A recent attack advert came out against Romney. Sadly, the attack advert points out yet again what many of us feared, particularly those of us who have lived in more than one country. You can see the attack advert above. [Note: what Romney is saying in French on the top advert is NOT what is being printed below him on the screen. That is a false translation.] Xenophobia is now such a strong part of the American landscape that such an advert against Romney has a significant chance of getting people to not vote for him. Please note, this has nothing to do with whether I support Romney or not. This has to do with the rising tide of xenophobia that those of us who have been born in other countries can see growing and growing.
It started with the argument that we need to enforce the law against those who have come here illegally. And then there was the argument that only English should be spoken in the USA, despite the fact that Puerto Ricans have never had to speak English, and those in Guam and Micronesia have other languages, and Native Americans do as well. But, finally the xenophobia has grown enough that even someone born in the USA and who dares to know a different language can be the target of an evil attack advert.
But, this brings up an interesting problem for many of us who are Orthodox. When I am at a Greek Orthodox Church, I do some of the litanies in Greek. Am I then not fully American? What about those who are Antiochian Orthodox and use some Arabic? They are using the language of the enemies of the USA. Are they to be chastised with attack adverts because they use a foreign language in some of our worship?
But, here is what should make every Christian, Orthodox or not, ashamed of that attack advert. Do you know why Romney knows French? Because he was a missionary to France in the 1960’s! I am not in favor of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. But, when did being a missionary who learns another language become transformed into an opportunity to degrade a person?
For those of us who are Christians, we should be ashamed of any advert that degrades someone who served as a missionary, based on the language they learned in order to fulfill their mission, even those who served in a group that is considered to be heretical.
You have to wonder if the attacks are not just that he knows another language but that the other language that he knows is-gasp!-French! Remember all the attacks on the French from the Bush era? French fries became Freedom fries, to name just one such silly attack. So maybe it’s not xenophobia exactly, but more likely francophobia.
You have a point.
“This has to do with the rising tide of xenophobia that those of us who have been born in other countries can see growing and growing. It started with the argument that we need to enforce the law against those who have come here illegally.”
The irony is that, as reported in the news over the weekend, Romney’s tougher immigration stance may actually hurt him with Evangelicals. The momentum of a softer immigration stance (for example, Gringrich’s) is what Evangelicals are increasingly looking for.
Latinos within the GOP just finished endorsing Gingrich over Romney.
Darryl Hart just published a book in 2011 discussing how evangelicalism’s history in the U.S. has led them more toward progressive policies overall, something that partisans of the Reagan coalition have not always appreciated. While activists may have evangelical roots (Falwell, Dobson, etc) it can seem the actual thinkers in conservative groups with religious roots tend to be more Catholic (Buckley, the Catholic convert Neahaus (sic) and others). Since today is Martin Luther King day in the U.S. this might be a subject to revisit. There may be evangelicals who don’t know enough history to realize that evangelicalism has not always or even usually included red state voting patterns. Then again, would anyone but Oregonians and political historians these days remember Oregon senator Mark Hatfield?
As a Mormon who is greatly interested in Orthodoxy, I appreciated this post a lot.