Remember Egypt (Herald Press Letter to editor)

Remember Egypt (Herald Press Letter to editor)

by chris lahr

7/18/2007

Currently the King Tut exhibition is in Philadelphia. You could say that Egypt is in the air. Restaurants are catering to the Egyptian culture of old, and people from all over the country are coming by to take a look at this significant piece of history. It’s truly been a time to remember Egypt.

Recently I have been doing a little “remembering of Egypt” myself. Throughout Philadelphia, and the rest of the United States for that matter, there are thousands and thousands of immigrants. After listening to some Conservative talk radio lately, it seems that many people are in two camps when it comes to the immigration policy in this nation. Many believe that we should just send all non-Americans back to their home countries, especially if they are not going to assimilate into “our culture.” Or secondly, we should win the bid of the world’s immigrants so that we can have the cheap labor at our disposal, thus allowing us to continue to be a more prosperous nation. As a minister in Philly I see a third way that can view and treat immigrants in our nation. In the Bible God tells us to “Remember Egypt!”

Leviticus 19:33-34 says, “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” (NLT). The phrase, “out of Egypt occurs in the Bible 149 times. Most of the time it is stated in the context of God telling the Israelites to remember how He brought them out of Egypt. Egypt was the place of their pain and suffering in slavery, as immigrants in a foreign land. God tells them to remember Egypt, because in doing so they will remember the love and compassion they were shown as they were liberated. In return, they are commanded to treat those currently facing “their Egypt’s” (places of pain, suffering, immigration, etc.) with love and respect.

A couple of month ago we had a discussion about the melting pot. I think another affect of the melting pot in our society, is that it has made people forget where they have come from. In the melting pot we have all been molded into this great nation, at the expense of our ancestral histories. There is not a white person in the United States that is not a descendant of an immigrant, who probably suffered greatly to be here. There is a third way that we should see the immigrants in our land, and no it is not as being a threat to our national security. We should treat them as native-born Americans, with the same access to health care, food, and housing as we allow ourselves to have. Many of these immigrants simply want to do better for their families, and they are risking their very lives to do so.

So there he is, King Tut, wrapped in gold and fine clothing. I guess for some remembering Egypt was remembering vast wealth, freedom and opportunity. Yet in the end, like King Tut, we all die. Though all this wealth is still around, he no longer has access to it. In the end is vast prosperity worth it? Isn’t life and caring for others hold more value than wealth?