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Perspectivas/Occasional Papers • Fall 2006Perspectivas/Occasional Papers • Fall 2006You shall not charge interest on loans to anotherIsraelite… On loans to a foreigner you may chargeinterest…(Deut. 23:19, 20).But if you will not obey the Lord your God by diligentlyobserving all his commandments and decrees…then all these curses shall come upon you and overtakeyou… Aliens residing among you shall ascend aboveyou higher and higher, while you shall descend lowerand lower. They shall lend to you but you shall notlend to them; they shall be the head and you shall bethe tail (Deut. 28:15, 43-44).In attempting to retrieve critically these biblical materials, weneed to recognize the ambiguities that we recognize in the texts inlight of our contemporary values and expectations for social justice.The welfare system advanced in these texts implies theacceptance of resident aliens in their status as minority, subordinateand vulnerable groups within the social hierarchies in theIsraelite society. The God of the Deuteronomist is also a god whopromotes the conquering of territories, the destitutions of indigenouspopulations, the genocide of native peoples, the discriminationof foreigners, and allows the subordinate and dependentstatus of resident aliens.THIRD THESISWhen critically studied, Scriptures provide religious and ethicalinsights to inform and support a theological and pastoralagenda that supports the struggles and aspirations for justice andhuman rights of immigrant workers around the world and in theU.S.A. The critical interpretation of these biblical traditions for ustoday re q u i res the elaboration of some hermeneutical principles.1. Our reading strategies of biblical texts that represent dynamics32of migration require that we explore them with attention to ourbest understanding of the complex economic, socio-politicaland cultural factors and situations that precipitate and sustainmigration flows and networks, among others: a) systems ofsending and receiving societies, b) imperial and colonialdynamics, c) the emergence of immigrant communities, d) thedevelopment of multicultural societies, e) relations betweenand among majority and minority groups, f) the dynamics andpolitics of national and diasporic groups, g) the variety ofnationalist, diasporic and cosmopolitan agendas with differentethnocentric and ethnorelativist ideologies, h) the practice ofracialization and racism, i) the practices and ideologies of socialhierarchies (class, gender, ethnic, racial, generational, etc.) thataffect citizens and denizens, j) the emergence of reform andsocial movements in multicultural situations, k) the dynamicsand changes in migrant religious communities.2. The interpretation of biblical texts that refer to dynamics ofmigration requires that we become aware of their religious,sociological and political functions. These texts may: a) givereligious, moral and political meaning to historical events; b)provide religious, moral and political sanctions to social practicesand institutions; c) establish or legitimize social and powerrelationships in and between majority and minority groups; d)construct group or national identities in encounters with foreignersin asymmetrical power relationships; e) develop religiousand political agendas or projects; f) engage in ideologicalcritique of other religious-political interpretations and projectsinside and outside Israel.3. The retrieval of biblical texts to reflect and respond theologically,ethically and pastorally to the challenges of migrationprocesses today requires the practice of a political hermeneutics.We need to recognize, first, the differences and commonalitiesof our historical contexts of migration; second, the33
Perspectivas/Occasional Papers • Fall 2006Perspectivas/Occasional Papers • Fall 2006possibilities, limits, and ambiguities of these traditions asresources; third, how our interpretations of these texts areshaped by our social locations, ideological commitments,strategic agendas, reading strategies, and religious and ethicaloptions.4. Finally, we need to become aware of the contemporary experiencesand sources that provide us with visions, values, andoptions to interpret and deal with migration issues, for example,the UN Convention on Protection on Rights of MigrantWorkers. 4 Let me illustrate and finish with this last point.We can say with the Deuteronomist: “You shall not deprive aresident alien or an orphan of justice.” But with the Convention,we can specify: migrant workers and members of their familiesshall have the right to liberty and security of person; shall be freeto leave any State; shall have the right at any time to enter andremain in their State of origin; shall not be subjected to torture orto cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; shallnot be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his orher privacy, family, home, correspondence or other communications,or to unlawful attacks on his or her honour and reputation;shall not be subject to measures of collective expulsion; shall havethe right to life; shall be respected for their cultural identity; shallhave the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose theirplace of residence.We can join the Deuteronomists in demanding: ‘Give the membersof your community a fair hearing, and judge rightly betweenone person and another, whether citizen or resident alien.” TheConvention allows us to claim that migrant workers and membersof their families shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscienceand religion; shall have the right to freedom of expression;shall have the right to have recourse to the protection and assistanceof the consular or diplomatic authorities of their state of ori-34gin; shall be entitled to effective protection by the State againstviolence, physical injury, threats and intimidation whether bypublic officials or by private individuals, groups or institutions;when arrested, shall be entitled to take proceedings before a court,in order that that court may decide without delay on the lawfulnessof their detention and order their release if the detention isnot lawful; when deprived of their liberty shall be treated withhumanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the humanperson and for their cultural identity; shall have the right to equalitywith nationals of the State concerned before the courts and tribunals.We can insist with the Deuteronomists: “You shall not withholdthe wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites oraliens who reside in your land in one of your towns.” With theConvention, we add: migrant workers and members of their familiesshall enjoy treatment not less favourable than that whichapplies to nationals of the State of employment in respect of remunerationand other conditions of work; shall not be arbitrarilydeprived of property, whether owned individually or in associationwith others; shall not be held in slavery or servitude; shallhave the right to take part in meeting and activities of tradeunions; shall have the right to receive any medical care that isurgently required for the preservation of their life or the avoidanceof irreparable harm to their health on the basis of equality oftreatment with nationals of the State concerned; upon the terminationof their stay in the state of employment, shall have the rightto transfer their earnings and savings, and their personal effectsand belongings.There are words and wisdom in the book of Deuteronomy thatallow us to say and live boldly something that our faith requiresbut no UN Convention will say: “You shall also love the stranger,for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” and “cursed be anyonewho deprives the alien, the orphan, and the widow of justice.35
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