Sometimes the conversations about immigration are so full of rancor, I find myself feeling pretty low. Personally, I find very little satisfaction in the small political victories, court decisions or protest. But I am compelled to these things by friendships with real people with whom I work, and worship, who live in my neighborhood. Some recent conversations have left me feeling beat up by the weapon of ignorance. I do not use “ignorance” as a pejorative here. It was fully earned and owned by the person with whom I was speaking when he said he did not care about more information or the perspective of other people because he had already made up his mind. Books were just too hard for this man to read. I am not sure if that is because of a learning disability. A video would just be too much as all those new ideas were unnecessary.
Shortly after that, I stumbled into another conversation that was inviting, kind, and curious. These people were connecting faith, religion and spirituality into a discussion that could have been just as rancorous as the one before.
To that second set of listeners, I recommended, and recommend to you these books that have brought many people to a new understanding of the Bible, faith and immigration. If you are local, I may have a copy that I could loan to you. And, I also have a video that you might enjoy.
This is what I said: “If you want to look at some books on religion (from a Christian perspective) that are positive on the immigration issue, I have a few to recommend. Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate
by Matthew Soerens and Jenny Wang is an excellent overview of the issues and a Christian perspective that affirms the Bible’s positive words about immigrants. I reviewed this book on Amazon, you can read it and vote for it if you find it useful: Welcoming the Stranger Review
. Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church, and the Bible
by M. Daniel Carroll Rodas is a theological book, published by Baker Academic, that focuses first on the Old Testament. Danny is an Old Testament professor at the seminary where I earned my M. Div. Trails of Hope and Terror: Testimonies on Immigration
is by Miguel de la Torre and contains deeply personal stories about immigrants walking across the desert. Each chapter has a prayer and/or a poem. This book was deeply moving for me. Miguel's book is published by Orbis Books.” My review of this book appeared in Prism Magazine, a publication of Evangelicals for Social Action. A new book is coming out later this month that I hope I can recommend: Neighbor: Christian Encounters With "Illegal" Immigration
is by Ben Daniel, a pastor from San Jose California.Again, I did not get into this to win arguments or the be political. It is about love.
If you read or have read any of these books, I would love to hear from you.
Your ideas matter here! Please leave a comment.
1 comments:
Glen, You are a good man, and a well-intentioned individual. I have loved you and your wife for many years now. However, I find it offensive that you would categorize such a man as ignorant. Though possibly with out a formal higher education by choice, he may be well informed, well read and simply disagree with your liberal interpretation of the Bible. He may even have sampled your literary suggestions and found them to lack credibility. Perhaps discerning would be a better fit than ignorant. Unless you have closed your mind, you need to ponder the possibility that you are the mistaken or "misinformed" party. Much Love, with truth spoken.
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