Was there something wrong with this?

Last updated on: February 8, 2017 at 2:36 pm by Dave Griffey

Was there something wrong with this? 2017-02-08T08:37:41-04:00 Dave Griffey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I keep getting hits about the Budweiser Superbowl ad. What was the problem? To me, it celebrated America’s past a a land of opportunity, a shining beacon to the oppressed of the world.

It still is. We still let people in by the boatload. And compared to many countries, we’re a breeze to become a citizen. I knew a young lady in graduate school who was from the former Soviet Union. She was working to become a US citizen someday.

Problem? She couldn’t stand our country. Everything – culture, movies, music, books, education, lifestyles, you name it – was a target for her scorn. One day I finally asked her why she wanted to move here since she obviously couldn’t stand the place.

Easy, she said. The countries she would love to move to would take too long to ever become a citizen. She would die an old lady before she could become a full citizen in some of those places. So it was off to the USA (since staying in Russia was not an option for her).

Sure, I get it. The current twofold kerfuffle over vetting immigrants from nations hostile to the US and the influx of illegal immigration, especially from the South.

But those don’t have to become politicized, or made to be ‘them vs. us.’ Unfortunately, both sides have done their best to pit one group against the other. Do you not care about refugees seeking a new life away from death and carnage? Do you not care about the well-being of all Americans? The answer should be we care about both.

Sadly, at least with the rhetoric, it comes off as one group can just suck on it, because the other group is the one that matters. The best approach – and the only valid Christian approach – is to care about both equally. We want to be a place for all to come and be welcomed.

They need to follow the laws, however, and if the laws make it difficult, then change the laws. Don’t just flip the high middle one to laws in general. Flipping the bird to laws you dislike is akin to eating potato chips. Once you start, you just can’t stop. Likewise, we don’t have much experience welcoming people from hostile nations. If it takes some thinking through, that’s fine. Find the balance between welcoming and vetting and make sure both immigrants and Americans know we have their backs.

And for heaven’s sake, don’t rely on ‘lightning kills more than terrorists’ do. That’s translated as ‘don’t worry, odds are it will be some other dumb schmuck family who is boo-hooing at the cemetery and not you.’ A terrorist attack is more than just body counts.

Whatever the terrorist is, it is an attack on America as a whole, who we are, the American family. And should be treated as such. If the most you can say is ‘don’t worry as long as it’s someone else’, then you had best find a different reason.

So if we could pull the issue of immigration from the sludge pit of partisan agendas, I think seeing a commercial like this would be cause to be glad about our country’s history, not grounds for yet another boxing match over ‘not our country, sure as hell not your country, only my country when it finally lives up to my standards.’

Christianity in the world

Previous Post

February 8, 2017

Lord bless this poor woman

Next Post

February 9, 2017 A feather in his cap

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Atheism Awesome things Bigotry for the hip American Blogging Books Catholic Catholic Teaching Catholics on the Internet Christian Persecution Christian Unity Christianity and America Christianity in the Post-Modern World Christianity in the world Culture of Death Culture of Life Current Events Decline and Fall of the Christian West Defending Liberty Fun Stuff Global Warming Good Causes Good News Gun Control Health Care History Holidays Homeschool Humor Important things Inspiring Stories Interesting Insights Interesting Stories Islam and the West Liberal "Tolerance" Liberal observations Life in a post-Christian world Memorial Movies Musings News Other Blogs Our Big Politically Correct Bother Politics Popular Culture Post Modern Values Prayers Pro Life Promoting LGBT Protecting Liberty Racism in the world today Scientism Social Observations Sports Strange Stories The Boys The Catholic Church and the Left The Decline and Fall of the American Dream The end of liberty The Faith and the Left The Faith and the Right The Family The Greatness of God The Internet The Leftist Juggernaut The LGBT Question The Media The Pope The post-liberal Left The Power of Propaganda Tributes Twilight of the American Experiment Uncategorized Uneducating Postmoderns When the Church is wrong Why learn from history when we can repeat it instead Wisdom in the Post Modern Age World Events

Select a Month August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who asked Jesus, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

Select your answer to see how you score.

John Philip Peter Thomas