An Amnesty Band-Aid

The general outcry of the Republican leadership and the party's intelligencia is that we must moderate our positions on social issues, particularly on illegal immigration.  “We lost the Hispanic vote because we are too hardline on amnesty!” they cry.  However, I would say that the Hispanic vote was lost to the Republicans before the election cycle even began.  This is nothing new; large segments of the Hispanic population have voted overwhelming for Democrats for decades.  Coming out in support of amnesty would be like putting a Band-Aid over a gaping wound in need of stitches.  In other words, we know that it is not the solution to the problem.  We have, in fact, historical evidence of this.  In the 1980s, Reagan granted amnesty to illegal aliens living in the United States.  This neither won the political loyalty of the Hispanic population nor stopped the flow of illegal aliens into this country.  So if amnesty isn’t the key to winning the Hispanic vote, what is?

I would say that the Republicans’ problem is larger than opposition to amnesty; it is about culture and assimilation.  Hispanic culture throughout the Western Hemisphere is as diverse as a cross-section of the cultures in Europe.  Each country (and each region within each country, for that matter) has its own traditions, way of life, and even its own dialect of Spanish.  What is it, then, that leads to Hispanics joining together as a voting bloc in the United States?   One thing that all Spanish-speaking nations have in common is that their populations overwhelming identify themselves as Catholic.  During the 1960s, the Catholic Church in Latin America (and more than a few parishes in North America) experienced the teachings of liberation theology.  This movement was largely a humanistic interpretation of the Scriptures, particularly the New Testament, and gave rise to the idea of “social justice," in the Marxist sense, not just as a political movement but a religious one.  Liberation theology advocates the redistribution of wealth and populist revolts to establish governments that would follow these teachings. 

With help from this movement, almost all Latin American countries were (and some are currently) controlled by regimes that fully embrace Marxism dressing in religious clothing.  To the leaders of these regimes, liberation theology was a means of preempting their own overthrow.  The people would not rise up in revolt because they were taught by their faith’s leaders that social justice is a religious obligation.  They did not hear opposing views or about different economic theories because the government controlled the education system (if there was any education to be had).  In the 1980s, the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith repudiated the Marxist elements of liberation theology because it ultimately led to a situation where “the Church of the people” conflicted with the “hierarchical Church”.  In spite of Vatican’s official disagreement with liberation theology, there are still to this day many priests and bishops (and a few cardinals) that embrace it.  When I lived in the Bay Area, I was hard-pressed to find a parish where priests were not pushing liberalism from the pulpit.  I even walked out of Mass during a homily in which the priest blamed the United States for the events of 9-11.  Little did I know back then (in 2005) that there was another religious leader named Jeremiah Wright who was singing from the same hymnal.

When Hispanics (or members of any other ethnic group) migrate to the United States, they do not leave their traditions and religions behind.  Nor should they; the beauty of our country as founded is that we are by default an inclusive society where all people are free to live as they choose.  Problems arise when no effort is made on the part of the immigrant to learn about the ways and culture of their new home.  In fact, in many states immigrants don’t even have to learn English for day to day interaction with the public. There is no expectation that any immigrant, Hispanic or not, legal or not, has to in any way adapt to the ways of their new homeland.  If we do expect it, liberals call us racists and xenophobes. 

That is what conservatism is up against. We have to undo 40 years of conditioning that has led generations of people to believe that it is a government’s job to make Christian charity compulsory.  Not only that, we also have to undo the conditioning of generations of Americans who were taught that “multiculturalism” means that we cannot and should not expect immigrants to truly adopt the United States as their home and assimilate into American culture.  If it sounds like a tall order, that’s because it is.  In states like California, it may even be impossible.  This is why we need to seek cultural solutions, not political ones, to our current problems.  We must emphasize the common ground that we have and educate everyone on what can be done to meet our common goals.  We all want better for our children.  We want to have the freedom to pursue our dreams and be our best.  We want equality of opportunity for everyone who seeks success.  These are the things that all good people want, regardless of their race, creed, or nationality.