As I listen and learn from the seismic upheaval wracking America this past year, I keep thinking of Hope (not her real name) a refugee and recent arrival to America even as her family’s very idea of America – and mine – is undergoing a profound, and to some, a painful and frightening change.
My idea this morning is to send Hope some socks. Many of the new refugees are expecting babies, and they are in need of children’s things – strollers, socks, diapers. Today, I’m going to the Refugee Gift Page on Amazon and donating socks.There are only three pairs of children’s socks left in stock, and I hope they will give comfort to Hope and hope itself. The refugee families are in need of everything.
This is something good that I can do today, and that I can afford to do and do easily.
I hope to do much more in the future, it is now a mission for me.
Today, new polls show that the country is divided about the new suspension of immigration into America from many parts of the world, especially countries with Muslim majority populations.
As usual, the polls identify Americans by political party, neglecting to mention that one-third of Americans (me among them) consider themselves to be independent of the political parties. In the new polls, eighty-five per cent of Republicans support the refugee ban, eighty-five per cent of Democrats oppose it.
It is clear to me now – I guess it wasn’t as clear before as it is now – that we live in two, perhaps three different Americas, not one, as I have sometimes believed. For all of our differences, there were once some things that brought all or most of us together. I am struggling to find them now.
Nothing could be morally simpler for me than to send Hope these socks and blankets and balls and comforters and welcome her to America, as my grandmother and grandfather were welcomed. There was no question they belonged here, and never once felt unsafe here. It would have been a shocking heresy to ban them, even as there were many people who did not care for Jewish refugees or want them here. Our government and political parties always embraced the wonder of the American dream, the melting pot, our open arms for the weary and oppressed.
This week, I talked with several of my book and blog readers – they all voted for President Trump, I talked to two by e-mail, one by phone – and I asked them if they could help me understand that Hope was a danger to them, and didn’t belong in our country. All three said I didn’t understand the issue.
(My New American Revolution Begins Here Today: With Socks. They cost $12.99)
The real issue, they said, was that waves of largely unrestricted and indiscriminate immigration were endangering the character and strength of America.
They were draining resources, changing the political dynamic of the country from its conservative core, endangering conservatism, undermining our religious values, taking our jobs and bleeding our social services and budgets. On top of that, some refugees were clearly dangerous and should not be permitted to live here.
Just look at the world, they say.
The people I talked to no longer believed that immigration was a precious part of the American Dream, in fact, they believed quite the opposite – it was undermining their dreams and values and work and the quality of American life.
Several conceded that Republicans and conservatives were also deeply concerned that most of the refugees would mostly be Democrats and vote in a progressive way, undermining hard-fought conservative and Republican gains in political power. They saw the immigration debate as just another battle between the left and the right, the prism through which all ideas must now be seen.
The conversations were admittedly disturbing to me, but I did not argue or disagree, that was not the point and I sensed it would have been fruitless. No one asked me what I thought or why. Everyone was kind and respectful.
It wasn’t about Hope, they said, she looked cute enough. It was about preserving American values, not undermining them. They were grateful to the President, this, they all said, was why he was elected, and he was doing what he said he would do, unlike so many politicians.
On this issue, I could find almost no common ground between these good people and me. That saddened me. It wasn’t really a dialogue, it was a statement of fixed opinions, there seemed no room for negotiation.
It seems many people have not shared in my idea of the American Dream and do not share it now, and I must say my heart sank when seeing and hearing this. I see that conservatism, like liberalism, has become a religion, not just a political position. There are zealots everywhere.
I will stand in my truth and fight for my dreams and I do understand it will be a long and sometimes arduous road. I’m showing up to walk on the road.
I respect other people’s ideas, I will not hate them for them or denigrate them, they are not stupid or evil. But somehow, my idea of America, and the world’s idea of America, slipped away from millions of my fellow citizens, and I missed it and am struggling to comprehend it. People like me are somewhat in shock.
I am not in despair.
I find my values to be stronger over the past weeks, I hold them with more, not less conviction. I have more, not less, hope for my country. This shattered vision of America is now very much in the open and I see all around me an Army of Good, as I call it, rising up to take our country back or move it closer to the middle. A new American Revolution, I think.
I missed the first one, I am excited to be able to march in this one. My idea is for us to re-dedicate ourselves to the principles of Liberty. We are called to begin the world anew.
This is an army I wish to join, and I am not a champion of any war. I don’t want to argue good, I want to do good. And I do not feel lonely or alone in any way. I feel very much alive.
When I marched in the small town of Glens Falls, N.Y. with Maria the other day, 1,000 people marched with me. There had never been a crowd like that marching in the history of the town.
I am living my life and keeping my feet on the ground. I am not interested in promoting argument or discord or in judging the beliefs of other people. My life is not an argument, neither are my beliefs. Respecting other people is hard work sometimes, we are forgetting how to do it.
We are all different, we all think we have found our truth, I don’t wish to add self-righteousness to the world, I am not superior to anyone.
Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson and John Adams all agreed that freedom is hard-fought and never completely won. Don’t get lazy, they said. The patriot must be prepared to fight for it again and again, there will always be people who wish to take Liberty away in the name of holiness. Liberty is hard work.
The essence of true spirituality is the understanding of my own perfection. None of us are perfect or will ever be perfect.
I am resolved to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with my God. I would encourage anyone reading this to go to the Refugee Gift Page set up by the U.S. Committee On Refugees And Immigration. You can donate badly needed and inexpensive gifts to the refugee families that have made it here, they may be the last to come for a while.
Today, I am content to help Hope and the other refugee children here in America get some blankets, balls, glasses, and socks.
I want to give hope to Hope, and in so doing, to me.