When Faith is Complicit in the State's Violence
Our Response to Butler County’s Faith Leaders
Butler County's Sheriff Richard Jones and his merry band of pigs, including the ICE agents he's invited in to kidnap people off the streets of his jurisdiction for profit, are guilty of running an inhumane detainment center full of horror and human rights abuses.
Nineteen Butler County faith leaders and 16 other clergy from outside the county sent a letter "of concern" to the Commissioners of Butler County, the Sheriff's Office, and the general public to speak about how two of their congregation members were detained at Butler County Jail (with one of the two later deported).
In only one sentence throughout the entire seven-paragraph letter do they raise any "concern" about how detainees are being treated. The rest of the letter is spent sympathizing with fascism, imperialism, and colonialism.
At the end of the letter, the faith leaders state, "Finally, we must acknowledge that in the majority of cases our concerns have been respectfully received by staff at the Butler County jail, by those who are part of immigration enforcement and by the commissioners. We mean no disrespect to these public servants, and have in fact expressed our gratitude as we navigate this difficult new road for our nation.”
In one breath, they come forward because someone in their parish was treated unfairly, and then in the next they “express gratitude“ to the very officers who treated them unfairly. To be not only apologetic, but grateful towards state-funded agents who terrorize and brutalize your own community, is spineless. It is cowardly to "welcome a discussion" from those who brutalize and deport your friends and neighbors, all while making no tangible demands for the safety of your community.
It is shameful that they're only willing to stand up for "those law-abiding immigrants who pay taxes, obey our laws, and pose no threat to our common welfare.” The “perfect victim" mentality is an impossible demand that manufactures community consent for the increasing number of immigrant abductions by ICE. It criminalizes anyone who struggles or dares to fight back against an oppressive system.
The letter also brings up that the "human rights situation in Honduras was (and still is) deplorable", but it neglects to mention this: the US government, with a Democrat supermajority, supported a right-wing coup to oust slightly left-leaning President Manuel (Mel) Zelaya. The results were disastrous. Working-class Hondurans were terrorized, and many fled the country. To the Butler County faith leaders, we say: the US is the very cause of the “deplorable human rights situation“ in Honduras to begin with, for the terror Hondurans endure both on their soil and ours.
Perhaps it would do these faith leaders some good to pick up a history book instead of a religious tome once in a while. The "difficult new road for our nation" that they mention we're going down is, in fact, the result of both Democrat and Republican policy for decades, building upon this country’s legacy as being founded on the genocide of Indigenous Peoples.
The letter, though, is only the half of it. Butler County subsequently invited the faith leaders to a tour of the jail on Aug. 13, which gave the County time to sweep their human rights abuses under the rug for an hour while the pastors were there. What did the pastors take away from this?
"If we're in a position where we've got someone we're sending to jail only because they're undocumented, I think I'd rather it happen at Butler County than a lot of other places,' [Pastor Peter Hamm] said. 'I suspect they might get better treatment there.'" (WVXU)
"[Rev. Kelly] Venturini said some of the statements made by officials in the jail about security and the behavior of ICE detainees seemed contradictory. Seeing the medical facilities in the jail — some of which are under construction, she said — made her wonder how adequate medical care could be provided for the number of people held there." (WVXU) (note that Butler County had half a month to start that work on construction)
"'There are some cracks in the immigration system in our country that span many administrations,' [Associate Pastor Marie Edwards] says. 'But I do believe there has to be equity.'" (WVXU)
"Edwards said she also had some concerns about reports of mistreatment of ICE detainees in the jail, though she said she didn't witness anything on the tour to that effect." (WVXU)
"[Pastor Irvin] Heishman says he trusts that many of the jail staff are professionals who simply have a job to do. He said he heard during the visit that those working there have a wide array of views on immigration." (WVXU)
Their milquetoast "concern" is a mouse's whisper compared to the screams of the kidnappings, the inhumane treatment within the detention center, and the cruel human cost of deportation. Members of our community are being ripped from their homes, their families, their friends, and their neighbors. They're being sent abroad to countries they barely remember or speak the language of. But before that, they're abducted, beaten, and abused while they await fixed trials that give them no possible recourse.
This is a betrayal of working people all across the globe. These pastors hear the wails of their flock and are "truly moved," but are too concerned about passing through the pearly gates themselves to do anything more than send thoughts and prayers, sing songs, or send futile letters to those actively oppressing their communities.
Assata Shakur was right; “nobody in the world, nobody in history, has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to the moral sense of the people who were oppressing them.” But the faith leaders have apparently satisfied themselves and their consciences, and have done all they can do.
The working class of Southwest Ohio knows that even before Butler County Jail began housing ICE detainees, it was rotten to the core just like every other facility under the carceral system. They are the upholders and legitimizers of the state under capitalism, and subsequently any and all oppressive structures around the world.
"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people," Marx said. It both offers a medicine for their pains, but thus prevents people from understanding the reality and severity of the situation at hand.
The faith leaders are complicit in upholding these structures because of their ambivalence to the system. They truly believe an oppressive system will change by simply sending a letter. Or maybe we're giving them too much credit to begin with. Either way, it’s clear Marx was right.
These leaders claim to be coming forward out of concern, to ask that detained immigrants be treated well (not that they don't be detained in the first place) but have ultimately only succeeded in saying, "It's not good, but it could be a lot worse, so be thankful you're being brutalized in Ohio!"