Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Random Thoughts for the Week Ending June 10, 2007 - Paris, Immigration, and Global Warming
Sorry for the delay in posting and in the delay for this particular weeks’ posting. I will shoot for Saturday or Sunday in the future
Paris Hilton, Sign of the Apocolypse?
Look, I am a Christian theologian, not a gossip columinist. The young lady (is she really 26 now) is in prison, after a DUI, parole violation, put in, let out, and a media circus to end all circuses. What is the big deal about her? Okay, yes, the sex video - which I have not seen. Personally, I do not find her at all attractive, but then I have never been a blond guy (of course, I dont’ find Lindsey Lohan attractive either, and I have been in the past a red head guy).
All of this is irrelevant. What is relevant is the attention she is guessing. Last Friday (alas, I lost the picture), amid real news including the changing of our Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (in wartime and to avoid a political fight) the most any news story had (articles wise) was 1,400. The news of General Pace’s replacement was under 1000 news stories. But Paris was getting over 3900 news stories. Dont tell me this is notwrong.
Of course, the simple response to me, as one who is a strong believer in the marketplace, is “That is what people want.” Yes, and that is what scares me. You know, this is a dangerous time in the world. Iran is on the verge of going nuclear, and I for one do not think they do not intend to sit on their new technology. We could wake one day to find Israel a country no more. You have the Iranian forces in the Middle East - Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas (yes, their Sunni, but check their funding and training) getting ready to throw that region into tumult and probably ending the chance for a two-state solution in our time (of which I have long favoured). You have genocide in Dafur, and because the U.S. is engaged elsewhere, there is no one willing and able to step up and deal with the terrorist genocidal regime in Karhtoum. We have a real more, economic and cultural debate happening about immigration. We have serious issues with Medicare and Social Security. I could go on.
But more people care about Paris and who will replace Rosie on the View, and pushing “The Secret” on Oprah. Am i just complaining? No. I am trying to make a prophetic call to us all. In his new book, Dark Ages America Morris Berman, who is not a Christian to my knowledge and whose overall thesis is very left-wing (only someone of the Left could be so distraught over the end of the Bretton Woods Accord), points to the decline of a society from greatness and importance to the total oblivion of the Dark Ages by the way of cultural neglect.
What is interesting is that in many ways our cultural tools are better than ever. There are more good books - fiction and non-fiction - out there to read then I will ever have time to read. There is more good television - which really explores the drama of what does it mean to be human and to form this thing called society (even cartoons today, like the great Disney TV Kim Possible take on these questions). We have museums, national parks, music, and the like. But, like the loss of community documented by Robert Putnam in his excellent Bowling Alone, we lost our taste for anything of substance.
So, to quote the not so great Lisa Simpson when she thought she was losing her intelligence and becoming a vapid Simpson:
“But I have something more important to say. For reasons beyond my control, I will soon become vapid, sluggish and slow witted. So before that happens, I want to share some things with you that have really meant a lot to me. And please don’t deprive yourselves of wonderful books like “To Kill a Mockingbird”, “Harriet the Spy” and “Yertle the Turtle”—possibly the best book ever written on the subject of turtle stacking. Beauty is all around is, and not just in pageants and parlors. You can find it in the swirl of galaxies, or the swirl in the center of a sunflower.”
Or, as Jesus said, quoting Dueteronomy (here in Mark 12:30) - “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
Immigration Bill - To Kill or not To Kill
A lot has already been written and said about this bill before Congress right now, but I have to speak about it as a Christian. The God of justice cares about the poor. I know that is not popular in the minds of some evangelicals (because it has in some led to liberalism of a theological not just political stripe). The issue of immigation is one finally about the poor. But which poor? From where? And how are they treated when they get here?
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Before we throw our arms around those who are here illegally, which is what this bill does because they become legal (not citizens, but are allowed to stay legally until proven wrong) we need to answer a few questions:
1) How is it just to let these people remain when they jumped the line in front of other millions, many of whom who are also poor, thus making it harder for those who wait to get in?
2) If we are concerned about the poor, why don’t we let in people from countries that are truly poor compared even to Mexico? There are over 50,000 Zimbabweans in South Africa about to be deported from there - they come from a nation that is both poor and ruled by a despot.
3) Mexico, a land with all the potential to become rich is ruled by an oligarchy. How do our actions, both as political beings and economic beings allow that nation to not change the status quo?
4) Why do we not mandate English for all immigrants so they can excel economically?
5) Why are employers supporting a bill that the CBO, the non-partisan official scorer of all things legislative, is goign to only reduce illegal immigration by 25%?
6) How are these immigants being treated by their employers?
I believe in immigration. I do not believe in illegal immigration, because it simply helps the immigrants in the short-term and damages them, their home community, their nation, and our nation in the longrun.
Yes, I am an activist when it comes to U.S. foreign policy. What can we do to help nations out of poverty? Taking their poor so they do not have to deal wtih systemic problems is simply not it.
I am also a self-described “Crunch Conservative,” which means I am as skeptical of big business (of business in general) as I am of big government. Right now Business and Government (capital letters to denote the concepts themselves) are both pushing a bill with a wink to tell us “Trust us, we will do right this time.” I do not believe they will do right by immigrants, U.S. citizens, would-be immigrants, or anyone else.
Justice demands that we care for the poor - but it is time to take a long-term approach. This bill is not a long-term approach. This bill is the elites - in media (even conservative media people like FOX), government, and business - against the average person, pulling on our heart strings (and mine are very much pulled by the plight of now U.S. born children seperated from their illegal immigrant parents), but ultiamtely not telling us anyhting that will actually help the poor.
If they want to give us real comphrensive immigration reform, then include tackling poverty in those nations as part of it. Make sure that business are held accuontable for their mistreatment of aliens. Make sure that we help those who have dutifuly and legally stood in line while other jumped in front. And make sure that we do what is just and right - not just legal and expedient.
Sorry, I simpyl dont trust George Bush, Ted Kennedy, and John McCain to do that. But then again...I am not sure who I do trust?
Global Warming Again
I am going to edit my long response to some friends questions of me about my support for the documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle. But this week in Denver, there was leaked a plan to make Denver so carbon-conscious that is would reduce its footprint the equivelent of 500,000 cars. Yes, the same Denver which is having a long, cold summer. Then there comes from England (yes, I heard it on Rush Limbaugh’s show), that “A leaked e-mail message has led to speculation that the British government plans to promote vegetarianism as part of a broader strategy to fight climate change. In a message sent earlier this year to a vegetarian lobbying group.” Now, I am a vegetarian, and I think everyone should CHOOSE the same, and that yes, it would be great for the environment. But folks, this is not about climate.
Did you hear Madam Merkel, the Chancelor of Germany last week: she wants the nations to agree to cap global temps at 2 degrees C. Hello, we cannot do that. We cannot control the weather. This is arrogance. But it is also about giving government, you know, the people who think they can run your life better than you can, control over the economy, over your free-time, over your garbage, over...your eating.
I believe in moral susion. Not in force. Force does not change hearts. Some would say, “But look at the Old Testament...they were mandated how to live.” Yes, but they also had the choice to belong to Israel or not. We see it at Mt. Siani, where they could have rejected the Covenent with God. We see it in the consistent emmigration of Israelites away from Israel throughout her history (yes, being an alien in a foreign country was rough, but for those who wanted to practice sorcery, Baal worship and the like, that was their choice. Only where hearts choose something is there lasting change.
If the government mandated vegetarianism, how long do you think it would be before there was “Black Market Burgers”? And what is the outcome when this whole Global Warming Scare turns out to not be affected by such policies? People have revolted over less (can you say “Tea Tax"). Revolutions are bad for all involved in the short-term, but they come when people feel oppressed. We may be seeing the first elements of it in Europe. In the end, all the good things - like vegetarianism, moving away from carbon fuels, being more conscious of the environment - all things I am a big advocate of - will be rejected because they are signs of oppression. Wait til the folks in Denver hear about the plans their government has for them.
As I have said before, Christians have missed so many important moral struggles - Civil Rights, slavery, poverty - that many good evangelicals are taking up Global Warming. Watch out - its the right response this time...but to the wrong problem.
