Theology a Discussion of a Assessment

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Then, and now, Americans are risking losing their moral character by "greeting only their own people."

America needs a theology of immigration that begins with the Bible and ends with public policy. In their policy proposals, Sider and Snippers suggest as one of the top goals to "extend the same rights and protections to vulnerable immigrants and refugees as citizens," (242). This would appear to be the more authentic evangelical immigration policy than the anti-immigrant stance often voiced by the right wing in America. Christians should "be united in sharing God's love and care for all gerim" that is, all immigrants, documented or not (Sider and Snippers 242). The Jews of the Biblical era know, and modern Jews know well the importance of a theology of immigration as it says in the Pentateuch, "Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt," (Exodus 22:21). The Jews were one of the most notable immigrant groups in all human history, and the diaspora has shaped Jewish consciousness even after the creation of the modern state of Israel.

A theology of immigration asks Americans to be honest about what is moral and ethical about current policy, and how to change that policy so that it creates a "more perfect nation." The Bible, both Old and New Testaments, testify as to the importance of loving all human beings regardless of place of origin, nationality, or background. Contemporary immigration policy is more complex than just loving our neighbors, though. Immigration policy in the United States has been historically framed from a self-centered perspective that asks what immigrants can do for us, rather than what Americans can do for immigrants. This is why it would be far, far easier for an Italian or Saudi Arabian billionaire to receive permanent residency status than a hard-working Mexican or Chinese farmer.

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American immigration policy is not so much biased against non-whites as it is against the poor. This is the greatest shame of contemporary American immigration policy; and it goes against Biblical truth as well as common sense ethical guidelines.

Industrial Revolution immigration reform was practically the opposite, as the United States was a growing nation determined to have a huge pool of cheap laborers that would foster rapid economic growth via the expansion of the industrial and manufacturing sectors. Now that the economy must shift to a more service-oriented one, America faces some major challenges with devising a moral and ethical immigration policy. Outsourcing, for example, is a modern form of immigration policy that creates a virtual quasi-workforce: laborers on contract for American companies that are doing work that Americans might be able to do instead.

A theological solution to immigration reform is one that is balanced as well as Biblically sound. The policy needs to be humanistic, rather than economically expedient. Moreover, the policy needs to be economically viable. The United States needs a diverse labor pool comprised of those in the unskilled and skilled sectors. Americans need also to recognize opportunities for economic advancement in their own population migrations, and perhaps then, more Americans might understand better what it feels like to be a stranger in a strange land. For "if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever," (Jeremiah 7:5-7).

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