This is a delicate spiritual issue I have addressed in the past using the Biblical New Testament parable of the Good Samaritan as an example:
Indeed, the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments instructs Christians to treat foreigners with love, compassion and justice, mirroring how the Israelites were once treated in Egypt.
In the Old Testament Book of Leviticus chapter 19 and verses 33 and 34, we read:
Do not take advantage of foreigners who live among you in your land. Treat them like native-born Israelites, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. - New Living Translation.
Again, from the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy Chapter 10 and verses 18 and 19, we read:
He ensures the orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing. So, you too, must show love to foreigners for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. - New Living Translation.
Indeed, Biblical scholars can point out that there are some two dozen texts which emphasise to Christians how they should treat foreigners, and many churches in Northern Ireland have been adopting these verses as their agenda towards legal asylum seekers and the overall migrant community.
But this does not mean that the Christian Churches should turn a blind eye to the cost of living crisis on their own front door steps. With the pressures on the NHS, and the cost of fuel and food, the austerity crisis can no longer be simply dismissed as a lower working class dilemma. It is hitting all sections of society.
How many people, who before the Covid pandemic of 2020 would have considered themselves to be middle class, are now an integral part in the cost of living crisis, having to visit clothing and food banks previously seen as the domain of the lower classes?
How many among the elderly in society, in spite of giving a lifetime of service to their country, have to make cost-cutting decisions as to whether they heat their homes or enjoy a warm meal - the so-called ‘heat or eat’ dilemma?
Is a silent majority of folk having to swallow hard when they see some asylum seekers and migrants walking around their community with back packs filled with clothes, sporting new trainers and state of the art mobile phones, living in top hotels with a guaranteed three good meals per day?
The people helping the asylum seekers and migrants would point out that they came to the UK and Southern Ireland with nothing and perhaps all that is in the back pack constitutes their entire life’s possessions.
However, in spite of all the help which organisations, and especially Christian Churches, have been providing for asylum seekers and immigrants, there is still an underlying growing perception that foreigners are being given preferential treatment when it comes to housing, education and health care over locals who have lived in their communities for generations.
While the Christian Churches can quote the various passages from Scripture which tell Christians to treat foreigners with love, compassion and respect, some folk have also been quoting other verses from the Bible which essentially tell people to start looking after their own kind properly.
While the passage from Leviticus is often quoted in relation to the treatment of foreigners, folk who want to see supposed equal treatment for locals often quote from the same chapter, but verse 32:
Stand up in the presence of the elderly, and show respect for the aged. Fear your God. I am the Lord. - New Living Translation.
This has been interpreted by some Christians as a war cry for the Churches to focus primarily on the needs of the existing congregations and fellowships who have been a cornerstone of their communities for decades.
An accusation which has constantly been levelled at some places of worship is that they see themselves as a ‘cut above’ the people in the community, more concerned with their social image and more interested in creating a self-contained ‘holy huddles’ than leaving the pews to address the pressing needs and challenges of the local communities they are supposed to serve.
In this respect, some places of worship could find themselves walking a very delicate tight rope - wanting to fulfil their Christian duty towards asylum seekers coming into their community locality, but at the same time addressing the needs of local families suffering under the strains of the cost of living crisis.
The local family who can no longer afford to rent a home and has to either sleep rough, or sofa-sleep with relatives could be forgiven for getting angry when they see asylum seekers being put up in quality hotels. Why can’t these same hotels cater for the home-grown homeless?
Why can’t the places of worship open up their vast number of buildings as temporary accommodation for the homeless? At the moment, with the various summer heatwaves, helping those who are forced into sleeping rough may not seem too big a challenge for the Churches.
However, what happens if the summer heatwaves are followed weather-wise by very severe winter storms when sleeping rough becomes a challenge of mere survival?
By all means, Christian places of worship should comply with their Biblical duties in looking after legitimate asylum seekers and migrants who are forced to come into our communities because of the tyranny they have faced back home in their native lands.
But these churches cannot shirk their Christian responsibilities in looking after their own local flocks.
In this respect, the Churches need to be careful that in looking after legal migrants, they do not inadvertently fuel the very racism they are seeking to combat by giving the false impression that asylum seekers are some kind of ‘privileged elite’ - especially if there is a snap Westminster General Election and the opinion polls are accurate and Reform UK becomes a leading party of Government.
In the delicate balancing act of providing for both the needs of their local flocks and legitimate asylum seekers, this social tight rope seems to be getting higher and higher. The question then becomes, who will rescue these places of worship if they fall off that tight rope?
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| Follow Dr John Coulter on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter John is a Director for Belfast’s Christian radio station, Sunshine 1049 FM. |
Here's a wee interesting article on Ballymena after those families were removed..
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jul/19/ballymena-impact-anti-migrant-riots-northern-ireland
I did see on Social Media that some of them had fled to the South and the locals down there didn't want them either. Are they racist too or is just only Loyalists, and the South just has 'concerned residents'?
Haven't read the article but it is fanciful to suggest that critics of the Ballymena racists ignore racism in the 26. Has a poor mouth ring to it. As you know both sets of racists have been cooperating. Even if racism in the 26 dwarfed racism in the 6 that does nothing to minimise the presence (not the prevalence) of racism within loyalist communities'. In recent days there have been reports of street patrols in loyalist areas stopping people of a different colour from themselves.
DeleteDown here we have a lot or racism, its most recent public manifestation being in the targeting of people from the Indian community. Rather than explaining away the racism of Ballymena as something else you could join with those of us who oppose racism wherever it explodes onto the scene.
ReplyDelete"Rather than explaining away the racism of Ballymena as something else you could join with those of us who oppose racism wherever it explodes onto the scene."
Or maybe people should simply accept that we all eat, sleep and shit in the same position and some have a better sun tan than others.
Differences in skn pigmentation is not caused by differential exposure to the sun. Not that it should matter but unfortunately it has been made to because of the bogus science of race.
DeleteThat's true but if you read the article you'll see that even other nationalities were glad to see the back of them from Ballymena. While no doubt there was a racist element involved it wasn't solely them. It was definitely to get that shower of bastards removed and as pointed out it's went quiet even with other roma families still there. Proves the point.
ReplyDeleteI will read it.
DeleteYet, other nationalities were not burning them or the Filipinos out.
I have seen nothing yet to suggest that the primary driving factor was racism for which the specified allegedly guilty party was a flag of convenience.
If it was only to get that party removed there would not have been a blanket assault.
Because it wasn't just the actions of a singular 'guilty party' that drove the locals to this, read the article and you'll see a comment from a mother relieved that her kids can now not feel threatened nor intimidated by the actions of that group. This ties in to what that cop told me when I was back home, that those 2 streets in Ballymena the locals couldn't walk down.
DeleteDon't know about the Indian community but the Filipino's, Romanians ( not these Roma/Bulgarians) and Polish all seem to integrate quite well from what I saw in South Belfast. Quite lovely people.
Just read the piece and see nothing in it that diminishes the racist content of the attacks or mitigates the thinking behind it.
DeleteIt had nothing to do with drugs or criminality as the loyalist gangs are up to their neck in both, something noted by one of those interviewed. That the mob specified foreigners rather than Roma criminals is also telling. It is hardly driven by concern at sexual assault or protecting women given the recent data showing a huge percentage of those involved in rioting in both the North and England had previously been cautioned or charged with sexual offences and violence against women.
There will be natural relief experienced by anybody who has been tormented by their neighbour, and that torment is removed, however it is done. But the relief of the tormented is not what guided the racist attacks. Racism did. Gangsters putting gangsters out because the community is concerned at gangsterism - Seriously? If gangsterism was the primary concern there would be a demand for the people driving the racist riots to have been put out.
I still have heard no one echo your assertion that only loyalists are racists - down here there is plenty of racism masked in the clothing of concerned citizens.
Fair point. Maybe it's a case of "As long as it's our gangsters that's ok", and the locals pressured the paramilitaries to do something about it. If it was solely racism why didn't they go after the immigrants in the adjoining streets? I concede that there is a racist element at play but it doesn't quite neatly answer everything.
DeleteNeither would I claim that concerned residents are racist in the South either. Don't blame them for not wanting that shower about them. aside from then I'm sure you've seen social media were an African is seen clearly masturbating near a Dublin school in broad daylight until a Dub chases him off? I don't think the Dub was racist for that.
That is what it seems like to me - our gangsters good, your gangsters bad.
DeleteAt the same time pressure will escape at the weakest point and unlike the domestic gangsters perhaps the foreign gangsters were not perceived as being strong enough to do much about it.
There is no one reason for most events but the points I sought to make was that racism was the primary factor and there is no blind spot here to nationalist racism. We see it every day of the week. The recent upsurge in violence against Indian people was the latest manifestation of that.
The guy who chased the wanker was absolutely right. He would only be racist if he chose to ignore a white Irish wanker and let him get on with it. As an aside we have a situation where immigrants are targeted on the grounds of supposedly posing a threat to children. I would be pretty certain that priests have assaulted more children than foreigners but the racist mob claims to want a return to Catholic values. No rush on their part to gather outside churches to protect children.
Why not attack the other streets in Ballymena? I don't know but at a guess it might be the streets where the alleged rapists lived. I imagine people of a different colour from us did not feel safe in any part of Ballymena during the disturbances.
As always good to hear your perspective on these matters. I think it better for people like you to reflect on loyalism rather than reflect it. It is a point I have made about both Clifford Peeples and Jamie Bryson. I understand your perceived need to protect your community's reputation and integrity but I also feel the distance provided by voluntary exile allows you a latitude the others don't have.
Just my musings - not something you need to take too seriously!!!
I've been away for a few decades now and time does allow for more analysis. The conflict seems like an eternity ago in someone else's fevered dream. There are striking differences between Australians and in particular Belfast/North Irish folk. If I hear an accent from back home we instantly have an understanding with no airs nor graces and very quickly it degenerates into humour, usually black! The Ozzies are usually a lot more reserved even after speaking for an hour. They are also nowhere near as 'hardened' as a people as what our lot are, but that's obviously an outworking of the past. It's a very civilianised life here.
ReplyDeleteMind you, living in Melbourne these days you can't go for a walk in the city without seeing a GAA top! There must be a shitload of migration going on, and the more the merrier!