Misery, Compassion and Hope (September/ October 2008)
by
Viola Larson
_
Most of the September/October 2008 issue of Horizons is devoted to the
subject of immigration. This is a very important subject, not only for the
United States, but also for most of the world. Because of that and because
of a theological problem with the Presbyterian Women’s Bible Study resource
material in this issue I am writing separate reviews of those two subjects.
_
My husband, who is very fond of steam trains, has driven me to a place in
the Sierras where one can stand and look across the American River to a
place called Cape Horn. There Chinese immigrant railroad workers, in
baskets, hung from the cliff 2000 feet above the river doing work that white
rail workers would or could not do. Many lost hands and fingers in the
process.1 The history of immigration in the United States is full of such
stories.
The stories contain both misery and hope, both prejudice and compassion. And
all, except Native Americans, share in that story. (The Native Americans, as
indigenous people, have enough of their own stories of misery and
compassion.) It is important to keep the story compassionate, honest and
full of hope. With that thought in mind, I believe we should pay special
attention to this particular issue of _Horizons._
The problems surrounding the issue of immigration in the post-modern world
are complicated. It is stated best by Mark Adams, author of the lead article
in _Horizons,_ ‘Proclaiming Good News in the Midst of Bad.” He writes:
We experience suffering on both sides of the border whether it be crying
with family members in Mexico who have lost loved ones in the desert, or
listening to the frustration of property owners in the United States who
have lost money because of persons crossing through their property;
celebrating with migrants in worship who give witness to how God saved their
lives, or praying with border patrol agents who sometimes fear for their
safety. Because we are in relationship with people on multiple sides of the
issues, it has become impossible for us to scapegoat anyone.
Another important part of Adams’ article is his use of biblical stories to
help the reader understand the plight of the migrant. Pointing out the many
reasons for fleeing a homeland, he refers to Joseph’s family seeking
financial safety and the Israelites’ forced exile in the land of Babylon.
Also, Adams wonders how it could be right for those who are Christians to be
arrested for aiding the stranger because of such acts as giving rides and
renting homes to undocumented aliens. He asks the question ‘Is it legal to
be a Christian?” His understanding is that the Christian because of her
faith in Christ finds it natural to aid the dying and help broken humanity.
Julia Thorne writes about Presbyterian women who more then a century ago
gave aid to the immigrant in the United States. In her article ‘Presbyterian
Women: A Part of Immigration History,” she focuses on the plight of the
migrant worker, referring to both the forced slave laborer and the Chinese
workers who were enticed here by the opportunities connected to the
discovery of gold and the building of railroads. One of the important parts
of this story is the life of Donaldina Cameron. The author writes that ‘from
1895 until 1934,” she ‘rescued and educated more than 3,000 Chinese women
and girls in the San Francisco area.” They were the women who were smuggled
into the United States to be used as ‘domestic servants and prostitutes.”
One of the more poignant articles is written by one of those participating
in the Presbyterian Women’s USA Mission Experience. The women traveled to El
Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The article, written by Jean Vieten,
is ‘We Always Will Remember Morena.”
Vieten’s article is about a woman, Morena, from El Salvador, who through all
kinds of tragedies made her way into the United States and became an
undocumented immigrant. Her tragedies have included threats to her family by
El Salvadorian gangs, the loss of her business because of the threats, and
the lack of assurance that she will be granted asylum in this country. The
reader is struck by Morena’s bravery and fortitude and by the need to have
our immigration laws reformed.
The last article I will highlight in this review takes a different turn. It
is biased politically and therefore the reader misses a more balanced
approach. Because of that I believe it needs some exploring.
The article is ‘Home Economics: Our Neighbors on Rio Grande Boulevard,”
written by Andrew Kang Bartlett. His thesis is that the North American Free
Trade Agreement, (NAFTA) has caused untold misery on both sides of the
Mexican border. He points to the problem of cheap corn flowing into Mexico
from the United States ruining the livelihood of poor Mexican farmers. This
is because of the subsidies that US farmers receive from the government.
While there are problems with NAFTA, the problems need to be looked at from
a viewpoint that understands that free trade across borders is not
necessarily bad nor is the capitalism connected to NAFTA always the
bogeyman.
For instance, one report [1] on Mexico and NAFTA (and also about FTAA),
written by Daniel Lederman, World Bank senior economist, at the Office of
the Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean, not only points
toward the problem of the exportation of cheap corn into Mexico, but also
describes problems within Mexico which affect how NAFTA works. These include
a lack of access to infrastructure, especially to telecommunications, and
failure to educate the work force.
Also an article on NAFTA on the Wikipedia site both offers criticism and
also points out positive effects. For instance, ‘Production of corn in
Mexico has increased since NAFTA’s implementation. However, internal corn
demand has increased beyond Mexico’s sufficiency, and imports have become
necessary, far beyond the quotas Mexico had originally negotiated.” For
additional information on this subject see the USDA Economic Research
Service [2] .
This is not to agree or disagree with Bartlett, Lederman or even the USDA,
but to suggest that articles in _Horizons _which deal with economics and
politics need to be a bit more two-sided so that the reader may explore
options and understand issues better.
Undoubtedly, since this article commends the Zapatistas, an indigenous
revolutionary group in Mexico, it is almost certain that the article is
coming from a far left perspective. While I would hope _Horizons’_ Editors
never offer a far right perspective, they should offer the reader a more
balanced understanding of any political or economic subject.
Our spiritual ancestors, the family of Abraham, became immigrants in Egypt.
We know from our study of the Biblical text that this was according to God’s
will. The Jewish nation was sheltered, formed, and led to a greater
understanding of who God was as they experienced exile, safety and then
oppression in the land of the Pharaohs. Forever after they were taught by
the law of God and the prophets to look back to their years as refugees in
another land and offer safety and help to the immigrant.
Not only was their life in a foreign land a teaching lesson about how to
treat migrants but it was a picture of the coming redemption given to God’s
people by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. We are led out of our
bondage to sin and into the family of God. We are welcomed by the Father
into the family of his Son. Our Christian journey is intertwined with the
story of exiles and aliens; in fact, the apostle Peter refers to Christians
as strangers and aliens. (1 Peter 2:11)
———————————
1 For information about the Chinese immigrants and Cape Horn as well as
other incidents in their story see ‘The Chinese and the Transcontinental
Railroad” in _The Brown Quarterly [3] ._
*Thinking about Sophia, Bible Study Questions and Panentheism: Review 2*
_Horizons: _’Immigration and the U.S.A. Mission Experience
*September/October 2008 *
By Viola Larson
Reading over the ‘Bible Study Resources” section in the new
September/October 2008 _Horizons_,I found the comments and questions
centered in the experience of women rather than the main focus of the text,
Jesus Christ. Author Beverly Phillips, a retired Presbyterian pastor, has
written some rather innocuous-sounding questions and activities. But they
really don’t get at the important matter of the text, nor are they careful
enough questions to help disciple women in their walk with Jesus Christ.
Beyond the lack of concern with the focus of the text, when one explores the
theology found in Phillips’ book, _Learning a New Language: Speech About
Women and God_, listed with the small bio provided by the Editors of
_Horizons_, some of her questions take on an objectionable religious point
of view.
Phillips adds Luke 4:18-19 to Luke 7:1-23, and then asks the reader to write
out ‘a list of groups of people in the United States who are outcasts
today.” She then comments and asks a question which implies that the Roman
Centurion written about in the text was an outsider. Phillips then uses the
passage as a study about outsiders. But is the Centurion an outsider and is
a lesson about outsiders the point of the passage? Or, is the passage about
faith in Christ?
The Centurion has faith that Jesus has the authority of God. Jesus praises
him for his faith. Not only does this passage show the faith of the
Centurion, it also shows his humility in light of his understanding of the
authority of Jesus Christ. His remark, ‘I am not worthy for you to come
under my roof,” implies great faith and great humility in the presence of
Christ
And in fact, E. Earle Ellis puts it concisely and then adds a very helpful
note in his commentary on Luke, ‘To the estimate of the Jews that he is
worthy’ (4), the army captain answers I am not worthy’ (6f). He thereby
expresses his humility and his great faith. His complete confidence in the
power of Jesus’ word’ is prophetic of the future mission of the Church.”1
Another question offered by Phillips has to do with the woman who washed
Jesus’ feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair and anointed them
with perfume (Luke 7:36-8:3). Phillips asks, ‘Have you ever cried so hard
that you could have washed someone’s feet with your tears? Do you remember
the pain of such sadness? Did you have a sense of new life when your tears
finally stopped?” Once again these questions turn the reader away from the
focus of the text.
The passage is not about human emotions that spill over, giving perhaps
temporary psychological relief. Rather it is about Jesus Christ who forgives
sins and changes lives, in this case the life of the woman who ministered to
Jesus. As my good friend Sylvia Dooling puts it, ‘tears don’t give us a
sense of new life–acknowledging Jesus as Lord is what brings new life.”
Reading further, this passage lays out the foundation for discipleship. As
Ellis points out, the woman loves because she is forgiven by Jesus. Ellis
adds, ‘That love is the fruit of a forgiven and regenerate heart is a common
New Testament maxim.”2 Writing comments or questions about emotions or even
good works without attention to the life given by Jesus Christ is pointless.
Regeneration of the human heart is the beginning of Christian discipleship;
without it Christianity is just another social movement.
Returning to the first text mentioned and looking at the story of the widow
of Nain whose dead son was raised by Jesus, one of Phillips’ comments and
questions is:
In this story, Jesus shows us the depth and width of God’s love for human
creatures. Some people believe that God is far away on a celestial throne,
planning what will happen to us and then watching it happen. What does this
story of Jesus say to you about where God dwells and how God acts toward us?
This comment and question is loaded once the reader knows the content of
Phillips’ book _Learning a New Language: Speech About Women and God. _
The book is actually a rewrite, in simpler terms, of Elizabeth A. Johnson’s
_She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse. _In fact,
most of the chapters in Phillips’ book bear the same names as those in
Johnson’s book. And Phillips in her Preface states that she is attempting to
share Johnson’s ideas with other women via her book.
So the sameness stands out. For instance where Johnson writes: ‘The Prologue
to his [John’s] Gospel, which more than any other scriptural text influences
the subsequent development of Christology, actually presents the prehistory
of Jesus as the story of Sophia ,” Phillips writes:
The Prologue to the Gospel of John (1:1-18) influences the development of
thought about Christ more than any other text from scripture. The prehistory
of Jesus as John describes it is an echo of the story of Sophia which is
found in Proverbs 8:22-31. (57)
I have already, in an article entitled Choosing Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
comments on: “Well Chosen Words” and She Who Is [4] addressed the problems
with Johnson’s book_. _It is a complex book, with its focus on a heretical
female goddess, with roots in the Wisdom literature’s personification of
wisdom, but supposedly connected by ancient Rabbis to the Egyptian goddess
Isis. Johnson’s ideas of revelation come by way of the Spirit, and like the
philosopher Hegel, she finds them in history and human experience rather
than in the biblical text and the person of Jesus Christ.
So when I read the question by Phillips, which I have quoted, I tend to
think of her explanation of the being of God and creation in her book. She
is a Panentheist, like Johnson, who believes that creation is a part of God,
although God is greater than creation. And in fact, she makes a point of
giving her definition of theism, pantheism and panentheism. Of panentheism
she writes:
To help us think about the idea of the world being in God, we could draw a
circle to represent God, readily admitting that in so doing we are limiting
God by the bounds of the circle. Within the circle, we could draw a smaller
circle to represent the finite world. [Creation] This simple diagram
illustrates that God is in everything but also that the world is in God.
(117)
While I don’t intend to critique Phillips’ book (I have, after all, already
critiqued its model, _She Who Is_), I do want to make the point that some
women will probably be ordering this book without knowing that it is neither
biblical nor orthodox.
Still, to answer the question, ‘What does this story of Jesus say to you
about where God dwells and how God acts toward us?”, the biblical text does
say, ‘Heaven is his throne and earth his footstool” (Isaiah 66:1), and yes,
that is metaphorical, but it does have meaning. The meaning is very clear:
God is separate from his creation, but he cares deeply about creation. As
the poet expresses it:
“The other gods were strong; but thou wast weak;
They rode, but thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,
and not a god has wounds, but thou alone.”
Jesus of the Scars
Edward Shillito
———————————
1 E. Earle Ellis, _The Gospel of Luke, _The New Century Bible Commentary,
Matthew Black, Editor of N.T., reprinted soft back edition, (Grand Rapids:
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publ. 1991), 117
2 Ibid., 122.
[1] http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/LACEXT/EXTLACOFFICEOFCE/0,,contentMDK:20146214%7EisCURL:Y%7EpagePK:64168445%7EpiPK:64168309%7EtheSitePK:870893,00.html
[2] http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/FDS/may04/fds04D01
[3] http://brownvboard.org/brwnqurt/01-3/01-3f.htm