10 for 10: Voting Vision Not Division | On Immigration - Faith at the Border

This episode reflects on immigration through the lens of faith, with the Faith Commons team exploring how religious stories emphasize compassion for migrants. Drawing on biblical narratives and personal experiences, the conversation addresses the realities of an unknown future and the complexities of immigration policy today, urging voters to consider the values of hospitality, justice, and care for the vulnerable as they head to the polls.

What is 10 for 10: Voting Vision not Division? Starting on September 2, 2024 and continuing every Monday for ten weeks through November 4, Faith Commons is offering ten 10-minute reflections on topics related to the upcoming election through the lens of religion. Our premise is that religion should be used to unite people and groups of people rather than to divide them, and that the founders of our country shared our view.

Watch the video, here.

George (00:00):

Welcome to 10 for 10 Voting Vision, not division. I'm George Mason, and we are Faith Commons. I'm joined here by Nancy Kasten and Mara Richards Bim. And we've been going for the past few weeks through certain topics of interest as we prepare for the election. And the point is to try to apply our faith traditions to these social and political issues that will help us discern how to vote from a faith values perspective. Today we've come to the topic of immigration, certainly a hot button topic, uh, because it's front and center in presidential, uh, dialogue, and also of course here in Texas it is a an important conversation. So today we'll start with Mara. Yeah. Would you share some from the Christian perspective?

Mara (00:57):

Yeah. Thank you, George. So, um, obviously in the Bible there are stories of people, um, leaving their homeland for any number of reasons. Um, we have in the book of Exodus, Jacob and his sons forced to go to Egypt, um, because of a famine they would've starved, they had stayed. Um, and then in, uh, the book of the Gospel of Matthew, we have a story about how the infant Jesus was taken by his parents, Mary and Joseph to Egypt to escape harm threats to him. And obviously this resonates with where we're at today. We hear about people, um, having to flee where they're at because of drought and famine and not being able to feed their children. And we also obviously hear about really horrific stories. Um, parents, you know, trying to keep their kids safe, you know, threats of gang rape and horrible violence to their kids.

Mara (01:53):

And what parent would not, um, bring their kids and flee. So as a Christian, I looked to the teachings of Jesus and I just wanted to read, um, something from, uh, Matthew 25:34-40 for I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. So that word stranger elsewhere in the New Testament is actually translated as foreigner, right? So it's a, it's an immigrant. It's, um, so how, how Jesus is saying, you know, I was an immigrant and you took care of me. He goes on, um, you know, his, uh, followers were like, when were you ever hungry? He goes on to say, um, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. Um, so as a Christian, you know, um, how we treat immigrants matters and, um, I think we have to look at why people are fleeing their homes.

Mara (02:52):

And certainly those who live south of the United States and Mexico and Central and South America, our government, um, played a role in destabilizing their countries over the years. Um, our government, um, armed various sides and not always the democratic side. And our meddling has really historically created a lot of destabilization. And so, um, I think that we as a nation are gonna have to help these countries grapple with the reasons why people, people are fleeing. But in the interim, we have people coming to our southern border who are hungry, who have children, who are, um, just trying to escape the most desperate of situations. And, um, as a Christian, um, I'm gonna be voting for the party that treats immigrants with compassion.

George (03:48):

Thank you, Mara. Nancy.

Nancy (03:51):

Well, let me go back to the story of Jacob and his son's going to Egypt. If you back up a little bit further, you have, um, Joseph's brothers being jealous of him and his brothers then, uh, throwing him in a pit, selling him into, you know, selling him to the Egyptian

George (04:11):

traveling Merchants. Yeah. Yeah.

Nancy (04:11):

And, um, lying to their father about what happened to him. And then of course, Joseph goes into Egypt. He's treated terribly, right? in the home that where he ends up. He ends up in jail. And then he ends up saving his family, because when they do face famine in Canaan. H e has gone to Egypt and become, um, you know, the visier. He, he, he, and through his intelligence and his, um, skill, he saved the food for Egyptians and for his family. So he becomes the redeemer. And he is not resentful of his brothers either. He cares for them, he forgives them. And so this is the story of a migrant. This is the story of this is a story about migration. It's a story about immigration. It's a story about the value of people who, um, move from place to place.

Nancy (05:15):

And how we can either choose to encourage their gifts and help them become, uh, contributing members of our society and sometimes even save us. Or we can reject them and treat them terribly and, and for what? Right? Well, um, you know, last night we were somewhere where somebody asked, you know, are you, has anybody in this room been an asylee or a refugee? And no one else in the room other than the speaker had been. But when I, she asked that question, it resonated with me because I do carry that part of my grandparents' experience. All of my grandparents were refugees to this country. And I carry that experience with me. And I think that is part of our Jewish mentality from, you know, our ancient history of wandering, of having to make our way. And it's the human story.

George (06:16):

So it occurs to me that when we're talking about the immigration debate a lot of the issue comes down to nativism. And who is a true American and what it means to have a nation with borders that gives you a distinct geographical, uh, setting and allows you to define who's in and who's out. and I think we probably should say, say that from our faith traditions, we don't have examples in the bible of nation states. This is a modern concept. We had empires and we had people that would move, uh, more freely and would be welcomed or not welcomed, but migration journeying. The, the sense of going from one place to another for greater prosperity or simply safety was part of our faith tradition that was assumed before the time of the more stable nation states. So we are having to use reason now to apply our faith traditions to a new, uh, situation that has developed just over the past several hundred years. And in doing so, what we're saying is we think that we have something to offer to this debate that is not just about the laws that we have written, but the values that we bring right. To how we treat people regardless of what side of the border they are on, or what they're coming and moving.

Mara (08:08):

I was at the border, um, in 2019 and was at a Catholic church and, um, had, uh, actually was there with some, um, teens from a detention facility. `Um, and the priest there, um, afterwards we were talking and he made the point, God doesn't have borders. . And that has stayed with me.

Nancy (08:30):

Well, and you have to think about the implication or the, the, the result of separating children from their parents at the border of, and the, you know, for generations, the generational impact of that. Um, you know, or, um, you know, bringing lawsuits against organizations that are providing care for people who are on this side of, who have made it to this side of the border. Yeah. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> and, you know, criminalizing that to provide care. Um, you know, those are not the kind of policies that I as a person of faith can support. Right?

George (09:06):

So you can always hear from one session to the next in these episodes, how we only scratch the surface of these issues. But we hope that some of our faith values have come through and have challenged you to think about how to apply them to your vote. We wanna encourage you to remember to vote, make sure that you make a plan and cast your vote. And we'll be coming back with several more issues and episodes to come before the election. But thank you for joining on the, joining us on this 10 for 10 from Faith Commons.