is happening). A war crime is not a war crime in the zealot’s mind, as long as it furthers his ideological cause. As I have written previously, those who believe in the coming Battle of Armageddon must take care, lest they create an apocalypse as a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Our Internal Neighbors

Inside the U.S., as described by CNN’s article about infants appearing in Texas immigration courts unrepresented by counsel, the puritan zealots have subjected the U.S. to a Christianized version of sharia law in a misguided attempt root out “waste, fraud, and abuse.” Again, like blowing up fishing boats without evidence, they crusade against the immigrant children who now appear alone, before Texas judges who interrogate them about why they are in the country illegally, even as the children lift their hands toward the ceiling lights as if to play with them.

It is not a leap to see a common thread as theocratic zealots seek to establish an earthly kingdom by violating both international and national law in their quest. Politicians are happy, in exchange for lining their pockets, to fuel the fires of those burned on the pyre of this neo-inquisition.

A Spiritual Nation

A rejection of uniting Christianity with state is not an abandoning of faith, rather it is a restatement of Jesus’s own words before Pilate: ³⁶ Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place” (John 18:36).

As I have written previously, those who believe in the coming Battle of Armageddon must take care, lest they create an apocalypse as a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

What is that place? Jesus gave us some clues in the Sermon on the Mount:

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5).

A Salt Sandwich

Those of us who have worked with such faith friends as fundamentalist Baptists know one unsettling truth about zealots—they always have to be at war with something. For discussion, let’s call such groups, “The Agin’ites,” as zealotry is not limited to one faith group. The Agin’ites are committed to continually wage war against something, event if it is against themselves. The preachers follow one unspoken rule, “People will always show up to watch a good fight.” To be fair, not all fundamentalist Baptists are Agin’ites, and, remember, zealotry can swing to the opposite end to afflict the progressive spectrum.

As an adherent to freedom of religion and separation of church and state, I believe there is room in the U.S. for The Agin’ites. If they want to stand against women, against Democrats, against the poor and the immigrant, and against people of other faiths, there is room in American for theological discontent. The danger is when those salt of the earth commit themselves to force feed the nation a salt sandwich.

You say, “Jim, you exaggerate this whole Again’ite situation. We are only trying to be the light of the world.”

A strange thing happens to those on the journey to accuse sinners of their lack of piety—the accuser tends to become exactly that which he accused. At some time in the past the Protestant group formed because it viewed the Catholic church both lacked grace and ethics. Thus, the church split “reformation” of Protestants. Fast forward to today and we can see the Catholic church preaching care for the weak and the helpless and care for the immigrant and the lost. To put it simply, God has used the Catholic church, like a prophet Hosea, in recent decades to teach the Protestants about grace. Isn’t it God’s way of closing circles and bringing us together? Imagine such a great reversal of seats since the Protestant Reformation of 1517 AD!

But certain other faith groups hold to a gospel of hate that preaches a grace that has lost its value of humanity. Ephesians 2:8 tells us about grace: “For by grace you have been saved through faith” means that grace not only extends from God to the believer, but it grace extends from the believer to other people of differing ethnicities, nationalities, and Christianities. After all, Jesus taught us, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

As an adherent to freedom of religion and separation of church and state, I believe there is room in the U.S. for The Agin’ites. If they want to stand against women, against democracy, against the poor and the immigrant, and against people of other faiths, there is room in America for theological discontent. The danger is when those salt of the earth commit themselves to force feed the nation a salt sandwich.

Pass the Salt,

Jim