This is a good reminder of how common it is for groups' false narratives to be perpetuated. There is enough "myth" to go around.
At the same time, I was thinking about myth, and I have to admit that most of our myths contain an element of truth.
There is nobility in every person, even those we have labeled "barbarians" and "savages." And there is a responsibility, or "burden," for those of us who embrace the better civilization of peace, responsibility, and "high trust" cultures. We do bear a burden to be servants, but never "masters," no matter how "better" we think we are.
I agree with every step of the path you mention and I wish more people spoke calmly and rationally about the events.
However, I have to wince at "law enforcement using force to do their job". I agree on principle. The problem is that ICE is not acting as law enforcement, they are acting like thugs. A principled law enforcement officer would gather a judicial warrant, locate the individual mentioned in the warrant, issue the warrant when entering a home, and calmly arrest the individual and the individual only. They would follow habeas corpus and the right to a speedy trial. They would not abduct people from school or work - A rational actor would know that protestors are much more likely to arrive at those places and, for safety's sake, they would try to avoid confrontation. They would not randomly arrest people without a warrant, including American citizens.
There is also the fact that illegal immigration is a civil and not a criminal offense, and should be treated as such. If the illegal immigrant *is* a criminal they should be treated as any other criminal - the right to a fair trial and innocent until proven guilty.
So yes, law enforcement officers are not villains - the villains are those people who are using law enforcement as a cover to cause unnecessary and brutal violence on others.
Two thoughts: It would be easy to tag many protestors with the "thug" label as well. This is a volatile and emotional issue.
Second, illegal immigration is not just a civil crime. Here's the law:
* Civil Offense (Administrative): Simply being in the U.S. without legal status is typically treated as a civil violation, resulting in deportation or removal proceedings, rather than criminal punishment.
*Criminal Offense (Illegal Entry): Under 8 U.S.C. § 1325, crossing the border without authorization is a federal misdemeanor for a first offense, and a felony for subsequent offenses.
*Re-entry After Deportation: Re-entering after being formally removed is a criminal offense, according to 8 U.S.C. § 1326.
It is a mere narrative (which is based on a choice, not facts) to reduce the current immigration argument to the "thug" ICE agents and DHS Border Patrol agents. And it is a mere narrative to reduce all protestors to "paid agitators" and anti-American agents.
None of this helps us in healing our fractured society.
Oh, I agree, both sides can act thuggish, and there is no reason to paint everyone with the same brush. But when it comes to law enforcement - maybe, I'm old fashioned, but I hold people in positions of authority to a higher standard. Those with more power have the responsibility to be judicious with that power. If you are given the ability and authority to use lethal force, you better be trained and try everything possible to avoid that force. The situations that have ended in death so far have shown egregious and unnecessary use of lethal force.
Thank you for citing the criminal code, I was unaware of that part.
Agreed. As a former police officer, I can tell you training is so important. I’ve sat by the side of an officer who had to use deadly force and I can tell you it is a gut wrenching experience.
Bingo: "Civil Offense (Administrative): Simply being in the U.S. without legal status is typically treated as a civil violation, RESULTING IN DEPORTATION OR REMOVAL proceedings, rather than criminal punishment."
No, the church of Christ is not called to report unauthorized immigrants who overstay their visas. But let's not waffle: spiritual leaders and fellow Christians SHOULD encourage them to get in compliance with American law (Romans 13).
Best analysis on immigration anywhere these days. Whatever your views, if this piece doesn't make you question how well your responses to the recent illegal immigration crackdowns match your faith, you weren't paying attention.
Unfortunately, I suspect that any appeal to "the common good" (as Father makes here) is contingent on a shared definition of "good", which is precisely what our current political arguments are all about. Our cultural and theological diversity -- since the root of "culture" is "cult" those are largely synonymous -- may have finally gone beyond Enlightenment liberalism's ability to accommodate.
Thank you so much for putting all of this out, this issue is so hard to tackle from an Orthodox (and conservative leaning) perspective and I think you did it beautifully. We all forget a lot of our humanity in all of this debate, this is an excellent reminder.
Father, you are assuming that someone who is in the country without legal status (civil) has also crossed the border without authorization (criminal). One does not necessarily follow from the other. Someone could, for example, have entered the country on a visa, and the visa has expired. Or, as with the case of so many Haitians, have come here legally and then have found that the whims of a madman have made their stay suddenly illegal.
Criminal charges require a different sort of warrant, or probable cause, for arrest. If someone is charged criminally, people are STILL entitled to certain rights, court appearances, a lawyer, their day in court, and the burden of proof is on the state, not on the defendant.
We live in the United States, a place that ostensibly believes in the rule of law, and equal protection under the law, not a Judge Dredd-like dystopia.
I see little dignity for the human when the current administration does the following:
--using children as tools to force people out of a house (something that has happened in my own city)
--keeping people in conditions without appropriate beds, sanitary facilities, and/or water
--killing unarmed people who were no threat to anyone, most of all to law enforcement
--using dehumanizing language about people who are the "stranger"
When the Biden administration was separating children from their families at the border, plenty of people protested and contacted the administration. The difference was that most of us felt that the individuals in that administration had a conscience and a sense of decency. Few of us, liberal or conservative, can possibly feel that members of the current administration have that.
It's unclear to me why you assume so much about the motivations of people in Minneapolis, or why you forget that there were similar large protests in LA when the administration decided to whip out its own brand of martial law in that city. The difference between the two cities is not that Minneapolis has paid protesters, but that they have a cohesive community that many of us would dream of. They were able to leverage existing organizations to get the word out.
The other difference is that the administration has been ramping up hiring for ICE officers. Considering how difficult it has been to meet enrollment targets for the armed forces (or even my local police department), it is hard for me to believe that ICE is somehow getting the best and the brightest. Perhaps things are escalating not because of protesters but because we have people who are not appropriately trained and who are more loyal to hatred of "the stranger" than to the rule of law.
Perhaps we should be asking ourselves why non-Christians are showing more compassion and decency than most Christians, not assuming that they are doing things for political theater.
This is the most balanced view on a simmering current trend that I have been able to read. Compassion towards the weak and vulnerable is nice, it is humane. Yet the lack of compassion for the victims of migrant theft, murder and rape, and for their families has been starkly absent of late. Unfortunately, this topic becomes highly political. Counting illegals in the census benefits Democratic states with large illegal alien populations which is how the census and congressional apportionment work through this practice. It puffs up one side's political advantage to the disadvantage of the other. Granting these foreign nationals amnesty, and then U.S. citizenship is not simply “compassion,” or “empathy,” or “keeping families together” it is party power. On the other hand, removing (deporting) families together is too hard to stomach for most. It all strikes into the heart of who we are and shall become. It asks: what is a polity? What is our social compact and who belongs to it? So yes, every human heart is a battlefield between virtue and vice. A balance of reason, codified law, and fairly given compassion is required in order to not further rend the fabric of our republic.
I would observe that the differences in cultures that you correctly identify as a potential source of conflict are exacerbated when our own "home" culture is fractured. We are now in the unfortunate position of having at least two very different cultures struggling for predominance here in the US, with a new "woke" culture (yes, it's still very much alive, but gone dark) trying to displace the traditional American culture. These cultures differ in many ways, but one difference that matters the most in this context is how they view immigration.
Traditional American culture looks at immigration as an assimilation process: people come to this country to learn our language, embrace our way of life, and work to support themselves and add to the wealth of the nation. The new culture looks at immigration as an infusion process, where people come to this country to bring their language, continue to follow their ways of life, and be unconditionally entitled to loot the wealth of the nation. The assumption underlying this view is that the traditional American culture is racist, corrupt, and therefore illegitimate— and needs to be displaced.
To the traditional culture, people who enter our country outside the law with the intent of replacing our language, values, and way of life with their own are not legitimate immigrants— whether armed or not, they fit the definition of "invader." People should not be surprised that (1) we seek to remove them and (2) their removal sometimes resembles a military operation.
You wrote, "My own Greek immigrant ancestors learned English, embraced American civic values, and became part of the social fabric while keeping Greek food, language, and Orthodox faith alive in their homes."
After hearing your conversion story in "Journey to Fullness," and how your family struggled with figuring out how it's a fireplace big enough for the fire of Christianity, I didn't realize you were Greek!
Personally, I am very wary of taking sides at any point here early on. I think it's a total mistake. I probably would have not thought that 6 months ago, but I have been reading Father seraphim's Orthodox survival course and what I am sensing here now is the rise of an Antichrist or the Antichrist as a result of this chaos, this specific modern revolutionary chaos.
It's very interesting because last night I watched Les Miserables, and I found it very interesting that the youth was very agitated during the reign of Napoleon III so they started a revolt, and started blockading themselves and challenging the authorities, and then all broke loose when an innocent person was killed and it eventually led to slaughter. To me that's part of the revolutionary spirit which is Antichrist and we should recognize that as Orthodox Christians.
I'm also withholding judgment because we were burned during COVID and during George Floyd with these initial narratives which turned out to be the exact opposite. I mean video can lie. I am in George Floyd was 6'8 250 lb and Dirk chauvin is 5'10 160 so the camera didn't certainly show that. And it didn't show the video before that so who actually knows right?
Other than that I really really enjoy your excellent expositions of the daily electionary father. Keep it up. It's something I totally look forward to.
You wrote: "There’s a dangerous myth embedded in some progressive immigration discourse: “the noble savage” reimagined for the 21st century."
And there's a counterpart to that "dangerous myth": the English "White man's burden", and its legacy "American exceptionalism".
See — Modern Era Error https://dstall.substack.com/p/modern-era-error
I always thought of hubris as being synonymous with foolishness, but it's actually much more than that.
This is a good reminder of how common it is for groups' false narratives to be perpetuated. There is enough "myth" to go around.
At the same time, I was thinking about myth, and I have to admit that most of our myths contain an element of truth.
There is nobility in every person, even those we have labeled "barbarians" and "savages." And there is a responsibility, or "burden," for those of us who embrace the better civilization of peace, responsibility, and "high trust" cultures. We do bear a burden to be servants, but never "masters," no matter how "better" we think we are.
Thanks for helping me think deeper about this.
I agree with every step of the path you mention and I wish more people spoke calmly and rationally about the events.
However, I have to wince at "law enforcement using force to do their job". I agree on principle. The problem is that ICE is not acting as law enforcement, they are acting like thugs. A principled law enforcement officer would gather a judicial warrant, locate the individual mentioned in the warrant, issue the warrant when entering a home, and calmly arrest the individual and the individual only. They would follow habeas corpus and the right to a speedy trial. They would not abduct people from school or work - A rational actor would know that protestors are much more likely to arrive at those places and, for safety's sake, they would try to avoid confrontation. They would not randomly arrest people without a warrant, including American citizens.
There is also the fact that illegal immigration is a civil and not a criminal offense, and should be treated as such. If the illegal immigrant *is* a criminal they should be treated as any other criminal - the right to a fair trial and innocent until proven guilty.
So yes, law enforcement officers are not villains - the villains are those people who are using law enforcement as a cover to cause unnecessary and brutal violence on others.
Two thoughts: It would be easy to tag many protestors with the "thug" label as well. This is a volatile and emotional issue.
Second, illegal immigration is not just a civil crime. Here's the law:
* Civil Offense (Administrative): Simply being in the U.S. without legal status is typically treated as a civil violation, resulting in deportation or removal proceedings, rather than criminal punishment.
*Criminal Offense (Illegal Entry): Under 8 U.S.C. § 1325, crossing the border without authorization is a federal misdemeanor for a first offense, and a felony for subsequent offenses.
*Re-entry After Deportation: Re-entering after being formally removed is a criminal offense, according to 8 U.S.C. § 1326.
It is a mere narrative (which is based on a choice, not facts) to reduce the current immigration argument to the "thug" ICE agents and DHS Border Patrol agents. And it is a mere narrative to reduce all protestors to "paid agitators" and anti-American agents.
None of this helps us in healing our fractured society.
Oh, I agree, both sides can act thuggish, and there is no reason to paint everyone with the same brush. But when it comes to law enforcement - maybe, I'm old fashioned, but I hold people in positions of authority to a higher standard. Those with more power have the responsibility to be judicious with that power. If you are given the ability and authority to use lethal force, you better be trained and try everything possible to avoid that force. The situations that have ended in death so far have shown egregious and unnecessary use of lethal force.
Thank you for citing the criminal code, I was unaware of that part.
Agreed. As a former police officer, I can tell you training is so important. I’ve sat by the side of an officer who had to use deadly force and I can tell you it is a gut wrenching experience.
Bingo: "Civil Offense (Administrative): Simply being in the U.S. without legal status is typically treated as a civil violation, RESULTING IN DEPORTATION OR REMOVAL proceedings, rather than criminal punishment."
No, the church of Christ is not called to report unauthorized immigrants who overstay their visas. But let's not waffle: spiritual leaders and fellow Christians SHOULD encourage them to get in compliance with American law (Romans 13).
CBP Home is now granting an exit bonus of $2,600 to those who self-deport. https://www.dhs.gov/cbphome
Best analysis on immigration anywhere these days. Whatever your views, if this piece doesn't make you question how well your responses to the recent illegal immigration crackdowns match your faith, you weren't paying attention.
Unfortunately, I suspect that any appeal to "the common good" (as Father makes here) is contingent on a shared definition of "good", which is precisely what our current political arguments are all about. Our cultural and theological diversity -- since the root of "culture" is "cult" those are largely synonymous -- may have finally gone beyond Enlightenment liberalism's ability to accommodate.
Thank you so much for putting all of this out, this issue is so hard to tackle from an Orthodox (and conservative leaning) perspective and I think you did it beautifully. We all forget a lot of our humanity in all of this debate, this is an excellent reminder.
Amen. AMEN. AMEN! THANK YOU FOR reflecting and sharing and bringing Him to the front. AMEN!
Father, you are assuming that someone who is in the country without legal status (civil) has also crossed the border without authorization (criminal). One does not necessarily follow from the other. Someone could, for example, have entered the country on a visa, and the visa has expired. Or, as with the case of so many Haitians, have come here legally and then have found that the whims of a madman have made their stay suddenly illegal.
Criminal charges require a different sort of warrant, or probable cause, for arrest. If someone is charged criminally, people are STILL entitled to certain rights, court appearances, a lawyer, their day in court, and the burden of proof is on the state, not on the defendant.
We live in the United States, a place that ostensibly believes in the rule of law, and equal protection under the law, not a Judge Dredd-like dystopia.
I see little dignity for the human when the current administration does the following:
--using children as tools to force people out of a house (something that has happened in my own city)
--keeping people in conditions without appropriate beds, sanitary facilities, and/or water
--killing unarmed people who were no threat to anyone, most of all to law enforcement
--using dehumanizing language about people who are the "stranger"
When the Biden administration was separating children from their families at the border, plenty of people protested and contacted the administration. The difference was that most of us felt that the individuals in that administration had a conscience and a sense of decency. Few of us, liberal or conservative, can possibly feel that members of the current administration have that.
It's unclear to me why you assume so much about the motivations of people in Minneapolis, or why you forget that there were similar large protests in LA when the administration decided to whip out its own brand of martial law in that city. The difference between the two cities is not that Minneapolis has paid protesters, but that they have a cohesive community that many of us would dream of. They were able to leverage existing organizations to get the word out.
The other difference is that the administration has been ramping up hiring for ICE officers. Considering how difficult it has been to meet enrollment targets for the armed forces (or even my local police department), it is hard for me to believe that ICE is somehow getting the best and the brightest. Perhaps things are escalating not because of protesters but because we have people who are not appropriately trained and who are more loyal to hatred of "the stranger" than to the rule of law.
Perhaps we should be asking ourselves why non-Christians are showing more compassion and decency than most Christians, not assuming that they are doing things for political theater.
I will also add it seems there are assumptions on all sides here.
Nicole, thank you for your response.
This is the most balanced view on a simmering current trend that I have been able to read. Compassion towards the weak and vulnerable is nice, it is humane. Yet the lack of compassion for the victims of migrant theft, murder and rape, and for their families has been starkly absent of late. Unfortunately, this topic becomes highly political. Counting illegals in the census benefits Democratic states with large illegal alien populations which is how the census and congressional apportionment work through this practice. It puffs up one side's political advantage to the disadvantage of the other. Granting these foreign nationals amnesty, and then U.S. citizenship is not simply “compassion,” or “empathy,” or “keeping families together” it is party power. On the other hand, removing (deporting) families together is too hard to stomach for most. It all strikes into the heart of who we are and shall become. It asks: what is a polity? What is our social compact and who belongs to it? So yes, every human heart is a battlefield between virtue and vice. A balance of reason, codified law, and fairly given compassion is required in order to not further rend the fabric of our republic.
Outstanding article.
I would observe that the differences in cultures that you correctly identify as a potential source of conflict are exacerbated when our own "home" culture is fractured. We are now in the unfortunate position of having at least two very different cultures struggling for predominance here in the US, with a new "woke" culture (yes, it's still very much alive, but gone dark) trying to displace the traditional American culture. These cultures differ in many ways, but one difference that matters the most in this context is how they view immigration.
Traditional American culture looks at immigration as an assimilation process: people come to this country to learn our language, embrace our way of life, and work to support themselves and add to the wealth of the nation. The new culture looks at immigration as an infusion process, where people come to this country to bring their language, continue to follow their ways of life, and be unconditionally entitled to loot the wealth of the nation. The assumption underlying this view is that the traditional American culture is racist, corrupt, and therefore illegitimate— and needs to be displaced.
To the traditional culture, people who enter our country outside the law with the intent of replacing our language, values, and way of life with their own are not legitimate immigrants— whether armed or not, they fit the definition of "invader." People should not be surprised that (1) we seek to remove them and (2) their removal sometimes resembles a military operation.
Sanctuary cities fall under the 10th Amendment. Integration and coexistence is a fabric of our country.
You wrote, "My own Greek immigrant ancestors learned English, embraced American civic values, and became part of the social fabric while keeping Greek food, language, and Orthodox faith alive in their homes."
After hearing your conversion story in "Journey to Fullness," and how your family struggled with figuring out how it's a fireplace big enough for the fire of Christianity, I didn't realize you were Greek!
It was a typo. I meant to write my own wife’s Greek ancestors…
That’s what I get for having me as an editor.
😁 I do stuff like that all the time!
Personally, I am very wary of taking sides at any point here early on. I think it's a total mistake. I probably would have not thought that 6 months ago, but I have been reading Father seraphim's Orthodox survival course and what I am sensing here now is the rise of an Antichrist or the Antichrist as a result of this chaos, this specific modern revolutionary chaos.
It's very interesting because last night I watched Les Miserables, and I found it very interesting that the youth was very agitated during the reign of Napoleon III so they started a revolt, and started blockading themselves and challenging the authorities, and then all broke loose when an innocent person was killed and it eventually led to slaughter. To me that's part of the revolutionary spirit which is Antichrist and we should recognize that as Orthodox Christians.
I'm also withholding judgment because we were burned during COVID and during George Floyd with these initial narratives which turned out to be the exact opposite. I mean video can lie. I am in George Floyd was 6'8 250 lb and Dirk chauvin is 5'10 160 so the camera didn't certainly show that. And it didn't show the video before that so who actually knows right?
Other than that I really really enjoy your excellent expositions of the daily electionary father. Keep it up. It's something I totally look forward to.