God didn't create borders; humans did

God is an “open borders” sort of God. The Bible tells me so. It also tells me that God loves justice, especially for the poor, the oppressed, and the stranger.

“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.”

God’s earth became a Garden, providing everything humans needed. No borders; just the earth populated by the first humans for whom God had a vision of shared reality. Borders are human constructs designed to thwart God’s will by perpetuating economic, political, and social inequality. That was not part of God’s plan.

In his book “Just Immigration: American Policy in Christian Perspective,” Mark R. Amstutz restates this view of borders and immigration restrictions. “Immigration control is a way by which citizens in stable, prosperous societies give precedence to their own needs over those of people from foreign states.”

In fairness, Amstutz doesn’t agree but acknowledges that under this view, which is quite Biblical, “the division of the world into sovereign nations legitimates radical inequalities.”

God understood that and, thus, created no borders. Humans, on the other hand, selfishly need to divide up God’s creation. Borders were created to make sure that the very best belonged to the powerful and the less powerful had the leftovers. Borders became the means for dividing God’s creation between the haves and have nots. Border were the means by which humans institutionalize injustice and inequality.

As stated and restated in scripture, God’s plan was for those who have to share with those who don’t. The Old Testament story comes with the caveat that we must treat foreigners with respect, for we were all foreigners at one time ourselves. The New Testament is fundamentally built around the notion that what we have done to the stranger, we have done to Christ.

Human unwillingness to adhere to these Biblical precepts, ironically, creates the perceived need for security, which then becomes the basis for implementing walls and immigration laws designed to keep the poor and the oppressed on the other side of our borders.

So, where does that leave us in today’s acrimonious debate over immigration and refugees? It leaves us between a rock and a hard spot. God is the rock. Pandering “America First” politicians are the hard spot.

No question we are far removed from that day when “the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.” A lot of that water has run under the bridge and we humans continue moving away from God’s hope for the world.

We spent centuries creating the world in our selfish image. That doesn’t mean we should not at least begin to take steps to return it to God’s original intent.

The United States has been among the greatest beneficiaries of human greed. Our nation is built on stolen land, slave labor, and by millions of hard-working immigrants. Yet today we refuse to recognize God’s blessing ought to be shared and not hoarded as we reduce the numbers of refugees who are allowed to resettle her, tear families apart at the Southern border as a means of deterring them from seeking a better life among us, and deport people who were once invited here to do work that our own people wouldn’t.

The U.S. can atone for its past just as any individual. While the sinful condition of the planet and its inhabitants won’t immediately permit the kind of open borders God created, we can take steps. The closer we move to God, the more the possibilities. For now, we can validate the lives of DACA kids and the 12 million undocumented humans among us by creating a pathway to citizenship. Wholesale deportations should end. Those fleeing violence in their homeland should be welcomed to ours.

These are changes that determine whether we give priority to what God wants over what the demagogues among us want. 

Is 70 the new 80?

I turned 70 this week. Oscar Wilde had a theory. “Those whom the gods love, grow young.” But, at 70, I am not feeling the love of those gods.

 If you had asked me four months ago, I’d have told you that 70 didn’t seem all the old. But after battling a serious illness for more than three months, I suddenly seem quite old.

It started out with a fever and fatigue, night sweats and the sort of thing my doc had reason to believe was just a virus and would soon pass. It didn’t. Six weeks later I was diagnosed with endocarditis, an infection centered on an artificial aortic heart valve I’d had since 2010.

Doctors attacked the infection with massive amounts of antibiotics. Didn’t work. The infection worsened as parts of it broke off, wreaking havoc with my spleen. The old, diseased valve had to go and a new one installed. The valve was replaced and I am now recovering and feeling much better though the risk of reinfection in the first year and its high mortality rate hangs over us like the sword of Damocles.

So, as I reach 70 years of age, I am feeling older than I thought I would. A part of the experience contributing to that were eight hospitalizations and emergency room visits in a six-week period. During those times, I met a lot of people my age and older suffering far more from even worse medical conditions.

If you let it, your imagination can take you to a future where the aging process is defined by illnesses, medical care, and financial challenges. PBS reported a record number of older Americans are being driven to filing bankruptcy because politicians have allowed the social safety net to be weakened. Other sources report an increasing number of suicides among the elderly. Life ahead can begin to look rather grim on your 70^th birthday.

As my health improves and things get back to normal, I realize we can’t allow that sort of an imagined future take control of our lives. One has to focus on living. As long as we are still here, breathing the air and taking up space, God has a purpose for us and our job, now as much as it was when we were younger, is to figure out what it is.

This is the time of life to take seriously and to be grateful for whatever days we have left, to double down on making our remaining time worth the life God has given us. I am reminded of the Gospel of John, chapter 10 verse 10. Jesus says, “The thief comes but to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.”

There is no greater “thief” than allowing ourselves to focus on death and how we might find ourselves at its door.

What is my fellow septuagenarians that emboldens you to have life and have it more abundantly? What is it that allows you to maintain a focus on living even as the doctor visits, medical care, and financial struggles become more a part of your lives?

For me, it begins with family; a loving wife and children and grandchildren too young to be without their grandpa. My oldest grandchild is eight, the youngest is five. They need engaged grandparents and engaging fully in their lives is a source of an abundant life.

Additionally, I am blessed to be able to continue serving a faith community that is committed to  service to others and social justice for all. Involving oneself in theologically-based advocacy for what Jesus called “the least of these” will keep the blood flowing.

For some of my friends, it’s their art, for others it’s travel, or community service.

Death will come on its own schedule. But it’s not here yet. We have a life to live. Or as Jonathan Swift put it, “May you live all the days of your life.”

“A new effort at inclusion recently came to F.E. Warren Air Force base, but not everyone is happy about it.”

A recent story on the front page of the Wyoming Eagle-Tribune (“F.E. Warren removes Bible from memorial” August 1, 2018) began, “A new effort at inclusion recently came to F.E. Warren Air Force base, but not everyone is happy about it.”

Efforts at inclusion never make everyone happy, especially those who think it is good to exclude some folks.

The story tells of the decision to alter one of the symbols on POW/MIA memorial tables on the base. Replacing the Christian Bible is a more inclusive “POW/MIA Book of Faith.” And as the reporter noted, “not everyone is happy about it.”

One local Navy veteran is quoted. “The Bible designates all things for all people. It doesn’t make any difference whether you’re a Muslim or whatever.”

I have Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, and some Christian friends who would be quite surprised to hear that. The Bible is not only a Christian text but it is a symbol of Christianity. Many Christians believe it is the theological underpinning of Christian exclusivity. It does make a difference whose holy book is chosen for such a memorial.

When you are a member of a decidedly large majority, as Christians in the military are, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that there are others who do not share your religious beliefs. You take it for granted to see the Bible displayed or to hear prayers lifted up in the name of Jesus at public events. But the U.S. military is so much more diverse. The largest category is, as among civilians, those with no religious preference. Among the rest are not only Christians but also Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, even Wiccans and atheists.

Their religious freedoms must be recognized and are not included in the display of a Bible alone.

The same Navy vet asserted the military buckled under pressure from the Military Religious Foundation. He said the decision to replace the Christian Bible with a book of faith “does nothing but degrade what we did and what our fathers did before.”

Actually, those who made the change “buckled” under pressure from the U.S. Constitution, the document whose promises to a free people are at stake every time our military goes to war.

What is the Military Religious Freedom Foundation? Unlike Trump’s religious freedom commission, which is designed to find ways to justify discrimination against non-Christians, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation seeks to make real the religious freedom protections enshrined in the Constitution. 

The Foundation’s website describes its “Mission” as follows: “The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is dedicated to ensuring that all members of the United States Armed Forces fully receive the Constitutional guarantees of religious freedom to which they and all Americans are entitled by virtue of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.”

Their website includes an Air Force regulation, which reads in part, “Every Airman is free to practice the religion of their choice or subscribe to no religious belief at all. You should confidently practice your own beliefs while respecting others whose viewpoints differ from your own.” 

The key to religious freedom is, as the Air Force directive acknowledges, “respecting others whose viewpoints differ from your own.” That includes not insisting that your holy book be placed on the POW/MIA memorial table to the exclusion of others.

The WTE news article quotes a letter-to-the-editor writer who made the claim, “How can we expect our military to protect us from real threats when they take action like this after a marginalized group claims the presence of the Bible is oppressive.”

Throughout the history of this nation, every reform that made the U.S. military more inclusive has been met with an identical criticism. Those who opposed the racial integration of military units said it would weaken the military. When women were included, the same argument was made. Ditto when the military was opened to gays and lesbians.

And yet, through it all, the United States continues to have the strongest, most capable military force in the world.