By Steve Sailer
08/14/2005
The Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Page has long been notorious for making a religion of Open Borders. Now it has tried to enlist religion on the side of its obsession. On Aug. 12th, the WSJ’s free website, www.OpinionJournal.com, ran an essay by the deputy editor of its "Taste" page, Naomi Schaefer Riley, called "Welcoming the Stranger: Faith-based groups say it’s time to reform immigration." (In WSJ-speak, "reform" means "more of the hair of the dog that bit us.")
Ms. Schaefer Riley writes:
Jihad Turk, the director of religious affairs at the Islamic Center of Southern California, believes that Muslims, "as people of conscience and faith, have to protect those in need of protection." And his religious community is practicing what it preaches, most recently helping several families of Bosnian refugees to resettle here.
Isn’t it wonderful that Mr. Jihad Turk is importing more people like himself into America? In fact, I think the U.S. should try extra hard to attract from the Muslim world more gentlemen just like Mr. Turk, men whose parents chose as their monikers, out of all the possible first names in the world, "Jihad."
"'Family reunification should be the cornerstone of immigration policy,' says Mark Franken, [send him mail], executive director of migration and refugee services for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops."
Uh, if family unity was so important to these immigrants, why did they abandon their families and move to America in the first place? And couldn’t they now reunify their families by going home? If living near relatives is so important, perhaps family reunification should be the cornerstone of deportation policy.
"'Atithi devo bhava: Look upon the guest as God.' That’s the Hindu principle that should guide our policies toward immigrants in this country, says Suhag Shukla, legal counsel for the Hindu American Foundation."
Maybe I’m just crazy, but for some reason I think American principles should guide our policies toward immigrants in America.
Yet, perhaps we could learn from Hindu-dominated India about a sensible immigration policy. As Peter Brimelow discovered, if you inquire about immigrating to India, the first thing you'll hear from the Indian consular official is, "Are you of Indian origin?" [VDARE.COM NOTE: This means "Do you have Indian blood?' — not "Where were you born?"]
Further, India, under both the Hindu nationalist BJP and the currently ruling Congress Party, has been building a fence along its 2,485 mile border with Bangladesh to keep out illegal immigrants. India Daily reported:
"India has categorically made it clear that it will not tolerate illegal immigration into India and covert militant bases in Bangladesh that try to export terrorism into India."
Nonetheless, if we are going to adopt Hinduism as our guide, we should show it the dignity of not tendentiously distorting its meaning for political benefit the way this Wall Street Journal employee does. An immigrant is not a guest because the defining feature of a guest is that, eventually, he goes home. Also, most are specifically invited.
Ms. Schaefer Riley continues to misrepresent the meaning of "guest" and "hospitality" throughout her essay:
"The Episcopal Migration Ministries works with the U.S. government to resettle between 2,500 and 3,000 refugees a year. 'No story in the New Testament fully expresses the belief in hospitality as well as the story of the good Samaritan,' says C. Richard Parkins, the organization’s director. He cites other biblical injunctions as well, like Hebrews 13:2: 'Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.'
"What does that "entertaining" consist of?"
Good question. Bad answer:
"For the Catholic Church, it involves helping immigrants learn English, find homes and jobs, and get their children enrolled in school. Many religious groups provide legal aid so that immigrants can bring relatives over as well."
In other words, making them permanent residents rather than temporary guests.
According to the authoritative Vine’s Concise Dictionary of Bible Words (1939), however, the ancient Hebrew hospitality described in the Bible, while generous, was distinctly circumscribed in duration:
"In oriental lands, and still in some countries of belated civilization, it was and is felt to be a sacred duty to receive, feed, lodge, and protect any traveler who might stop at the door… The present practice of the Arabs is the nearest approach to the ancient Hebrew hospitality. A traveler may sit at the door of a perfect stranger and smoke his pipe until the master welcomes him with an evening meal, and may tarry a limited number of days without inquiry as to his purposes, and depart with a simple " God be with you" as his only compensation." [Emphasis mine.]
Ms. Schaefer Riley continues:
"Mr. Parkins, harking back to Hebrews once again, argues 'every person who is resettled here sends a message that there are still nations and communities willing to receive the stranger unconditionally.'"
In truth, West Asian hospitality has always been complicatedly conditional. For example, while campaigning among the Pathan tribes near the Khyber Pass in 1897, the young Winston Churchill observed:
"Every family cultivates its vendetta; every clan, its feud … For the purposes of social life … a most elaborate code of honour has been established and is on the whole faithfully observed. A man who knew it and observed it faultlessly might pass unarmed from one end of the frontier to another. The slightest technical slip would, however, be fatal. The life of the Pathan is thus full of interest…"[My Early Life]
The most obvious condition is that West Asian hospitality is reciprocal. It exists to allow travelers to find shelter in harsh landscapes. In contrast, as Alien Nation documented, most countries that send us many immigrants do not welcome American immigrants. Nor does the American Establishment make any effort to demand reciprocity.
Ms. Schaefer Riley quotes from other functionaries representing various major religions, but ignores less congenial creeds, such as Voodoo / Santeria, whose adherents are also immigrating in large numbers.
The Wall Street Journal’s Invade the World — Invite the World policy may soon help vastly increase the number of devil-worshipping Yezidi refugees in the U.S., of whom there are currently 600,000-700,000 in Iraq. News24 of Cape Town reported on Tuesday:
"Baghdad — The devil looked in on Iraq’s parliament on Wednesday when a member of parliament upbraided Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari for speaking ill of Lucifer. Kameran Khairi Said, a Kurdish MP and a member of the minority Yezidi community that worshipped the peacock angel, also known as Lucifer, angrily interrupted the prime minister during a parliamentary debate.
"'Mr. Prime Minister and ministers, my speaking out might seem strange to you, but we feel insulted when you repeatedly use the expression in your speeches and statements "God protects us from the devil."'"
For some reason, Ms. Schaefer Riley forgot to interview any Yezidis …
[Steve Sailer is founder of the Human Biodiversity Institute and movie critic for The American Conservative. His website www.iSteve.blogspot.com features his daily blog.]
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