Welcoming the Stranger

The religion of fundamentalists and extremists is about power. It’s not about what they believe – it’s about how they’re right. It’s not about how they run their lives, but how they run yours. It’s not about submission to God, but dominion of man. It becomes a sort of identity movement not dissimilar to racist or nationalist movements, and the commandments and doctrines of the faith become mere weapons to use against others. It’s not just about power and ego though. There is a true moral and ethical blindness. Christians who brutalize gay people, break up families, and incite genocide swear that they are protecting families and spreading the love of Christ. Jewish and Muslim extremists who assault women for dressing “immodestly” claim that they are preserving the dignity of women.

Over the past 30 years, there has been an increasing divide between conservatives and liberals. This divide has grown in not only politics, but religious identity as well. The liberal or conservative label defines not only someone’s identity, but also their foe. With the uprising of the Tea Party, partisanship reached a fever pitch. From the church house to the statehouse, animosity between ideologies has reached an unhealthy level.

Sadly, much of this partisanship has been fueled by organizations that identify as “Christian.” The Family Research Council, the same one that endorsed Santorum, says that it is “Advancing Faith, Family, and Freedom.” Though it sounds comforting and in line with “traditional” American values, the FRC has been identified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its defamation of gays and lesbians. All this prompts the question: Can conservatives welcome the stranger?

The stranger is more than the person who appears on the doorstep needing food.

“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed [thee]? or thirsty, and gave [thee] drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took [thee] in? or naked, and clothed [thee]? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one of the least of these, ye did [it] not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” – [Mat 25:34-46 KJV]

Peddled and pushed, as “true conservative values” are attitudes fueled by demonization and defamation. They are attitudes that devalue the stranger and provide no space for hospitality. Welcoming the stranger is central to all three Abrahamic faiths — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — yet today I find myself ashamed of fellow Christians because of their lack of hospitality. For evangelical groups to endorse a candidate that defames gays and puts the least of these in harm’s way makes a mockery of the life Jesus lived. If conservatives want to endorse a truly “Christian” candidate, they should endorse the candidate that fights for the poor, speaks out against hate speech, and seeks to transform humanity — not debase it through petty, shoddy, and divisive rhetoric.

All Christians have a responsibility to seek to welcome the stranger. In America, the greatest strangers are not Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, or even gays, but other Christians.

“Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. [Be] of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but [rather] give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance [is] mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” – [Rom 12:15-21 KJV]

If we cannot even welcome each other, then what hope do we have of ever changing our world?

As a Christian, I read vitriolic comments from others who claim to be Christians about Muslims or see hateful words spouted at those that are different in some way. Yet I have not lost hope, because I believe in the powerful, transformative love of God. Politicians alone do not offer solutions. Communities together change our world. We complain because we realize how lacking our communities are. The love of Jesus we are called to embody demands transformation — including love of self. Facing who we are only becomes possible when we can love and embrace our total self. That goes for societal change as well. If we cannot love the stranger in our own self, we cannot love the stranger in society. When we begin welcoming the stranger individually we can welcome the strangers in society — and together we transform.

Any religious conviction seeking to authorize harm to another makes it doubtful that the person has a true religious connection, giving the appearance of the adoption of a world view that is simply used to support their own prejudices and hatreds, for this is the dark underside of religious experience, that it can be used to give the imprimatur of God to a person’s destructive tendencies.

“Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness [which] they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and [that] they may rob the fatherless!” – [Isa 10:1-2 KJV]

This is also why the practice of freedom is so difficult for some… it demands that we not only guard our freedoms from outside aggressors, but also against our own petty hatreds and prejudices, that we examine ourselves for fitness to live in a free society. If we would enjoy the fruits of liberty ourselves, we must uphold the liberty of others.

For these people, the rules of their religion are about others – not them. Haredi in Israel light fires on Shabbat to protest buses running on Shabbat. I don’t think I have to persuade you that Christian extremists are in their own lives often loath to follow the commandments of Christ. And good luck on you if you try to persuade any of them of the obvious fact that they’re doing something horrible. We are all different and each of us have to find our own path to God. The path I take may be different from the one you do but as long as they both lead to God that is all that matters and no one but God knows which paths truly lead to him. We must have faith that He will lead us in the correct direction, but along that path we must strive to be as good of a person as is possible and treat others with love, respect, and tolerance.