We have all seen pictures of “the wall.” Usually, the pictures are taken in isolated desert areas with no sign of nearby human activity.
But, the wall is not just a barrier, or a fence. The wall between the United States and Mexico is creating a Stammlager (you may be more familiar with the shorter version, Stalag). These were the camps the Nazis used to hold prisoners of war. Of course, Germany was not alone.
America is not inexperienced when it comes to fencing in prisoners of war. This country illegally interred more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans whose only crime was their ethnic heritage. Thousands of German-American “enemy aliens” were also arrested and interred in 1917, when the U.S. entered World War One.
But now, we are building the biggest fence against our enemies in history. Who are these enemies? Not terrorists – most of them enter the country through visas, or are homegrown; not the drug dealers – most of them arrive via plane or boat; and not most human traffickers – their clients are wealthy businessmen with plenty of money to protect their modern-day slaves from detection.
So, who are the prisoners of war being detained in Stalag 1776? Not the Mexicans, the Hondurans, the Guatemalians, or indigenous peoples fleeing violence in their homes – violence too often funded by the U.S. No, the prisoners are you and me, and every American who does not speak out in opposition to the growing police state that is America. We are prisoners of a war of fear, a war of capitalist imperialism, a war of racial bigotry.
The title of this posting came from the back of a shirt worn by one of the managed migrants paraded before the federal judge on February 12. I honor this man’s courage to wear such a message while imprisoned by vast paramilitary forces of our country. Uncle Sam does want you to stay ignorant, to remain complacent, to focus on the needs of yourself and your loved ones. To hell with these u wanted illegals, with their diseases, their gangs, and their drugs.
I say, to hell with Uncle Sam – an outmoded symbol of American imperialism. Let us return to the Statue of Liberty, who greeted so many of our own ancestors to these shores.
Nogales should be a unique and attractive city. After miles of relatively flat desert and mountains in the distance, you enter on Interstate 19, and are suddenly faced with hills covered with homes of many styles. It is a vertical city without the benefit of skyscrapers.
Nogales should be a unique city. I imagine that in years past, the cultures of Mexican Nogales and Nogales, Arizona blended to make a fascinating town. Streets literally feet apart must have shared neighborhood shops, festivals, and community.
Nogales should be an attractive city. But now, Nogales is a wounded city. A horrible gash splits the American and Mexican cities and a militarized gate makes passage between the two a burden, even a danger. The lumbering monstrosity dominates the landscape, looking for all intent making each city look like a prison.
We approached the wall having seen news reports of the wall, fence, or whatever we are calling it today. But nothing can quite prepare you for the horror of it all. The horror just a few feet away is unspeakable; America is enclosing itself in a concentration camp that would have made the Nazis proud.
And yet, as if to magnify the irony of such a frightening visage of fear and violence, we turned and saw an incredible sight. Across the street was a dirt driveway leading to a house. In front of the house were about a dozen peacocks strolling casually and obviously oblivious to our presence. One had its tail feathers spread full, and another was completely white (something I didn’t know existed.
Such magnificent color against the silver barbed wire; such fragility against the cold steel pillars. Would that we lived in a world where one was the norm and the other had no reason to exist.
Migrants entering the United States face an incredible array of personnel and technology. Beyond the standard local police, county sheriffs and U.S. marshals, they must also evade the Border Patrol.
Close to 20,000 border patrol agents stand between a migrant and the dream of living and working in America. Border Patrol trucks are everywhere in southern Arizona, some hauling horse trailers so agents can get to off-road locations. Checkpoints – permanent, semi-permanent, and temporary stop vehicles on roads and highways. Towers dot the landscape with motion and heat detectors. Once located, quickly dispatched helicopters locate whoever is walking in the desert. One must wonder how any migrant escapes their surveillance.
And what does it take to become a border patrol officer? A six-month course (only recently expanded from three months) and passing a test.
In Nazi Germany, many men failed the entrance exams to become soldiers of the Wehrmacht. Thousands joined Ordnungspolizei units – police battalions often stationed in the Eastern front. There they traveled from town to town rounding up enemies of the Reich and shooting them, filling mass, unmarked graves in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and elsewhere. Report of Ordnungspolizei brutality only came to light decades later in Daniel Goldhagen’s book Hitler’s Willing Executioners.
The Southern Borders Community Coalition reports 83 deaths of migrants in the past eight years at the hands of border patrol agents, along with many reports of brutal treatment.
One must wonder how these vast resources could be used in a more constructive, humane, and moral way.
Whenever I speak about social justice and social action, this question invariably pops up: “But, what can I do?”
This morning, we met Lois Martin, an 84-year old who moved to Tucson 10 or so years ago to work on immigration justice. She is a member of No More Deaths, an initiative of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson. No More Deaths is a humanitarian organization based in southern Arizona working to end death and suffering in the Mexico-U.S. borderlands through civil initiative. Their work focuses on direct aid (such as water drops in the desert), witnessing and responding, cons iousness raising, and promoting humane immigration policy.
Lois is an amazing person. She has traveled extensively through Central America and has served as an election observer in Honduras and Guatemala. She minced no words – the violence people are fleeing in these countries came about and continues because of American support of illegal regimes. For the last century, groups like the United Fruit Farmers and a handful of wealthy landowners have terrorized the compesinos into fleeing for their lives. And the U.S. has used these countries as staging points for immoral acoins in El Salvador and Nicaragua.
She taught us about our government’s goal to criminalize migration and to deter migration through death and imprisonment. She explained how people caught by the border patrol agents (who perform police functions without proper police training) are remitted to the criminal justice system, not the immigration system. Border patrol can hold migrants for 72 hours with no guarantee of even the basic services such as bedding. Claims of asylum are ignored and victims are processed through Operation Streamline, which results in a criminal record and immediate deportation.
Since the hearings take place in federal court, victims are not provided any translators but Spanish. As a result, defendents (who may be members of many indigenous people’s with their own dialects) may have no understanding of what is happening to them.
We then spent the afternoon at the federal courthouse watching close to 100 people led into the courtroom in shackles. Looking confused and frightened, shuffling because of the ankle chains, groups were led before the judge charged either with misdemeanor illegal entry or felony re-entry after removal. Pleading guilty to the former means immediate deportation and a criminal record. All of the latter cases made plea bargains resulting in dropping the felony charge, but serving 30 to 180 days in prison.
Only after the hearing are migrants remitted to immigration services, where claims of asylum may be heard. But, often the only person who may hear the claim is the bus driver taking them to Nogales, or an officer who simply chooses to ignore it.
The futility and inhumanity of this charade of justice was brought home by one man. The judge asked if he had been in her court before. He affirmed her recollection. She told him, “I don’t want to see you here again, because next time it will be a felony.” He replied, “Not anymore…what’s the point?”
What is the point? What can you do? See. Think. Plan. Act. Reflect. And repeat.
My week here on the border will change me. My hope is that this time will also help me to change others.
But words only go so far.
Throughout human history – from cave paintings 50,000 years ago to today – art has been the universal language of our species.
The Borderlinks offices are filled with art of all kinds, displaying a world that many only read about or hear described on the news. Even before we begin our immersion into the world of the undocumented, we are surrounded by their message, from photos to posters to original artwork.
Not surprisingly, images of Jesus and Mary are common. Whatever the faith tradition, however, most striking are the themes of devotion, of belief, of love. The people seeking freedom from oppression and violence in our country are people devoted to the moral teachings of a fellow traveler, whose ancestors also walked to new lands to escape oppression. Their law teaches them to welcome the stranger, to love even one’s enemies, and to treat every person as brother or sister.
One of the sources of Unitarian Universalism is the teachings of the Jewish and Christian traditions – the laws of Moses, the justice of Isaiah, the wisdom of Solomon, and the gentleness of Jesus. We, too, can find meaning and inspiration in art, regardless of the theology of its creator.
Art is not neutral. Art does not discriminate. Art can be used for evil purposes. But art always reveals a truth; a truth about the artist as well as a truth about ourselves.
America’s gradual decline into kakistocracy (government by the most incompetent) continues. Our national security teeters atop the Washington Monument waiting for our man-child President to lose his temper. Corporations are persons, and people are disposable commodities existing only to fill the coffers of the wealthy and influential. Our children graduate from college deep in debt with evaporating career opportunities. And our headlong rush to destroy the environment continues in spite of a Himalayan pile of evidence from experts.
The Age of Facts is dead. We now live in the Age of Unenlightenment. Nowhere is this more apparent than the clinical insanity of our gun culture. There was a time when the events in Las Vegas might have been a tipping point for reason and common sense. But the hundreds of victims of Stephen Paddock’s arsenal will soon be forgotten, along with the children of Sandy Hook and thousands of other victims of our slavish dependence on firearms.
So, I offer no facts. Facts make no difference to Second Amendment fanatics. I only offer moral observations based on my personal ethics.
The time is long overdue to take to the streets and bring an end to this madness. We must hold the gun lobbyists and their puppet politicians responsible.
Congratulations on your upcoming inauguration. Many of us voted for you despite your lack of experience holding public office. So, on behalf of the hundreds of millions of us you now serve, I want to take this opportunity and offer you some advice as you enter the Oval Office. Please forgive us if some of these suggestions sound simplistic, even obvious. Given your public discourse to date, however, we have confidence that you will find value in them.
1. Think. Our mothers taught us, “If you can’t say something nice about someone, then don’t say anything at all.” We Americans can be obnoxious, even rude. But, we look up to the Office of the President largely because it stands for the highest level of decorum and class in our society. Our President should be better than us, and should model for us the best human behavior. We all understand the satisfaction derived from beating someone in a war of words. But, we need our President to rise above personal pettiness and insulting retorts in response to criticism.
2. Listen. Like many of us, you have decades of life experience. But, you can now access thousands of people with unbelievable knowledge about every topic imaginable at a moment’s notice. You are smarter than most of us – otherwise you would never have succeeded in the election. You are still a human being, however, and we do not expect you to know everything. Please listen to people the way you expect us to listen to you.
3. Review. We admire your spontaneity. In a complex world, however, every word spoken by our President matters. When you tweet without subjecting your words to careful review…you frighten us. We don’t see grammatical mistakes, factual errors, and statements revealing a lack of knowledge of basic governmental functions as amusing signs of a delightfully quirky leadership style. They scare us. They scare us because they are mistakes that we would make – but we are not President. We fear the consequences of your unedited statements, and need to see that you understand our feelings and the power your words wield.
4. Respect. We respect the Office of the President like no other position in the world. Likewise, we need the person filling that office to respect us. We elected you. So, we logically expect you to respect our intelligence and wisdom. When we feel disregarded by our President, we can delude ourselves with false hopes; we begin forming unrealistic expectations of a nation already responsible for unprecedented historical achievements; and we allow our fears to override our reason. The American people will follow your example. We need you to display the respect for us that you expect from us in return.
5. Awaken. Citizen Trump owned every privilege available. Unlike most of us, you were born a white, straight, male, Christian, healthy and wealthy American citizen. But we need President Trump to represent people of color and women; gay and transgender people; Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, and Atheists; and people suffering from physical and mental illnesses. We need our President to serve all the people, whether they live in mansions, houses, apartments, or packing crates. Whether we work as executives or lawyers, nurses or plumbers, cashiers or migrant farmers, we must feel that you empathize with our lives and acknowledge our inherent worth and dignity.
6. Mature. To be honest, many of us voted for you because you acted like us. You said things we might say and acted in ways we might act. But we know that we don’t always say the right things, or act in the right ways. Candidate Trump was an adolescent – a malignant narcissist and expert self-promoter. And many of us loved that persona. We now need President Trump to heed the lesson we learned on TV from that great philosopher Spock of Vulcan, who said, “Having is not nearly so pleasing a thing as wanting.”
You wanted our ultimate position of celebrity and we gave it to you. But with ownership comes tremendous responsibility. Billions of lives across the world now depend on you owning every attribute of a great leader, qualities such as wisdom, integrity, and humility. Perhaps most important, we need you to show the courage to make decisions that might make you unpopular, but that are morally correct choices. Sadly, there isn’t a kinder, more gentle way to say this. Now that we have entrusted you with the most important office in our nation, we need you to grow up.
In his first letter to the church in Corinth, the apostle Paul wrote, “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal…Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Every one of your constituents – regardless of skin color, gender identity, sexual orientation, theological persuasion, ability, or legal, social and economic status – can agree with these sentiments.
His letter continued. “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”
7. Love. Mr. Trump, on the morning of January 20, you will gaze into that golden mirror you caress so often. Our nation, all of us living and yet to be born, and the planet Earth that sustains us need you to see the full reflection of a President. We need that mirror to reflect a thoughtful, considerate, careful, respectful, aware adult. We desperately need that mirror to project an image of love. We know you love yourself and your family. We know you love your fans and supporters. As President Trump, we need you to share that love with every person equally.
We need you to love every Black man looking in the rear view mirror at the flashing lights of a police car; the woman entering the Planned Parenthood office for a cancer screening because her insurance won’t pay for her to go to the local hospital anymore; the young gay man cast out of his parent’s home because of who he loves; the woman wearing the hijab being berated for her religious beliefs; the man publicly mocked for his congenital disability; the mother living in her car because her employers pay poverty wages; and the hard-working, courageous man seeking the same American dream for his children that our own ancestors sought.
We Americans can love deeply. But we will emulate our President. If our President displays impatience, arrogance, rudeness, and resentment, we will do the same. So, Mr. Trump, please model that love for us, for our nation, and for our planet as you become President Trump.
Billions across the earth celebrate the birth of a child. Some doubt the accuracy of factual details of the event. Others question on the nature of the child and the circumstances of his conception. Centuries of scholarship and spiritual contemplation failed to resolve different interpretations of the child’s purpose and of his eventual actions as an adult.
Nearly everyone can agree, however, on one thing. Whether you are a Christian, Muslim, or Jew, whether you follow Buddhist, Hindu, or no religious teachings at all, we can all agree on this specific aspect of the life of the man known as Jesus.
Early in his ministry, this wandering rabbi preached a message to the people. He preached from the hilltops and from the valleys. His message resonated with every person largely because other prophets had preached the same wisdom throughout the centuries. And in 21st century America, this message rings especially true.
Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
Jesus lived in a world where the privileged held reign over the oppressed. He foresaw a time when all their wealth, power, and military might could not prevent their eventual downfall.
Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.
Jesus called out the hypocrites, the policy makers who dined in fine style while the poor made do with the scraps. He preached fairness and equity for all the people.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.
The arrogant leaders, distant from the faith and dedication of the people, thought they controlled the truth. Jesus did not mock or threaten others to serve as an inspirational leader.
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
Truth is not whatever reality most benefits you. Truth is truth. Jesus showed that true leadership consists of honesty, openness, and candor regardless of the consequences.
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
Jesus spoke truth to power, never backing away from the challenges of scribes and Pharisees. He never sold his principles for comfort, advantage, or influence.
Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
The Golden Rule is the single most universal ethical belief of humanity. Jesus lived this ethic and taught others to do the same.
Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.
Hold people accountable, but always do so with love and understanding. Jesus held malice in his heart for no one and yet stood on the side of love opposed to all oppressive authority.
Near the end of his ministry, Jesus demonstrated that we cannot achieve justice passively, and that we must sometimes meet oppression with active resistance. Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying…he said, “My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.”
After his active resistance to the corrupt bankers and priests, Jesus taught in the temple and healed those who came to him seeking cures. He told the crowds that the scribes and Pharisees tie up heavy, hard to bear burdens and lay them on the shoulders of others to carry. They exalt themselves, claiming great deeds and the best seats in the synagogue. Jesus called them blind guides and fools, for they valued the gold and not the sanctuary that made the gold sacred. Instead of tithing, Jesus called on the self-indulgent and greedy to practice justice, mercy, and faith.
Prophecy. Christmas celebrates a world-changing event in the past. But Christmas also commemorates the spirit of the man born under that star. Christmas proclaims the message of brotherhood and sisterhood among all people, and compassion for every person, whether poor or sick, hungry or hated.
So, honor the wonder of birth this Christmas season. May you see in every child the promise of a great life of service, a great love of others. Honor the child – wherever and whenever born – as the symbol of hope for billions born into poverty and oppression. Then, honor the person that child then grew and now grows to be; the one who then taught and will now teach the beatitudes of unconditional love; and who will always sacrifice everything to show us the meaning of justice, of mercy, and of faith. May we honor those teachings every day of the year and find the courage to stand up publicly for those principles.
As a Unitarian Universalist, I draw ethical and spiritual inspiration from the wisdom of all religions. One gains an insight when studying comparative religions; the world’s major faith traditions share most of the same fundamental principles. Love your neighbor. Care for the sick, the poor, the oppressed. Do not kill. Love your enemy. Speak the truth. Do not steal. Love unconditionally.
“Do not wrongfully consume each other’s wealth, but trade by mutual consent. Do not kill each other, for God is merciful to you.” Sura 4:29
Sacred texts of the world’s major religions vary widely. Some combine history and theology. Others resound like lyric poetry. Most include mythic tales, riddles and parables. All provide instruction on mindfulness and spiritual practice.
Most important, religious writings challenge readers to think, to feel and to act. Possessing only right belief does not make one truly religious. Empathy and kindness alone cannot produce complete salvation. And correct action without knowledge and belief is like a foundation of brick without water and cement. Spiritual growth requires exercise of the mind, the heart and the hands as one.
“Be good to your parents, to relatives, to orphans, to the needy, to neighbors near and far, to travelers in need…God does not like arrogant boastful people, who are miserly and order other people to be the same, hiding the bounty God has given them.” Sura 4:36-37
Studying religious texts presents a special challenge to the student. Each work resides in a past time, reflects ancient contexts and suffers human frailty in translation and interpretation. Subsequent to the writing of every major religious work, questions arose causing scholars to amplify, clarify and even correct previous understandings. Out of this expansion of spiritual insights emerged countless denominations and sects within all the major faiths.
The metaphor of stone tablets ignores the reality that every religion represents a living tradition, ever changing, ever growing. For religions to remain vital, spiritual practice must recognize changing times and adapt to each new generation’s capacities and needs.
Underlying these swirls of change, however, lie immutable principles — rules of decency, goodness and basic common sense — to which we all can agree. Despite our human history of violence and war, we possess the ability to dialogue, to compromise and to reach mutually acceptable rules for living.
“Repel evil with what is better and your enemy will become as close as an old and valued friend…only those who are steadfast in patience, only those who are blessed with great righteousness, will attain to such goodness.” Sura 41:34-35
The shadow of fear now cloaks America. Some use fear to divide us, to set us against each other, and to maintain historic systems of oppression. America must strive for better. Our greatness does not lie in our wealth; the world does not respect us because of our power. America endures because its arms embrace the refugee, its blood pumps the beat of freedom and its eyes see a future of equal opportunity and equal reward for all dedicated to its principles. We must never look backwards for our greatness. America’s greatness lies in its future — a time during which all people will be treated with inherent worth and dignity.
Achieving this future will take a revolution of the mind, the heart and the body. In other words, America’s future depends on a spiritual awakening that respects all religious voices and rejects any notion of dogmatic truth. Joining together in unity and cooperation, our faith traditions can tear down the walls of separation and break the chains of conquest, manipulation and cultural invasion.
“There is no cause to act against anyone who defends himself after being wronged, but there is cause to act against those who oppress people and transgress in the land against all justice…” Sura 42:41-42
I am not a Muslim or a Christian. I am not a Jew, a Buddhist or a Hindu. But I find much of worth in each of these religions and in their writings. As such, I am to some degree a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew, a Buddhist and a Hindu. I am a Sikh, a Jain, a Taoist and a Confucian. I walk the path of Shinto, the Goddess, the Creator gods of all cultures and the Oversoul by all its names.
If our president-elect pursues the registry of Muslim Americans — an idea he repeatedly suggested during his campaign, and which his transition team continues to discuss — then I will be the first in line when the government officials come to Midland. I will stand with my Muslim brothers and sisters not simply because it is the just action. I will stand with my Muslim neighbors because I believe in what they believe and I love them as kindred souls.
By whatever name we use, each of us experiences transcending mystery and wonder during our lives. Regardless of our culture, each of us faces opportunities to renew our spirits and guide us on our path toward enlightenment. Our current national climate will test our resolve to love unconditionally, and it is up to each of us to rise to that challenge.
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