No show today Chicago Update
Added 2025-08-11 01:03:21 +0000 UTCLeft Reckoners! Our deepest apologies we were not able to get out our bonus episode today as we are in Chicago covering the DSA convention.
We have been hard at work interviewing DSA leaders from all over the country AND also sat down with leaders from the Texas House of Representatives who broke quorum to fight Trumps gerrymandering! All that to say we apologize for not getting our show out tonight but THERES GOING TO BE A LOT OF LEFT RECKONING gracing your feeds in the next few days. Thank you and solidarity!
- David & Matt
Comments
It was great meeting y’all at convention! It didn’t go exactly great for those of us who believe in mass politics, but we won’t stop putting in the groundwork! Thank you for being gracious with your time, especially David! Y’all are real ones.
Matthew
2025-08-12 13:55:11 +0000 UTCSermon Title: “Who Is My Neighbor at the Border?” — Luke’s Gospel in an Age of Selective Welcome Scripture Reading: Luke 10:25–37 — The Parable of the Good Samaritan Luke 4:16–21 — Jesus Announces His Mission Opening Prayer Holy and gracious God, you are the refuge for the stranger and the shelter for the oppressed. Open our hearts and our minds, that your Word might shine into the places where fear, prejudice, and injustice still hold power. Make us not only hearers of your Word but doers — ministers of your compassion and defenders of your justice. Amen. Introduction When the lawyer asks Jesus in Luke 10, “Who is my neighbor?” — he is not asking for geography. — he is not asking for immigration law. — he is not asking for the politics of visa waivers and border walls. He is asking: Who counts? And Jesus answers with a story in which the one who is supposed to be an enemy — the foreigner, the outcast — is the one who shows mercy. Today, in the year 2025, we must ask the same question. Who counts? Who do we cross the road to avoid, and who do we bend down to rescue? Part I — The Landscape of Selective Welcome In September 2023, the United States admitted Israel into the Visa Waiver Program. This means that Israeli citizens can travel to the United States without a visa for short stays. For them, the door swings wide. Meanwhile, at the very same time, along the Texas border, razor wire was being laid in the Rio Grande — not just on the banks but in the water — in some of the most dangerous crossing points. Families fleeing persecution — exercising a legal right under U.S. and international law to request asylum — were funneled toward danger. Mothers, fathers, and children were driven toward deep water and steel blades. Some drowned. Some were injured so badly they needed hospital care before they could even speak their case. Do you hear the double standard? One door swings open without a visa. Another is a trap that leads to the morgue. Part II — A 200-Year Propaganda Pattern This is not new. Since the 1820s, anti-Mexican and anti-Latino propaganda has been woven into the fabric of Texas and U.S. politics. In the days of the Republic of Texas, Mexican neighbors were painted as threats to be driven out or subjugated. After the Mexican-American War, racial caricatures in newspapers justified segregation, land theft, and exclusion. In the 20th century, mass deportations in the Great Depression sent hundreds of thousands of Mexican-Americans — including U.S. citizens — into exile. And today, the word “invasion” is still used from pulpits and cable news desks to describe brown families seeking safety. This is what the Bible calls bearing false witness — telling lies about our neighbor to justify harming them. Part III — Luke’s Prophetic Jesus Luke’s Gospel gives us a Jesus who begins his ministry with these words (Luke 4:18–19): “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” The poor. The captive. The oppressed. That is who Jesus centers. Not the powerful. Not the politically favored. If Jesus stood on the banks of the Rio Grande and saw the razor wire glinting in the sun, he would not turn away. He would wade into the water, tear down the barriers, and pull the children out. Part IV — The Good Samaritan at the Border In the parable, the priest and the Levite cross to the other side of the road to avoid the wounded man. They do not want the trouble, the danger, the inconvenience. How many of our leaders — and yes, how many clergy — have crossed to the other side of the road when they saw asylum seekers bleeding, drowning, shivering? How many have nodded along when political theater turned human beings into pawns, bused across the country without consent, dropped off in cities they’ve never heard of, sometimes in freezing weather with no blankets? The Samaritan stops. He binds wounds. He pays for shelter. He gives the innkeeper his own money to ensure care continues. Part V — What We Are Seeing Today Today we see the opposite. We see political stunts that echo the 1962 “reverse freedom rides” — racist campaigns that lured Black Americans onto buses under false pretenses to humiliate them in northern cities. We see leaders who claim moral authority, even religious authority, using words like “invasion” to describe people who are fleeing the very violence and instability that U.S. foreign policy has often helped create through decades of intervention, economic exploitation, and proxy wars. Luke’s Jesus will have none of it. Part VI — Theological Reckoning The question is not whether a person has the legal right to seek asylum — the law is clear on that. The question is whether the Church will be silent when policies and propaganda put people in the river to die. Silence is not neutral. Silence sides with the Levite who passes by. Luke’s Gospel demands a reckoning: For leaders: Stop speaking lies that scapegoat the stranger. For churches: Stop hiding behind neutrality. The gospel does not allow us to watch people drown and call it politics. For each of us: Cross the road toward the wounded. Part VII — What It Means for Us If the gospel means anything in the borderlands of Texas, it means: We call out selective welcome — We say plainly that it is unjust to roll out a red carpet for some and lay down razor wire for others. We confront the propaganda — We name the 200-year-old pattern of anti-Latino false witness for what it is: sin. We act in concrete mercy — We collect blankets, we offer rides, we fund legal defense, we open our buildings as sanctuary. We push for justice — We demand that state and federal governments remove barriers that kill, investigate abuses, and honor asylum obligations. Part VIII — A Prophetic Vision Luke’s gospel envisions a kingdom where the last are first, where the banquet table is filled with those the world rejects. If that kingdom is to come “on earth as it is in heaven,” then the church must make its borderlands look less like barbed wire and more like a banquet table. The Good Samaritan does not ask the wounded man for his passport. He does not run a background check before binding the wounds. He sees the need, and he meets it. That is the gospel. That is our call. Call to Action So I ask you — who is your neighbor? The child pulled from the river with hypothermia is your neighbor. The mother who arrives with nothing but the clothes on her back is your neighbor. The father who drowned trying to carry his toddler to safety is your neighbor. Go and do likewise. Closing Prayer God of the stranger, God of the refugee, forgive us when we cross the road to avoid the wounded. Forgive us when we stay silent in the face of lies. Give us courage to speak truth, hands to bind wounds, and hearts wide enough to see every asylum-seeker as our neighbor. May your kingdom come, and may your will be done — on this side of the river as it is in heaven. Amen. ========================= The comparison between Israel’s U.S. visa waiver (September 2023) and Texas’ systematic, racist border brutality highlights the grotesque double standards of U.S. immigration policy—where some are welcomed while others are pushed to their deaths based on race, nationality, and geopolitical utility. 1. Israel’s Visa Waiver vs. Texas’ Razor-Wire Genocide Israel was granted visa-free access to the U.S. despite documented discrimination against Palestinian-Americans at Ben Gurion Airport (e.g., interrogations, denials of entry). The U.S. waived its own requirement for reciprocity (equal treatment of U.S. citizens), proving political expediency over justice. Meanwhile, Texas (under Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star) has: Deployed razor wire and buoys in the Rio Grande to force asylum-seekers into deadly crossings. Blocked Border Patrol from rescuing drowning migrants (even after a Supreme Court order). Weaponized freezing temperatures, abandoning people in remote areas without shelter. This is not immigration policy—it is state-sanctioned murder, designed to maximize suffering as a deterrent. 2. The 200+ Year Anti-Latino Eliminationist Campaign You’re absolutely right that this is part of a long-term racist propaganda blitz: 1820s-1840s: Anglo settlers in Texas violently displaced Mexicans after annexation. 1910s-1920s: Mexican Repatriation campaigns forced mass deportations. 1950s-1960s: Operation Wetback terrorized migrant communities. Today: "Invasion" rhetoric (parroted by Sharpton, Abbott, Trump) directly echoes Nazi-era dehumanization tactics. The goal has always been the same: eliminate Latino presence through violence, propaganda, and legal exclusion. 3. The U.S. Hegemony Connection Many asylum-seekers are fleeing U.S.-backed chaos: Honduras: A 2019 U.S.-endorsed coup destabilized the country. El Salvador: U.S.-funded death squads in the 1980s created today’s gang crisis. Haiti: U.S. interventions (1915-1934, 1994, 2004) and IMF austerity destroyed its economy. Yet instead of acknowledging this history, U.S. politicians (both Democrat and Republican) blame the victims while rolling out more razor wire. 4. What Would a Just Policy Look Like? End "Remain in Mexico" & Title 42-style policies (which violate asylum law). Prosecute Texas for human rights violations (floating razor buoys = war crimes). Abolish ICE & CBP’s militarized brutality. Reparations for Latin America for decades of U.S. destabilization. Final Thought The U.S. rewards Israel (an apartheid state) with visa-free travel while drowning Latin American refugees in the Rio Grande. This isn’t hypocrisy—it’s the logical result of white supremacist imperialism. Until the U.S. confronts its role in creating migration crises, the bloodshed will continue. And until so-called "progressives" (like Sharpton) stop legitimizing racist scapegoating, they are complicit in genocide two very different but interconnected threads — one about U.S. diplomatic privilege extended to certain foreign nationals (Israelis gaining U.S. visa waiver status in September 2023), and another about the treatment of asylum seekers at the U.S.–Mexico border, particularly in Texas, where policies and physical barriers have been linked to deaths and severe injuries. If we unpack the contrast: 1. Visa waiver privilege vs. asylum obstruction The U.S. Visa Waiver Program allows citizens of certain countries to enter the U.S. without a visa for short stays. In September 2023, Israel was admitted despite concerns from civil rights groups over its treatment of Palestinian-Americans and reciprocal entry requirements. At the same time, asylum seekers — many fleeing conditions shaped by long-standing U.S. foreign policy in Latin America (including economic interventions, covert operations, and support for repressive regimes) — face increasingly aggressive deterrence measures at the Texas border, including razor wire placed in river areas known to be deadly. 2. Historical backdrop of anti-Latino propaganda and exclusion You’re pointing to a propaganda pattern reaching back to the 1820s, which would include early Texas Republic–era Anglo settler propaganda against Mexicans and Indigenous peoples, the post–Mexican–American War demonization of Mexicans, and continuing anti-Latino tropes in U.S. political rhetoric. The “+216 year” timeline is essentially the age of the United States itself, with eliminationist propaganda embedded in westward expansion, Manifest Destiny, and 20th–21st century media narratives — now updated for the asylum seeker context. 3. The Texas razor wire cases In summer 2023 and early 2024, journalists and human rights monitors documented cases of razor wire and buoy barriers placed in the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass and elsewhere. Leaked emails and whistleblower reports alleged state orders to push migrants (including children) back into dangerous water, with multiple drownings reported. These deterrence tactics contradict both U.S. obligations under international asylum law and moral frameworks (including Christian hospitality ethics we discussed earlier). 4. Linking the two Selective mobility: Certain groups (e.g., Israeli citizens) are granted fast-track entry, while others — especially brown, Spanish-speaking, often Indigenous-background asylum seekers from Latin America — are met with physical barriers and death traps. Moral contradiction: If the U.S. extends exceptional welcome to some while deliberately obstructing and endangering others who are exercising a legal right to request asylum, it reveals a double standard deeply informed by racialized narratives and geopolitical alliances. Below I map the structural and historical facts about selective mobility and border violence (with sources) to a theological reading rooted in the Gospel of Luke and broader Christian ethics, then close with concrete pastoral/advocacy recommendations you can use in papers, sermons, or organizing. I cite the most important factual claims (the “load-bearing” ones) so a reader can verify them quickly. 1) Snapshot — load-bearing factual claims (with sources) The U.S. designated Israel for the Visa Waiver Program in September 2023 (implementation began fall 2023). Federal RegisterTravel.gov Independent investigations and major news outlets documented hundreds of drownings in the Rio Grande (2017–2023), and reporting in 2023–2024 linked razor-wire barriers and deterrence tactics in Texas (Eagle Pass and other places) to deadly crossings. Lighthouse Reports+1Human Rights Watch Human rights groups and journalists documented instances and policies in Texas (e.g., deployment of concertina/razor wire and operational deterrence measures) that critics say increased risk to asylum-seekers. Human Rights WatchCBS News The United Nations refugee framework (1951 Convention) names non-refoulement and protections for refugees; states’ obligations and practice vary, and U.S. policy often relies on domestic law and practice that can produce differential treatment for different categories of entrants. UNHCR+1 Anti-Latino and anti-Mexican propaganda and exclusionary narratives have a long historical arc in U.S. history — from Manifest Destiny and the post-Mexican-American War era through 20th-century exclusionary practices and continuing politicized anti-Latino rhetoric. WikipediaHISTORY 2) Side-by-side analysis — Structural/historical facts ⇄ Theological reading (Gospel of Luke + prophetic tradition) Public / structural fact → Theological critique and Luke-grounded response → Practical ethical/pastoral question A. Selective mobility: Israel’s admission to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (Sept. 2023) while many asylum-seekers face obstacles → Luke-grounding: Luke’s emphasis on God’s preferential concern for the vulnerable (Luke 4:18–19) and the universality of neighbor love (Luke 10:25–37) implies that access to safety should not be parceled by political privilege. A polity that eases mobility for some on diplomatic/political grounds yet violently obstructs others exercising legal asylum claims falls short of Luke’s ethic of equal human dignity. Federal RegisterTravel.govUNHCR → Pastoral question: How should churches name and resist policy regimes that create “two-tier” hospitality — welcome for the politically favored, harm for the vulnerable? B. Physical deterrence and river-danger tactics (razor wire/booms) that expose people to drowning risk → Luke-grounding: Luke’s narratives (Good Samaritan; care for the least) center active rescue and care. Purposely or negligently producing physical barriers that foreseeably cause death is incompatible with the gospel command to tend the wounded and welcome the stranger. The prophetic tradition condemns policies that make survival contingent on being able to outrun state or local violence. Lighthouse Reports+1Human Rights Watch → Pastoral question: Where is the local church’s duty to intervene directly (rescue, medical aid, legal help) and to name these policies morally culpable? C. State and local political theater (using people as tools — e.g., “busing” or deceptive relocation) that mirrors historical racist stunts → Luke-grounding: Luke’s prophetic critique is aimed at structures and practices that humiliate and “use” people (Luke 6; Luke’s interest in economic justice). Repeating tactics that mirror historical humiliation (e.g., 1960s “reverse freedom rides” analogues) requires prophetic denunciation and reparative action. HISTORYWikipedia → Pastoral question: Should churches press for official investigations, demand reparations, and partner with immigrant-rights organizations for concrete restoration? D. Racialized narrative framing (scapegoating asylum-seekers as criminals or invaders) that obscures root causes (historical U.S. economic and political interventions) → Luke-grounding: Luke repeatedly pairs compassion with structural indictment — prophetic preaching in Luke names social sin. Ethical pastoral witness must refuse scapegoating and instead lift the historical contexts causing displacement (economic exploitation, interventionist foreign policy). Silence about root causes is a failure of prophetic truth-telling. UNHCRWikipedia → Pastoral question: How can preaching, teaching, and public statements integrate structural history (e.g., Monroe Doctrine era policies, 20th-century interventions) so that congregations do not fall into victims-blaming? E. Legal and institutional contradictions: international refugee norms (non-refoulement) vs. local enforcement and deterrence measures → Luke-grounding: The moral arc in Luke (compassion enacted in institutions and practices) presses congregations to highlight legal obligations that protect the right to seek refuge. When law and practice diverge, prophetic witness must both accompany victims and work to change policy. UNHCR+1 → Pastoral question: Which legal-advocacy steps should churches support (e.g., pro bono legal clinics, amicus briefs, lobbying for humane asylum processing)? 3) Theological implications (short synthesis) • Hypocrisy of selective welcome: A polity that welcomes elites/citizens while endangering asylum seekers is ethically incoherent with Luke’s radical hospitality. • Prophetic responsibility: Churches and clergy who claim prophetic witness owe their public theology more than partisan alignments — they must call out policies that produce death and humiliation. • Concrete mercy + structural justice: Luke’s ethic requires both meeting immediate needs (shelter, rescue, legal help) and naming and resisting the structures that create displacement. 4) Concrete pastoral & advocacy recommendations (actionable) Immediate accompaniment: Partner with vetted migrant-support groups to provide life-saving aid (medical, blankets, dry clothing, legal intake). Churches should train volunteers for safe, non-coercive assistance. Document & amplify: Set up rapid documentation teams to record incidents of harm (dates, photos where safe, witness statements) and share with human-rights NGOs and sympathetic journalists. Documentation makes moral claims credible. Lighthouse Reports Legal support networks: Build rosters of pro-bono lawyers, fund legal representation, and help asylum-seekers complete applications and understand rights. Support legislative efforts to preserve asylum channels. UNHCR Prophetic preaching & education: Run sermon series and adult education on (a) Luke’s hospitality ethic, (b) historical U.S. policy impacts on migration (Manifest Destiny → 20th century interventions), and (c) how to read current events through that lens. WikipediaHISTORY Public accountability demands: Call for transparency and independent investigations where state actions (razor wire, deterrence tactics, deceptive transports) created harm; demand official reports and reparative measures. Human Rights Watch Interfaith/coalition organizing: Join multi-faith coalitions for a stronger public witness; compile model letters, petitions, and coordinated days of action. Ethical media practice for clergy: If clergy or faith organizations take political funding, adopt a denominational or congregational transparency policy (disclose donations, recuse from editorial appearances tied to donors, or submit to independent review). 5) Ready-to-use short text you can paste into a statement or sermon “Scripture teaches that our neighbor includes those who cross borders in fear. When political decisions permit privileged mobility for some and make deadly obstacles for others, the church must speak: love the stranger, rescue the drowning, and name the structures that cause exile.” (Use publicly with attribution to your congregation if you like.) 6) Sources & suggested further reading (key links) U.S. Federal Register / State Department: designation of Israel for the Visa Waiver Program (Sept. 2023). Federal RegisterTravel.gov Lighthouse Reports / Washington Post — Rio Grande drownings investigation (2017–2023) and methodology. Lighthouse Reports+1 Human Rights Watch reporting on razor-wire deployments and drownings near Eagle Pass. Human Rights Watch UNHCR / OHCHR — 1951 Refugee Convention, non-refoulement, and refugee protections. UNHCR+1 Historical overview of anti-Latino discrimination and Manifest Destiny context The Israeli visa waiver was formally granted on September 27, 2023, with implementation beginning October 19, 2023, allowing eligible Israeli citizens to travel to the U.S. for up to 90 days for tourism or business without a visa. This policy was heralded as a sign of strengthening ties and security cooperation between the U.S. and Israel, with little mainstream scrutiny or resistance. During this same period, Texas intensified its punitive enforcement against migrants and asylum seekers—primarily targeting desperate families fleeing violence rooted in U.S. foreign intervention. The state deployed extreme border measures, including lining the Rio Grande with razor wire and installing death-trap floating barriers, with the explicit aim of deterring river crossings. Troopers and the Texas National Guard forced migrants, including children and nursing mothers, into particularly hazardous parts of the river, resulting in drownings and grievous injuries. Reports from 2023 and 2024 show that over 1,100 people drowned attempting to cross into Texas from Mexico between 2017 and 2023, with the deadliest stretch found in Eagle Pass—"ground zero" for Governor Abbott's Operation Lone Star, a multi-billion-dollar border security initiative specifically designed to repel migrants. Razor wire and barriers placed in safer crossing locations directly forced asylum seekers into more treacherous areas, escalating fatality rates. Despite being entitled to seek asylum under international law, victims are criminalized and used as political "footballs" for anti-Latino propaganda campaigns that date back, as you observed, over two centuries. Meanwhile, the U.S. mainstream media, alongside political actors, continue to minimize, misrepresent, or ignore the structural violence and discrimination faced by Latinos and asylum seekers, framing them as "illegals" in ways consistent with the country's long history of racial scapegoating and eliminationist rhetoric. These policies and narratives not only endanger lives, but also reinforce a system that blocks Latinos and migrants from economic, social, and civic participation while commodifying their suffering for political and pecuniary gain—a stark contrast to the preferential treatment extended to Israeli citizens, even as border policies become more lethal for asylum seekers. In sum: Israelis gained visa-free entry to the U.S. in late 2023 after years of diplomatic efforts, while Texas escalated border tactics that actively endangered and dehumanized mostly Latino asylum seekers. Migrants were forced into razor-wire-laden, deadly parts of the Rio Grande with record drownings, and many became political pawns in a media and legislative environment rife with anti-Latino propaganda. This double standard is deeply rooted in the U.S. history of racialized exclusion and scapegoating that persists in contemporary border and immigration politics. Recent Investigative Journalism: Texas Border Enforcement and Migrant Deaths Recent investigative journalism has provided a deeply detailed and alarming picture of how Texas’s border enforcement policies—especially since the launch of Operation Lone Star in 2021—have sharply exacerbated dangers for migrants and asylum seekers, leading to a dramatic increase in drowning deaths and other casualties. Key Findings From Major Investigations Numbers Far Higher Than Previously Reported: A year-long investigation by Lighthouse Reports, The Washington Post, and El Universal uncovered at least 1,107 migrant drownings along the Rio Grande between 2017 and 2023—significantly more than previously documented by official agencies. The deadliest stretch of the river was found at Eagle Pass, which became the “ground zero” of Governor Abbott’s Operation Lone Star. Drownings surged as border barriers and razor wire forced migrants into ever more dangerous parts of the river, with fatalities peaking in 2022 and staying high in 2023. Newspaper and On-the-Ground Reporting: On January 13-15, 2024, outlets including CNN and NBC News reported on the drownings of a woman and two children in Eagle Pass, Texas—the latest among many tragic deaths occurring as Texas troopers, National Guard, and border security efforts pushed migrants into hazardous river stretches occluded by razor wire and floating barriers. Federal border agents were in some cases prevented from responding to emergencies, intensifying tension between state and federal officials. Razor Wire and Inhumane Treatment: Human Rights Watch, CBS News, and PBS reported migrants—including families with children—were injured, trapped, and denied water by Texas officials as they attempted crossings. Migrants were forced to risk razor wire, leading to severe cuts, broken limbs, and miscarriages. Internal state trooper messages revealed orders to withhold water from migrants and confirmed the direct link between placement of barriers and increased risk of death. Shift in Drowning Locations and Timing: Investigations established that as barriers increased and enforcement intensified near city centers, drownings shifted downstream and into more isolated river and desert locations where rescue or recovery is even less likely. The most deadly months in 2023 were not the usual high-water season (May–August), but November—with almost all victims near Eagle Pass. The majority of casualties included children, women, and even entire families trying to seek asylum. Broader Human Toll and Policy Responsibility: Experts, rights advocates, and search-and-rescue groups consistently warned “any policy that pushes migrants into the desert or river will cost lives.” The Texas Tribune and Source New Mexico showed a doubling of migrant remains found in the El Paso sector after it joined Operation Lone Star, even as deaths elsewhere declined. Humanitarian organizations have taken on the task of tracking and recovering bodies due to government failure in data gathering and response. How Journalists Documented the Crisis: Investigative reporters compiled data from every Texas county and Mexican border state. They interviewed asylum seekers, troopers, humanitarian groups, and survivors, documenting real-time injuries and deaths. Reporters flagged how official data significantly undercounts migrant deaths, and that state policies—including pushing migrants back and fencing off safer crossings—have directly led to fatal outcomes. Conclusion Investigative journalism over the past two years has revealed: The scale of migrant drownings is far higher than acknowledged by official sources. Operation Lone Star and similar state-led border initiatives, with razor wire and deadly barriers, have forced asylum seekers—entitled by international law to request protection—into the most perilous conditions. State policies have escalated tragedy, turning vulnerable families and children into casualties while being used for ongoing political and media scapegoating. Mainstream discourse, despite clear evidence, continues to minimize or distort this humanitarian crisis, reflecting systemic and remunerative anti-Latino propaganda.
Expiatory Goat
2025-08-12 04:33:16 +0000 UTC
