Human Migration and Unnecessary Misery

Ramon Arias | June 24, 2014

When we hear stories of immigration border patrol agents arresting children two years and younger you know we are in trouble. The White House admits responsibility for the massive migration specially coming from Central America: Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, as a result, of people wanting to come due to this administration’s immigration policy for amnesty.

Whether this is an intentional political move with a plan to force Congress to pass immigration reform, overwhelm the system in order to collapse the social order, or both there’s one word for that action: evil.

The horror stories we’re hearing about single mothers with one or more children, entire families and teenagers making the journey from their homeland to reach the border of the United States of America are heart wrenching. The stories denote how human vultures are preying upon them from the moment they leave until they arrived at the border, and some are being killed along the way.

Why are people doing this and in the process risking so much? In the beginning, the government was covering up with stories of people running away from gang violence, life insecurity, lack of jobs and other compelling news to prey on American compassion. After asking people the true reasons for leaving their countries a serious investigation was done. Some of the stories are confirmed among them on how they heard through the media that if they could reach the border with the children they would be welcomed into the states and receive amnesty. Relatives and friends, who are already illegal in the U.S., informed them to make their way into the border and cross because the government is about to pass amnesty. 

The governments of the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras have met to find solutions to this man-made crisis because public opinion against this monstrosity is getting louder.

There are times in human events when migration of people from their homeland to another place is the result of severe problems such as drought, flooding, war, high crime, lack of security and tyranny. Then we have the movement that takes place, as a result, of people looking for political stability, less crime, better job opportunities, quality of life, being closer to family, friends and other social reasons for a new life. We can also include another form of resettlement, the ideological and religious mission for changing the targeted country or region to their worldview. Can there be a combination of different factors already mentioned and others? Yes.

When does immigration that produces misery become unnecessary? When there is social stability, jobs are available, and pay is adequate for ongoing progress. Let us keep in mind that bad human behavior is the main source of all social ills. The world population is 7,174,000,000 and counting. We do not have a population explosion problem, let me insist, we have a worldview problem.

For the sake of considering my statement let me bring your attention to this continent from Alaska all the way to Patagonia (South of Argentina), which is rich in natural resources. With such abundance this means there is no justification for the poverty level we find in Latin America, absolutely none.

Long before the Europeans settled in this continent there were vast populations scattered from north to south. There were several empires, the most well-known being the Mayans with excellent agricultural advancements, writing, mathematics, engineering, architecture, hospitals, schools, libraries, sports arenas and other advancements in diverse areas. They were the oldest and no one knows how they vanished.

The Aztecs ruled most of Mexico and Central America, 15 million people. They ruled with brutal force and practiced human sacrifices, imposed high taxes and had many enemies. Like the Mayans before them, they had great knowledge in many areas and built great cities and had a powerful army. In 1519, Hernan Cortes brought the Spanish conquest and within two years the Aztec Empire collapsed not because the Spanish were more powerful but due to the alliances made with the other unhappy, dominated indigenous population, and the smallpox brought by Spaniards. Cortes destroyed Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire, and upon those ruins built Mexico City. The Catholic Christian faith was imposed and became the religion of New Spain.

The Inca Empire covered more territory than the Mayans and Aztecs. They controlled all the western part of South America; their capital was Cusco, Peru. Incan’s were great road builders through the mountains and the coastlands. The Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro spread the dominion of Spain and the Catholic Christian faith.

The worldview the Spanish brought to this part of the world came with the Catholic Christian faith. The force of war conquered the Aztec and Incan empires, and the natives were forced to convert to the brand of the Catholic Christian faith. The conquered population changed from one form of dominance to a new one. The biblical worldview was not part of a new culture, and human behavior did not change; one generation went and another came and the cycles continued until today. The continent continues to be rich in natural resources and what needs to change is the way people understand life.  In order to accomplish that goal, the biblical worldview must be known, it is of the utmost importance.

The collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 was meant to declare to the world that the Socialist, Communist, Marxist worldview of society does not work. No intelligent society should follow their ideology. We entered into a new world of geopolitical balance. In Latin America the liberation theology (the mixing of Christianity and Marxism) that gained so much ground in many countries was in shock and collapsing. The governments who had their hopes in a social system that crumbled before their eyes were puzzled and confused not knowing what the future held. The majority of them did not trust the United States of America, the most natural question was: now what?

Under this climate in 1992, I was invited to Buenos Aires, Argentina to an emergency gathering of government officials from different countries from Central and South America to find answers to the ‘now what’ question. It was a week-long shut-in. Even though, I was not an elected official they respected my understanding of social issues in the different areas of national life. It was an opportunity to present the only viable solution to all Latin America’s social and ancestral generational problems: The biblical worldview applied to all areas of life. At the end of that week, I was selected to present before the executive national Congress of Argentina the outcome of our meetings and what we foresaw to move the nations of Latin America down the right path. 

The following years, hard work was done, lots of writing, recording, speaking at conferences, traveling to different nations and attending all sizes of meetings. My position was and is that there’s only one culture in the history of the world that has been able to put the right foundation for a new society that later gave us the concept of independence in a new experiment of government, which became the original United States of America. Two-term president of Costa Rica Oscar Arias (1986 to 1990 and 2006 to 2010), Noble Peace Prize winner (1987), was able to understand the importance of the original foundation of the United States as the hope for Latin America and I so conveyed it to the rest of the presidents. The problem was and is that a change of heart must take place, and this has been the challenge.  It requires a humble spirit to accept God as the ultimate source of authority.

The Catholic Church hierarchy in Latin America was also very concerned on how things were unfolding since the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1996, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger traveled to Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico to head the meeting with the heads of the Episcopal Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith in Latin America. The Vatican was concerned that Latin America was affected in a negative way by the liberation theology; people were leaving the Catholic Church and embracing the evangelical faith and they needed a solution to stop the Exodus. Ratzinger was no sympathizer of the protestant faith and saw the sects as the principal enemy of the Catholic Church and faith.

The day before their meeting I requested a private interview with the General Secretary of the Episcopal Commission. I presented him written solutions on how to stop the corruption, poverty, misery, criminal activity, drug consumption, sexual perversion, military coups, tyranny and much more of the ancestral ills Latin America has been suffering. I humbly requested it be analyzed with Cardinal Ratzinger and the presidents of the commission, bishops and cardinals, my proposal was for the reformation of the Catholic Church and if it all possible for the Cardinal to present it to Pope John Paul II.

Time went by and one day I was shown inside the pages of the main newspaper that Pope John Paul II had commissioned the bishops of Latin America to study the economic and political success of the United States of America and Canada. I eagerly waited to learn of the outcome from that study and never heard the results even though I checked all the sources including the Vatican publications. Everything was very silent. When I asked the reason for such silence my answer was very simple: you cannot study the foundation of the United States of America without knowing and understanding the value of what the Pilgrims and Puritans brought. They arrived on the continent and implemented the full counsel of God, the biblical worldview. The full counsel of God requires a total and a radical Reformation. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger went on to become Pope Benedict VI.

Latin America, like the United States, is in a great need of a biblical Reformation. People need to know, and understand how the biblical worldview applies to all areas of life, and this includes politics, economics, philosophy and every aspect of human learning and character transformation. I have seen it work in our micro world, and I know it can be done on a macro level as well, besides, that is the will of God. 

Governments who have showed interest in the biblical worldview get concerned. They see many denominations bringing more divisions and arguments as opposed to the desired social unity and solutions they were promised. This has been a concern as well as asking themselves what is the difference between each one of them and why can they not get it together if what they offer is so great. We have too many Protestant-Evangelical denominations with contradicting doctrines that have never glorified God Almighty; therefore, the cultural transformation, which begins with people’s salvation, can never be successful until we all come to the unity of the faith as commanded (Ephesians 4:11–32).

Latin America, like the rest of the world, is ready for the right leadership based upon God’s righteousness if we are going to solve the problems we now face. A change of direction is a must because we are heading toward a collision. Make no mistake; this much-needed leadership is the responsibility of each one of us. Humans create the mess, and God expects humans to clean it up. Remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, with men things are impossible but with God all things are possible.

One more thought in relation to the influx of illegal and legal immigrants. It is time for American society to reconsider the poem we read at the Statue of Liberty and if we are to continue on that route, then let us be sure we teach them how America became so different than any other: