Tag Archives: xenophobia

Don’t give in to xenophobia

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xenophobiaXenophobia is literally the fear of foreigners. The term also includes irrational dislike of those from other countries, prejudice against those who aren’t our countrymen. It’s a condition that has existed since the dawn of time.

In today’s America, xenophobia is in full bloom. We’re scared of foreign terrorists. We’re worried about illegal immigrants. We’re afraid of refugees.

As Christians, we can’t give in. If we do, we end up hating ourselves, for Christians are foreigners wherever we live in this world. We of all people must be compassionate and understanding toward those not like ourselves.

  • We can protect ourselves against terrorism without hating entire nations of people or harassing those who don’t practice our religion. (And there’s been no evidence of terrorists entering the U.S. via our southern border. There’s been no known cases of terrorists among the refugees that have come to this country. Don’t believe the lies you hear in political ads and speeches)
  • We can address a broken immigration system without forgetting that immigrants are people, people like us, most of whom come seeking a better life for their families. Some are murderers, rapists, and drug dealers. So are many citizens of the United States. Go ahead and hate the problem; don’t hate the people that are a part of it.
  • We can show caution in accepting refugees even while showing Christlike compassion. Hospitality is a Christian virtue; it’s interesting that the word in Greek is philonexia, quite literally “a friend of foreigners.”

Don’t give into xenophobia. It’s the very opposite of everything we stand for as Christians.

Learn the language yourself!

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[We’re discussing a couple of sayings this week. One is from a Facebook group:
“I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PRESS 1 TO HEAR A MESSAGE IN ENGLISH… WE ARE IN AMERICA, LEARN THE LANGUAGE.”
The other is something I wrote in response:
“Everyone who complains about immigrants not knowing English should have to use Bibles printed in Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew.”]

“Learn the language!” That’s the loving response that so many Americans* offer to those that want to come to this country. Never mind that most Americans can’t write their own language correctly, nor speak it in a grammatically correct way. Before you get too mad, let me point out that I include myself in that. I learned a lot while trying to teach English in Argentina, because the colloquial English I learned isn’t exactly “by the book” English. It would be interesting to see how the average American would score on the TOEFL test. Most would fail a simple test over the difference between their, there and they’re. [“Your so rite,” you say] It’s time that Americans refudiated such language errors. (To quote one of the exemplary speakers of the xenophobic movement)

Add to that the fact that many countries require 12 years of foreign language in their public schools, while American schools rarely require more than 2 or 3 (if that much). The old joke runs like this:

Q. What do you call someone who knows three languages?
A. Trilingual
Q. What do you call someone who knows two languages?
A. Bilingual
Q. What do you call someone who only knows one language?
A. American

No, I never heard that joke overseas. That’s one we tell on ourselves. Americans travel the world demanding that everyone speak to us in English, then sit at home shouting “LEARN THE LANGUAGE!” to those who would come here. We’ve sent ambassadors to other countries who did not speak the language of the host country.

The second largest economy in the world will soon be China. Do you want to guess what the proportion of English-speaking Chinese businessmen is to Chinese-speaking American businessmen is? Probably about like it’s been with the Japanese.

Now let’s lay aside the cultural issues. What about us as Christians? Is it our place to demand that others do what benefits us? Some urge immigrants to learn English out of concern for their welfare. But that’s not the attitude expressed in these groups that we’re talking about this week. Let me say it clearly. Christians have no business joining with those that express such unloving attitudes. If we think people should learn English, it’s our job to reach and help them do so, as many loving Christians are doing.

It’s not our task to whine about having to press a button during a phone call.

*And yes, I’m using the term “American” in the ethnocentric way, despite the fact that I know many countries besides the U.S. can lay claim to the term “American.”

Press 1 for Greek, 2 for Hebrew…

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So the other day I posted the following on Twitter: “Everyone who complains about immigrants not knowing English should have to use Bibles printed in Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew.” Then Paula H. made the tragic mistake of quoting me on Facebook, sparking a lively discussion about the topic. Well, I guess the liveliest part of the discussion happened when people tried to decipher that cryptic tweet.

So let me try and unpack it a bit. I’d hoped to get some insights into why people would complain about help being offered to those who don’t speak English as their first language. Unfortunately, nobody stepped up to the plate (at least not yet). I’m not surprised when non-Christians join such groups, but I can’t conceive of why Christians would do so.

My only guess is that it’s done out of a lack of understanding. Let me offer some basic points:

  1. Most immigrants would really like to know English. There are some who have no desire to learn, but that’s definitely a small minority. Therefore, well-meaning phrases like “Learn the language!” don’t do as much good as you think they might.
  2. Even those who have a fairly good command of English still need their native language for critical situations. Add to that the difficulty of holding a phone conversation in your second language (no visual cues) and the difficulty that we all have in navigating phone menus.
  3. It would be good for all Christians to have some proficiency in the original languages, but most people will never go to the trouble to do so. One reason they don’t learn those languages is the ready availability of translations.
  4. Some argue that if we didn’t offer translations to those who speak English as a second language, they would make more of an effort to learn. By that argument, we should do the same with our Bibles, taking away the “crutch” of translations to make people learn.

Of course, being able to read the Bible isn’t nearly as important as being able to talk to your insurance company. Right?