Opinions: Perspectives from

Many writers, not only Christians, are calling for compassion for less-fortunate people, often especially immigrants. They are right on this. Limiting the call, in effect, however, to any single group in any one era has the seeds of massive disasters. Others who are affected right now include low-wage workers, border residents and all of us facing more crowded roads, hospitals, schools, as well as more depleted sources of water, farm land, living space, mines, waste dumps and so on. This has been noted before, but comments that ignore these problems keep coming. We either have compassion for everyone on a future crowded and depleted Earth, or we show amazing short-sightedness, and self-centeredness can hit us all.

The related absolutely essential point is to let the Earth’s finitude sink in and act on it. Now, at least intellectually, we all know of its roughly spherical shape and therefore limited size, but many of us, eager to show our generous hospitality, clearly imply that we dare not mention finiteness. No way, however, can we actually continue as in the past, when there was enough space for continued growth for us humans. I’d much rather write about the many fantastic features of this, God’s universe, but first we simply must preserve our part of it for others.

One crucial point is that both crowding into finite space and the depletion of finite resources of all kinds have already caused many wars and will evidently cause more catastrophic ones and more numerous ones before long. Pacifists of any kind dare not ignore this; yet, sorry to say, we often do just that, putting immediate commendable hospitality above all else.

Some have claimed that it doesn’t matter environmentally whether people stay in Mexico, for example, or come here. This is clearly false. People come here for a higher standard of living, and this means more consumption. This is entirely understandable, yet honesty demands recognition of the facts in any true debate. All of us, including the earlier Americans, are immigrants or their descendants, but surely we know that new circumstances demand new responses.

The welfare of our own grandchildren, and certainly of the immigrants’ grandchildren, too, must take a big place in our further discussion if we mean to be honest and truly compassionate. We need more compassion, not less. Well then, critics ask, what to do? Several comments are called for.

I am no expert on exactly which cultural and legal changes to encourage here and elsewhere. Before we go further, however, we must acknowledge the whole problem, including Nature’s limits. If we should challenge “our own people” first, we need to begin with fellow believers, as Jesus did, rather than with our more distant rulers. Then, if we can work together, let us look at just one legal point now. No Scripture requires that a temporary residence chosen for birth also be the permanent site of citizenship. If the Constitution is a “living document,” let it recognize this. To deny that current law is a “magnet” for breaking other laws is frankly not honest.

There must also be no prohibition whatever, for “political correctness” or otherwise, on urging each involved country to change some policies and customs. We may differ at times from Leonard Pitts Jr.’s columns, but regret with him when we can “no longer tell … conventional wisdom from actual wisdom” in any argument.

The charge of racism has been disproved elsewhere and is therefore not refuted here again, despite the repetition of the accusation. That label is not always false but is often abused in order to make even thoughtful dissidents cower and to censor, squelch and stifle honest discussion. The various well-known religious extremists and governments are not alone in this. Practicing Christians will, without being begged, love and respect our/their (rhetorical) enemies, not only our rulers’ enemies.

Please, then, let’s open up, truly care about everyone and everyone’s environment and begin to work hard together on badly needed real solutions.