The open borders of the European Union, the United Kingdom and the debate over our border with Mexico have fueled much political rhetoric about national security, identity, culture and jobs. As Christians we feel compassion for the have nots and for those seeking a better life. The parable of the Good Samaritan haunts us. Yet, at what point do we limit immigration in order to safeguard our security and culture.
I asked one of our local journalists, who wrote a sympathetic column, whether he had read Jean Raspail’s novel, The Camp of the Saints. He had not. It was published in 1973 and returned to the bestseller list in 2011. It has recently been republished with a new translation from the French by Vauban Books. It is prophetic about the events taking place today. A hundred boats from India, carrying a million refugees land on the shores of the French Riviera. Raspail brilliantly chronicles the reactions of the French cultural and media elite, government functionaries, church leaders and the military and unmasks their naiveté, their impotence and their lack of resolve, mirrored today by current politicians in Europe. The description of the Pope selling off the treasures of the Vatican to care for the refugees is comical. The invasion precipitates identical people movements across the globe and a social revolution occurs. All developed nations are overtaken by refugees from the overpopulated Third World. The results are reminiscent to what took place in the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror.
Raspail refers to when the “slow, cancerous progress of compassion, which is only a misleading and lethal form of charity, duly laid siege to the Western conscience – when it finally became apparent that in the future the denial of essential and basic human differences would work solely to the detriment of our own integrity.” He calls his novel “a sort of anti-epic, a crusade in reverse, a book charged with all the convoluted instincts and contradictions of the white man.”
The novel disturbingly raises the issues of what sort of society we are and want to remain. It questions multi-culturalism and religious pluralism on the basis of numbers: the West is a minority and will be swamped by the Rest if we allow them all in. If Israel allowed the Palestinians the right to return they would cease to be a Jewish nation. The contrary argument is that Christianity is spreading throughout Asia and Africa and the weakness of Europe is due to its spiritual vacuum. This is a debate which is necessary to have in the face of Islamic terrorism, the instability and corruption of Middle Eastern and African states. It cannot be ignored or silenced by accusing it of racism, bigotry or selfishness. I recommend that you read, The Camp of the Saints, for an alternative point of view.
(Reprinted from my blog in 2016)
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Ted, I certainly understand and support enforcing reasonable and rational limits on immigration. And I may read The Camp of the Saints. However, the atrocities inflicted on illegal immigrants and those suspected of such is not worthy of America and certainly not acceptable for Christians. President Obama removed or repatriated 5.3 illegal immigrants, but he did not descend to the actions of this administration. We must demand better!
My Friend, I originally posted that review in 2016 before all the current controversies. I reposted it because in our men’s bible study we came across the title of the novel in Revelation 20:9. I thought they might like to know more. I think the issue has become more toxic because of the experience of Europe and the UK where assimilation is a real problem and there doesn’t appear to be any humane solutions except to improve the conditions of the countries from which the refugees are fleeing. This is difficult if not impossible to do from the outside. As a result there is a backlash and resentment from taxpayers who don’t want their tax-money spent on housing and other benefits for illegal immigrants. My experience living in Texas gave me much sympathy for the Mexicans who came across the border seeking a better life. As a legal immigrant myself I recognize that history has seen major people movements over time. The Angles, Saxons, Normans and Vikings created Britain as did Europeans create America. The big question is whether immigrants can assimilate with their culture and religion. Many of them do but others don’t. On your point about President Obama, he did not have the opposition and resistance of the Sanctuary Cities, mayors and Governors to deportations. They cooperated with federal law instead of opposing it as they have this year, thus contributing to the confrontations. Let us pray that some accommodation is reached in a peaceful manner. I wouldn’t want the extremists on both sides to prevail.