Fear and Welcoming our Immigrant Neighbors

I've been following immigration reform closely this past year...and have felt both great disappointment and hope. Immigration reform is as much of a political issue to me as a theological/sociological/personal "issue" (issue doesn't seem to be the best word, but we'll keep it there for now). Politics, by its very nature affects people, but immigration policy seems like an even more people-related political issue than others that we see in the newspaper. Immigration policy has a million stories and faces -- sometimes these are well presented in DC, and others times they are not. I'm hopeful when I see the former but angry about the latter.

It is easy to paint the derogatory comments about immigration reform or the obnoxious statements by politicians as simply ignorant or hateful, but I think the better word to describe it is fear. Fear of the unkonwn, fear of a different language, fear of a different culture that expresses itself in dynamically different ways.

As my sociology professor at Gordon told us, the root of prejudice and discrimination is fear of difference. 

Social psychologist Christena Cleveland recently published a book called "Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Forces that Keep us Apart". Cleveland is a scholar with experience bridging divides within the church and the focus of the book is helping us to know where our divisions come from and how we can proactively seek greater unity. A lot of her research proves some basic points that we already assume (like "birds of a feather flock together" logic), but she digs deeper and helps us (me) see the divisions that exist within our communities and how they are so easily perpetuated, even unintentionally.

In one of her chapters, Cleveland addresses the tensions we often feel when we are with those of a different culture than our own:

Why do cultural threats trigger such strong reactions from us? We'll look at three causes in particular. First, cultural threats increase ambiguity, which is unfortunate because we hate ambiguity. Second, cultural threats can confuse us, especially when they are caused by people who are supposed to be members of our group. Third, cultural threats are threatening because we fear negative consequences more than we seek positive outcomes. (126-7)

Ambiguity, confusion, and potential negative consequences cause us to flee from difference or to disengage from others who may speak a different language, embody different cultural values, etc. I think I can make the jump and say that within those three causes, fear is the underlying cause: fear of ambiguity (it's nice to know what's going on), fear of confusion, and fear of the future and the risks we have to take that may not turn out.

If you know me, or have read even a couple of my blog posts, you know that fear is not absent in my life (let's be honest: I just wrote about how hard being brave is).

And, yet,

I am confident that this fear is something we must fight earnestly against because it keeps us away from experiencing human relationships and experiences that will shatter our preconceived notions and move us in ways that we once thought unfathomable. Yes, that's a dramatic statement, but I totally believe it. I believe it because I have seen glimpses of bridging barriers between people of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds and it feels like standing on sacred ground.

For all of these reasons, immigration reform is essential. I believe that the biggest barriers that are blocking its passage stem from fear. I won't demonize this fear: I can empathize with fear and know that there are risks that are hard to take. However, I believe that if we let this fear set us back from embracing and loving our community, we will miss out on one of the most powerful expressions of love, hospitality, reconciliation, forgiveness, hope, and peace.

We just can't miss out.

I could tell you stories: stories about me, forced out of my comfort zone, conversing in a different language, confusing past tense/imperfect tenses, playing soccer, making prestiños, eating salsa that almost set my mouth on fire... In each of those places, in each of those homes or parks or wherever, I have been blessed abundantly, been taught patiently, and been humbled -- sometimes to a point of tears.

There has been freedom for me in embracing ambiguity and confusion and fear of negative outcomes, like Cleveland discusses. I'm not inclined to the ambiguity or the confusion, but there's something that beckons me to it and I know I have to keep following that path. I have much to learn in each of those areas (I'm a first born! You can imagine how against my nature ambiguity is!), and I'm thankful that the learning curve is wide enough for me, for us.