Jesus Christ: Anchor Baby
Essays — By Larry Shallenberger on August 24, 2010 at 8:00 am
My son recently returned from band camp and recovered from his grueling work by catching up on the past week’s Daily Show and Colbert Report. Stewart and Colbert must have referred to the term “anchor baby” a half-dozen times in reference to the immigration debate in Arizona.
“Anchor baby” is a new phrase to me, so I started Googling. I learned that it’s a pejorative phrase used by the most outspoken immigrant opponents. The theory is that immigrants will have a child born on U.S. soil and then use that child’s U.S. citizenship as the legal grounds to apply for their own citizenship. The U.S. born child will– when they turn 21-years-old– be able to sponsor their parents’ application for U.S. citizenship.
Let me be clear: This is horrible language. To label a person an anchor baby or an anchor child is to imply that they were born out of utility and not love, that their sole reason for existence is a tactic to serve the interests of the parents. To call someone an anchor baby is to label them something worse than a “bastard.” The term reduces the person to a legally necessary piece of flesh and nothing more. It’s devaluing language that can be used to mask the racism of the people using it. The immigration issue is complex and deserves to be discussed well. “Anchor baby” is an unworthy part of the political lexicon.
Let’s strike it.
Surprisingly, the only person this term could apply to would be our Savior. Jesus became human to establish God’s earthly citizenship. Jesus was certainly loved by God; he was triune God. But he was tactically sent by God the Father into this world as a baby. Jesus became a citizen of the human race for the sole purpose securing God’s presence on Earth. Sin had created a rift between God’s dimension and ours, and God was not above using a baby to erase that spiritual-political dividing line.
The matter of citizenship has a twist, however. Jesus took on human citizenship as a means to allow humanity to regain it’s citizenship into God’s dimension. It turns out that we were the spiritual refugees and didn’t know it. God, in his mercy, worked out all the legalities needed to take us into his nation, even at the price of using a baby to leverage his goal.
1-4If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
5-8Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
9-11Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.
Philippians 2:1-11 MSG
This post originally appeared at www.larryshallenberger.com.
10 Comments
How about this… Until Burnside publishes an article decrying the left’s use of the pejorative “teabagger” to describe those in the Tea Party movement (or any other conservative, for that matter), I’ll continue to use term “anchor baby” to “mask my racism”. Deal? Deal.
1) Have you seen the term “teabagger” used to describe someone in any post written by a Burnside writer? How about in the comments? Links?
2)Do you believe that a term which has double meaning – one sexual, and the other (in my opinion) correctly describing people who go to tea party rallies and adorn themselves in teabags – has the same level of offense as a term used to describe a child who apparently has no value but it’s citizenship rights? Explain.
3) Do you actually disagree with anything in this post, or are you just angry that someone is trying to put humanity and love for people back into the immigration debate? Explain.
Josh, that’s one approach. Or you and I can decide not to lower our own political discourse to the lowest common denominator.
This isn’t a left v. right thing (I’m a Republican). The immigration issue is complex and deserves our best efforts to communicate with each other about the issue.
Make this a Christianity issue. Is your faith informing your political discourse, no matter what your political stripe?
Thoughtful article, BUT, I believe there is vast difference in the motive of God sending His Son to save sinners and illegal immigrants (sorry undocumented workers), coming to the US to have their babies.
Don,
God’s motivation is absolutely unique and beautiful.
That said, it’s simply not fair to assume that all illegal immigrants have a sole motivation for having children on our soil. It’s especially not fair when the motivation is not a noble one.
I’m sorry, Emily, my comment was addressed to the author of the piece, not you. Sorry for any confusion on that point.
@Larry: First of all, let me apologize for my snarky comment. These days, almost all things political put me in a very dark mood. You’re right though, even if it’s a futile effort, we should try to raise the level of political discourse in this country, especially among Christians.
But I still believe the point I was (so snarkily) trying to make holds true. If Burnside, as a Christian organization, is going to call to account Christians on the right when their words are damaging to the national conversation, then they must do the same for Christians on the left.
I, for one, am quite fed up with other Christians calling me everything from a bigot to an imbecille for political positions I hold in good faith.
@Emily: Please accept my apology for my rude comment to you, as well. Let me try to answer your questions in a more Christian manner.
1.) No, I haven’t. From what I can see, most folks who comment here are very good to one another. That said, I wasn’t necessarily refering to those here at Burnside, but the left. Specifically the Christian left. As I mentioned to Larry above, I think that if Burnside is going to take upon itself the responsibility of calling out Christians who lower the public discourse by using hurtful words, then they must do so for all sides.
2.) I don’t know. I do know (from personal experience) that being called a “Racist Teabagger” by someone who is supposed to be your brother or sister in Christ, simply over a political disagreement, hurts very, very deeply. And if that’s the kind of hurt the term “anchor baby” causes, then I won’t be using it again.
3.) Yes I do, but nothing worth arguing about. I just wish we could extend some of that love and humanity to people who don’t vote the way we do. *sigh*
The End.
Apology accepted.
A couple of things. Burnside isn’t so much an organization as it is a collective of writers. As such, we write about what interests us. We don’t pretend to be a watchdog group or the thought police. My best advice would be to try your hand at writing a column and submitting it to Jordan. Seriously, if you see a hole, grab your keyboard and hit it…
I also like the empathy in your remark to Emily. You felt a hurt and know that you don’t want to inflict that on others. That’s a powerful tool you have.
@Don Just to be clear. I wasn’t citing Jesus to argue either side of the debate. I simply see analogy: Before we could claim citizenship in God’s nation he had to join ours.
No need to apologize. Thanks for answering my questions.
Larry,
@Don, above. I agree, Saved by Grace only because he came to us and died for us.