♦ Michael Novak died in February. He was a pillar of First Things for more than two decades. Like our founder, Richard John Neuhaus, Michael had been an ardent proponent of a number of progressive causes. Some of his early books about post–Vatican II Catholicism can make you blush. But in the 1970s, he saw that a progressivism that was pro-abortion rather than pro-worker had lost its way.
His most famous book—one that influenced me a great deal—was The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism. Unmoved by the practical efficiency of capitalism as compared to socialism, Michael focused on the moral contributions a free economy makes to a good society. This upended the widespread assumption (one I made, along with so many others) that capitalism may produce more wealth, but socialism is the morally superior system.
Michael’s intellectual gifts were intuitive. His training in theology gave him insight into the spiritual dynamics that move us far more deeply and powerfully than the material interests that preoccupy technocratic experts. His mobility of mind allowed him to think his way out of progressive utopianism. It also protected him from becoming a tediously pro-capitalist ideologue. He did not think we can deregulate our way to the Kingdom of God. A healthy society needs a strong moral and religious culture, as well as sturdy democratic institutions. He was a First Things conservative, not a Milton Friedman conservative, and certainly not an Ayn Rand conservative.
Again, like RJN, Michael had a zest for political and social engagement. He was very much part of the tumult of the 1960s. He said and supported a lot of silly, even destructive things. But he kept his moral compass and his faith. This was no mean thing, and it’s far more important than getting things right all the time, which isn’t possible for anyone who risks serious political, moral, and theological judgments in times of upheaval and transformation, as Michael did. We seem to be entering another season of tumult and change in our politics and culture. I wish Michael were here to give us his good counsel. We’re going to need it. May he rest in peace.
♦ When it comes to illegal immigration, I fear many Christians confuse their religious duties with their civic responsibilities. We are called to aid the stranger and sojourner in our midst. As Christians, therefore, we ought not to check immigration papers before helping those in need. But as citizens, we share an obligation to uphold the law, which includes immigration law. It’s not inconsistent to help illegal immigrants find decent housing or work to prevent their exploitation and at the same time to endorse proper enforcement of immigration laws. We see the same thing daily with those who participate in prison ministry and simultaneously support effective law enforcement.
♦ There’s still further confusion. Many Christian leaders have announced that it’s wrong to give preference to Christian refugees. To be sure, there are many good liberal arguments to be made against religious preferences in our immigration and refugee policies. But the New Testament doesn’t express the sentiments of a modern liberal. Jesus founds a new community, one bound together in love and mutual support. St. Paul exhorts Christians in Asia Minor to send money to support their brothers in faith in Jerusalem. At every turn, we’re encouraged to offer special prayers for the well-being of those who share our faith. The Church is called to exemplify the love of God in Christ. This is not visible to the world through a spirit of universal philanthropy. Rather, as the Gospel of John puts it, “By this all men shall know you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). This does not mean Christians should seek to use the power of the United States government to secure preferences for our fellow Christians. As I said, there are good, secular arguments against such preferences. But we need to avoid sloppy (and bad) arguments that suggest it’s un-Christian to do so. The opposite is the case. As anyone who studies the history of Christian thought knows, what is theologically controversial and needs clear justification is the liberal view that we should adopt a religiously neutral approach to public policy, including immigration and refugee policy.
♦ Shalom Carmy reflects on our responses to immigrants in his editor’s column for the spring number of Tradition, the Orthodox Jewish journal published by the Rabbinical Council of America. He draws upon the episode in Genesis 23 when Abraham, a stranger and sojourner, petitions the Hittites for permission to buy a burial plot. Carmy’s analysis draws on traditional rabbinic sources—and Bob Dylan. He wonders about the sharp, derogatory words in Dylan’s mid-1960s song “I Pity the Poor Immigrant.” With these sources, Carmy offers a subtle account of the difference between the stranger and the immigrant. The former comes, but then goes. The latter “is one who is here today and will be here tomorrow if allowed to stay.” One who stays becomes like Abraham, a petitioner for a place in society, and we pity those who must plead for something so fundamental.
There’s something to this. I was equally struck, however, by Carmy’s wicked satire of biblical scholars. The hostility toward immigrants expressed in Dylan’s song
sounds incredible in the mouth of a troubadour adored by the left and does not fit well with the rest of the album John Wesley Harding, in which it was recorded, in the mid-1960s, when American immigration law was liberalized without vocal opposition. If academics studied Dylan as they have their way with the Bible we would be authoritatively taught to attribute it to Deutero-Dylan—a racist, reactionary, fill-in-the-epithet, living in the anti-immigrant 21st century, who adopted the master’s style to convey a perverted message.