A few thoughts on displaced people, ecofascism, and how everything is connected.
By: Jesse Miller, March 12, 2025
One
When Abraham and Sarah were in the shade of the oaks of Mamre, three strangers approached from the desert. At that moment they had to decide how to respond. Do they need to defend themselves? Or should they bow to the ground, wash their feet, and offer water and a meal?
Two
In his memoir, Once Upon a Time There Was a Three-Year-Old Grandpa, David Janzen tells about his work with the Overground Railroad in the 1980s. Referencing the Underground Railroad, which helped fugitive slaves escape to the north, the Overground Railroad helped refugees from Central America find safe passage to Canada.
At the time, tens of thousands of Central Americans fled war and economic devastation. The U.S. played a large part in this as they poured money into militant groups in the name of fighting communism.1
Three
The Overground Railroad, David explains, operated with a small staff paid just a little more than minimum wage and a lot of volunteers—“interviewers, drivers, hosts, lawyers, lobbyists, speaker-advocates, sometimes doctors.”
Something like this doesn’t exactly spring up from nowhere. David writes, “Many of the stops on the Overground Railroad were international communities, religious orders, or congregations with an intense common life dedicated to hospitality, peace-making and justice advocacy.” As time went on this network contained its own “practical wisdom” as it became “smarter and more resilient.” Like in a dance, the more the participants practiced, the more they could synchronize and respond to each other.
Four
The context has changed since the 1980s, but migration and borders are more of an issue than ever. The numbers of displaced people have surged in the last fifteen years.
Trump promised a strong stance on immigration, and he followed through with a bunch of executive orders, some of which are being challenged in courts.
How do we respond as a church? We will probably continue to work in small ways, by sharing resources and caring for those who come our way the best we can.
Yet, we are not alone. It might be helpful to see ourselves as a part of a social movement ecosystem. Or perhaps, a network of individuals and communities with different gifts, waiting for the leading of the spirit.
Five
We won’t see a big roundup of Canadians overstaying their visas. That’s not a flaw in the system, of course, but it clarifies the logic of what’s happening. Activist and writer Harsha Walia calls it border imperialism. She writes:
“Border imperialism is characterized by the entrenchment and reentrenchment of controls against migrants, who are displaced as a result of the violences of capitalism and empire, and subsequently forced into precarious labor as a result of state illegalization and systemic social hierarchies.”
Okay, so there’s a lot packed into that sentence. Let’s try this: borders are about sorting people—controlling low-cost pools of workers and keeping resources for some and not others, mostly along racial lines.
Six
Trump has called immigrants “rapists,” “blood thirsty criminals,” “animals,” and "the worst people." We’re all used to this kind of rhetoric by now.
Seven
In one chapter of The Nutmeg’s Curse, Indian writer Amitav Ghosh discusses the word “brutes”. It was a word used by European settlers to dehumanize the inhabitants of lands they encountered as they expanded their territories. The settlers saw these people as lacking intelligence and the ability to make meaning. They probably had to see them that way to justify genocide and slavery.
At the same time, Europeans and settlers began to talk about “brute nature”. They could not see the earth as living, as animate. The land itself had to be silenced in order to be conquered.
Eight
In another chapter of his book, Ghosh writes about the connections between climate, forced migration, and some of the other challenges of our time:
“Climate change is but one aspect of a much broader planetary crisis: it is not the prime cause of dislocation, but rather a cognate phenomenon. In this sense climate change, mass dislocations, pollution, environmental degradation, political breakdown, and the Covid-19 pandemic are all cognate effects of the ever-increasing acceleration of the last three decades. Not only are these crises interlinked—they are all deeply rooted in history, and they are all ultimately driven by the dynamics of global power.”
We can’t understand our current situation without looking at the history of colonialism, all the ways we’ve used violence to plunder nature and enforce power over others.
Nine
Some people see population growth as the main cause of our climate crisis. And there is some truth to that. High population tied to high levels of consumption makes for an unlivable planet. So, those of us in affluent countries can either reduce our consumption, or we can try to maintain our lifestyle and keep the rest of the world out. The latter option is often called ecofascism.2
I don’t think many people call themselves ecofascists, but isn’t some version of this quite mainstream? The logic is still there even when the rhetoric is toned down. I didn’t hear Kamala Harris saying we should reduce our consumption and open our borders.
Ten
Do you see how the Green Team, the Racial Justice Team, and the Immigrant Support Team all have a lot of overlapping work and need to collaborate? As Pope Francis says, “Everything is connected” and “No one is saved alone”.3
Eleven
Andrei Rublev’s icon Trinity, also called The Hospitality of Abraham, depicts Abraham and Sarah’s three visitors as the Holy Trinity.
It shows the three strangers sitting around the table. In the story, Abraham and Sarah offer a meal. But there is a bit of a reversal in the icon, since it seems to show a place at the table for us to join. The Trinity invites us to take a place—to join the meal, the conversation, and the dance.
Twelve
And, since we are talking about encounters with strangers that might be divine, let’s add this:
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’”
A Few More Things
Goatwalker: Ecology and the Sanctuary movement come together in the life of Quaker Jim Corbett. I highly recommend this 4-part podcast series about him from Future Ecologies.
What do our Migratory Birds find overwintering in Costa Rica? Natural Habitat Evanston is hosting Debra Hamilton who studies migratory and tropical bird conservation. Join via Zoom Wednesday, March 19, 2025, 6:30 pm.
Blueberry Awards: The Evanston Public Library is pleased to announce that the 4th Annual Blueberry Awards, recognizing excellence in children’s literature about nature and climate stewardship, will be announced live on Monday, March 20, 2025 at an awards ceremony and party celebrating the authors, their work, and our earth.
Why heat pump sales are heating up: “Heat pumps sound almost too good to be true. They make for healthier air indoors and out, cut greenhouse gas emissions and can even lower energy bills. In spite of these selling points, adopting heat pump technology can feel like a daunting task. Now that our household has done it, I can report that it’s a lot easier than you might imagine.” (Evanston RoundTable)
Healthy Buildings Ordinance and Illinois Stretch Code adopted: The HBO, according to the RoundTable, “sets a goal for the city’s 500 largest buildings to pursue decarbonization over the next 25 years, and establishes public committees and processes to create specific rules and interim standards for later adoption by City Council.” The Stretch Code “is an upgrade to the state-mandated Illinois Energy Conservation Code, and will set stronger energy efficiency requirements for new residential and commercial buildings, as well as renovations and additions to existing buildings, beginning Oct. 1.” (RoundTable)
National Faith + Climate Forum hosted at Grace Lutheran: March 27, 11am-4:30pm. Join faith leaders and community members at Grace Lutheran for a live watch party of the National Faith + Climate Forum 2025.
For more on this history, read this article on the Central America wars from the United States Foreign Policy History and Resource Guide.
Okay, so technology is certainly a factor in all of this. The dropping price of solar is amazing, but we need to do more than just swap out energy sources. We need to shift away from what Pope Francis calls the technological paradigm.
See Laudate Deum. Of course, haven’t the eco-feminists have been telling us that for years?
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