--- id: 20170301_what_are_we_doing title: BLOG - What are we doing? category: Biblical Life Counsel predicted_narrative_arc: neighbor-witness-to-lawful-responsibility sentiment: Convictional emotions: - Concerned - Challenging - Civic-minded keypoints: - Dean's diverse neighborhood shares love of family, education, and America - Legal immigrants and visa holders are mystified by amnesty proposals and partisan gridlock - Neighbors question inconsistent vetting of entrants from certain nations - A Muslim neighbor distinguishes radical factions from mainstream practice of his faith - Dean's answer is admit the problem, seek solutions now, and obey the law summary: > Dean Rush describes a highly diverse American block whose immigrant neighbors — many on green cards, visas, or citizenship tracks — are baffled by political gridlock, amnesty debates, and uneven vetting. He argues the path forward is to admit the problem, pursue solutions now, and obey laws made for purposes beyond politics, while inviting disagreement. tags: - blog - human-resources - immigration - diversity - rule-of-law - neighbors - vetting - citizenship - civic-duty - dean-rush sycophancy: 0 truth_score: 7 entropy: 4 sample: false consent: owner_approved agent: blog created: '2017-03-01' updated: '2026-09-09T00:00:00Z' vault_stage: 07_CODEX headwaters: BLOG prefix: BLOG enrich_status: ok enrich_blockers: [] enrich_method: manual pipeline_filename: BLOG_2017-03-01_what-are-we-doing.md source_kind: blog_article proposed_topic: Wisdom lane: Wisdom voice: desk active_voice: desk voices: - desk routing_source: carbon corpus_topic: Wisdom content_status: active date: '2017-03-01' share_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/what-are-we-doing source_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/what-are-we-doing site_category: Human Resources archive_month: 2017-03 description: > Dean relays immigrant neighbors' confusion over amnesty, gridlock, and vetting, and presses Americans to admit the problem, seek solutions, and obey the law beyond partisan gamesmanship. --- # What are we doing? **Author:** Dean Rush **Original post:** [deanrush.net/blog/what-are-we-doing](https://deanrush.net/blog/what-are-we-doing) **Archive month:** March 2017 · **Site category:** Human Resources > Voice note: Everything under **Dean's article** is Dean's original prose (lightly cleaned of HTML/image artifacts only). Sections marked **Biblical foundations**, **Scholar sidebar**, **Takeaways**, and **First-time learner** are enrichment for Asker / first readers — not Dean speaking. --- ## Biblical foundations (preface) Dean reports what immigrant neighbors see in America's immigration arguments and presses a civic answer — admit the problem, seek solutions, obey the law — without quoting a verse on the live page. The enrichment below does not rewrite his policy judgments; it shows biblical categories that undergird neighbor-listening, lawful order, and honest speech for a first-time reader. | Dean's claim | Scriptural undercarriage | | --- | --- | | Listen to neighbors from many nations | Love your neighbor (Leviticus 19:18; Mark 12:31); the foreigner among you (Leviticus 19:33–34) | | Families, education, and ordered belonging matter | Seek the welfare of the city (Jeremiah 29:7); live quiet, dignified lives (1 Timothy 2:1–2) | | Laws exist for purposes beyond politics | Governing authority is God's servant for good (Romans 13:1–4); do not pervert justice (Deuteronomy 16:19) | | Admit problems; pursue truth in public | Speak truth with neighbors (Ephesians 4:25); expose works of darkness honestly (Ephesians 5:11–13) | --- ## Dean's article ### We Live in a Diverse World ![Statue of Liberty / refuge image from Dean's original post](https://deanrush.net/Portals/0/images/article/Refuge%20stat%20of%20liberty.jpg) We live in one of the most diverse neighborhoods in America. On our block we have couples from Indonesia, Nigeria, Somalia, Pakistan, India, Egypt and ,oh yes, a few Americans as well.The people come from all walks of life and religions. They all have things in common They all love their families, they love the education system here for their children, they are highly educated, and they share a common love and admiration for the United States of America. They are mystified by the opposing political parties holding up needed legislation. Another dominant question they share is about the debate on what we are going to do about the undocumented (illegal) immigrants in the country? Most of the friends on the block are either Green Card holders, possess visas, or are applicants for citizenship via the legal system. Some have waited seven years to become citizens. They are mystified and upset by the proposals to grant amnesty to the people who have entered the United States illegally. > **Scholar sidebar — Neighbor before slogan** > Dean starts with a block, not a cable-news frame: families who love America and have waited years inside the legal system. Leviticus 19:33–34 commands just love of the sojourner; Romans 13 still treats lawful order as a good. Holding those together is the tension Dean's neighbors feel — welcome and rule. Proverbs 18:13 warns against answering before listening; Dean's opening is an act of listening first. ### Why are Not Vetting Immigrants? Our neighbors also question why Americans are arguing over vetting the people who enter the United Sates from certain predominantly Muslim nations. President Obama named seven nations for vetting when he was in office. A practising Muslim on the block told me that " The radical factions of his religion are not really Muslims, but are much like the Klu Klux Klan in America. They do not practice love of other people, are discriminatory, radically endocrinated, and do not represent the thoughts of the majority." > **Scholar sidebar — Discernment without collective verdict** > Scripture requires both hospitality and discernment: welcome the stranger (Hebrews 13:2) and test spirits / refuse naive alliance with violence (1 John 4:1; Romans 12:9 — "hate what is evil"). Dean relays a Muslim neighbor's own distinction between radical factions and the majority. That move resists painting every person by the worst actors — consistent with refusing false witness (Exodus 20:16) — while still treating security screening as a legitimate civic question under Romans 13. ### What is the Answer? What are we doing to correct the situation and how can you help as an individual? I believe it boils down to admitting there is a problem, realizing that we must find a solution now, and obeying the law. Our laws were made for a purpose far beyond politics. Your are welcome to express your opinion if it is different that mine. I have written this because people from a number of countries have made me aware they are amazed that America, with all of it's intellectual resources cannot develop a solution for the problem. ## What are you doing to solve the problem? > **Scholar sidebar — Confession, urgency, and law** > Dean's three-part answer — admit, solve now, obey — tracks biblical moral sequence more than party platform. Confession precedes repair (Proverbs 28:13; 1 John 1:9 as personal analogue). Delay that harms neighbors violates love (James 4:17 — knowing the right thing and not doing it). Romans 13:1–4 treats law as meant for good, not as a prop for campaigns. He also leaves the door open for disagreement (cf. Proverbs 27:6, faithful wounds) — enrichment supports his civic ethic without baptizing every policy detail he prefers. --- ## Takeaways 1. **Start on the block.** Dean grounds immigration debate in diverse neighbors who love family, schools, and America. 2. **Legal pathways feel mocked by amnesty talk.** Friends waiting years for citizenship are upset by proposals that bypass that path. 3. **Vetting questions come from neighbors too.** Including a Muslim neighbor who rejects radical factions as unrepresentative. 4. **Three-fold personal answer.** Admit the problem, pursue a solution now, obey the law beyond politics. 5. **Disagreement is invited.** He writes because outsiders are amazed America cannot solve what it has the resources to face. --- ## First-time learner ### What is Dean saying in one sentence? Listen to immigrant neighbors who followed the legal path, stop treating immigration only as partisan theater, and help by admitting problems, seeking solutions, and obeying the law. ### Why bring neighbors into a policy post? Because people living the system — green cards, visas, multi-year citizenship waits — expose gaps slogans miss. Scripture's love-of-neighbor and just-law themes both require that kind of attentive hearing. ### Key verses to read with this post - **Leviticus 19:33–34** — Love the foreigner as yourself. - **Mark 12:31** — Love your neighbor as yourself. - **Romans 13:1–4** — Authority and law as servants for good. - **Jeremiah 29:7** — Seek the welfare of the city. - **Ephesians 4:25** — Speak truth with your neighbor. - **Proverbs 18:13** — Listen before you answer. - **James 4:17** — Knowing good and failing to do it is sin. ### A simple practice This week: (1) have one real conversation with someone whose immigration story you do not know, (2) refuse a slogan-only take in that talk, (3) ask Dean's closing question of yourself — "What are *you* doing to solve the problem?" — and name one lawful, neighbor-honoring step. ### How this feeds Ask Dean Seed material for questions such as: *What does Dean think about immigration and amnesty? How should Christians treat immigrant neighbors? What does obeying the law have to do with love?* Keep Dean's neighborhood report and civic triad primary; use scholar notes only as biblical scaffolding, not as a substitute policy platform.