If this goes down as the “Pay Me” presidency with President Trump playing the role of mafia boss, demanding payments from universities, tech companies, networks, and whomever else he can shake down, then Stephen Miller will undoubtedly be the consigiliere.
Miller is the deputy chief of staff for policy and architect of the roundup and mass deportation of tens of thousands of people who are overwhelmingly Hispanic. You can tell from his policies and statements that he has pulled off the trick of being a Jewish Christian nationalist. One recent example: “We are on the side of goodness. We are on the side of God.” An older example: "Christianity is embedded in the very soul of our nation."
However, sometimes when you think you’re doing the Lord’s work, the law of unintended consequences shows up (as have other laws). Hispanic Americans are definitely more Christian than White Americans. Sixty-seven percent of them identify as Christian, compared to sixty-two percent of White Americans. The difference is wider among young people, where it’s 54 percent of young Hispanics compared to 43 percent of whites.
By rounding them up and deporting them, Trump, Miller, and their minions are reducing the number and percentage of Christians in America now and, because of that differential among young, reproducing Hispanics, into the future. Trump has promised that “Christianity will have power” but it turns out not all Christians get to stay here for that.
Forty-five percent of Hispanics are Catholic. The Catholic church has long provided help for immigrants to this country, as have other religious denominations. The Bible tells them to. This has led to increasing tension with anti-immigration forces in Washington. Three years ago Marjorie Taylor Green was complaining about the Catholic Church’s involvement in immigration to the point that she said “I thought we had a separation of church and state in this country.” They say even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.
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(Note: that worked better when I wrote it yesterday before she did the one thing that could partially redeem her Congressional career; resign in protest. Kudos for that.)
Last June a House Committee held a hearing to criticize the immigration work of faith based groups, who responded by saying that their religious liberty was being threatened. This tension has escalated since then. A coalition is suing the Department of Homeland Security over raids at houses of worship. The Conference of Catholic Bishops just released a “Special Message,” its first Special Message in 12 years, in support of their work for immigrants and opposing most of the tactics ICE is using.
The ability of Christian Republicans to rationalize attacking faith-based groups who help immigrants was best demonstrated by Christian nationalist House speaker Mike Johnson. Speaker Johnson says the best way to learn his position on “any issue under the sun” is to read the Bible. The Bible says about a dozen times that people should help the stranger/traveler/immigrant. When asked about how he can ignore those Bible verses, he weaseled out of it by saying that the Bible doesn’t spell out that the government should do that, just people, so Congress doesn't have to.
The Catholic Church doesn’t need our help standing up for its religious freedom but there are many nonbelievers among the Hispanics in America and we are here to stand up for their rights as much as anyone’s. We count Hispanic American Freethinkers as one of our coalition members. When I tell Republicans that the Hispanics being deported are overall more Christian than the country as a whole I do get a look of “Hmm, I wasn’t aware of that.” One law Congress can’t do anything about is the law of unintended consequences.
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Your advocate,
Scott MacConomy
Director of Policy and Government Affairs
Secular Coalition for America |
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