What will he be known for?Â
He smashed his opponents, political and otherwise. He used intimidation and violence as a governance style. His tax policy, in part, helped fund his military activities as well as his ornate construction projects. He implemented new laws that greatly limited the freedoms of certain minorities, and his treatment of foreigners was harsh.Â
He engaged numerous military operations against specific people groups that he did not agree with or simply did not like. He was known for deporting entire groups that he viewed as his enemies.  At home he put down opposition and protests whenever they arose.Â
He was skilled at negotiating diplomatic treaties. Certain foreign rulers were given special privileges by him. He focused heavily on negotiating new trade agreements across borders.Â
He was responsible for numerous laws that not only supported Christian beliefs they also allowed Christianity to flourish. Perhaps few other heads of state before him have had the impact on Christianity as him. He saw himself at the defender of Christians, the world over. Not only did he pass laws that protected Christians, but he also favored them over other religious and ethnic groups.Â
This is the legacy of Constantine. He was responsible for the Edict of Milan and the subsequent Nicene Creed, both significant events in the history of Christianity. These events likely created an atmosphere for Christianity to not only exist throughout the Roman Empire in the 300âs but to also flourish for the next 1700 years. This was not the case prior to the reign of Constantine.  It can be argued that no one else has had the same impact on the expansion of Christianity as Constantine did. However, as an emperor who ruled for more than 30 years, Constantine was not a good man, he was ruthless. And while he did amazing things for Christianity, he did not conduct himself as a Christian and he did not confess Christ as his savior until he was on his deathbed.  Â
Godâs use of flawed or even âbadâ men to accomplish things for His church is nothing new. Still it concerns me that many chose to ignore certain behaviors simply because certain Christian beliefs are being defended. Can we not celebrate policies that support Christianity but not celebrate the man? Whether the behavior be funding the indiscriminate bombing of men, women, and children in the middle east, the exorbitant costs to blow narcoboats out of the water in the Caribbean, the use of military power against our own people, the inhumane and illegal tactics being used to remove perceived illegal aliens from our country, or simply the casual use of extreme profanity, itâs wrong. Why do many Christian men and women in power stay silent?  As powerful as Constantine was, Constantinople did fall, and so did the entire empire.Â
It would be quite difficult to make a complete list of the âbadâ or what we, as believers, should view as bad, represented by our countryâs current leadership. Do many Christians turn a blind eye because laws are being passed that support our Christian belief systems? Or is it because certain policies support our own financial growth goals, feed our natural and sometimes sinful ethnocentric ideals, and bolster a new found feeling of world dominance that has been eroding for decades? Or is it all the above?
I have watched quietly while struggling to reconcile the actions of the current administration, actions that I believe Christians should consider as immoral. Iâve watch video after video of people being chased down like feral pigs and abruptly placed on planes to points unknown largely due to the color of their skin, the language being spoken, or their jobs. I DO support enforcing our borders and immigration policy. That being said, when one administration puts a system in place to allow for the easy entrance of migrants into our country it is immoral for another administration to abruptly reverse those policies and chase down those individuals who have followed the law to be here.Â
I donât agree with the policies that allowed literally millions of migrants to enter our country and flood our immigration courts with cases that would not be heard for decades. But they were following the flawed policies that were put in place. Thatâs not the fault of the migrants. They simply took advantage of the system that we, through our elected representatives, established to come here and start a new life. Honduras and Haiti have some of the largest populations of migrants in the US, per capita, of any country in the world. I have personally invested a significant amount of time, money, and energy in both of these countries to provide opportunities for hard working individuals to not only dream but to chase those dreams, at home.Â
This open-door immigration policy prompted a significant âbrain drainâ where some of the best and brightest fled their homelands, their families, and their culture in search of opportunities and a better life. Our organization was impacted directly by the loss of skilled individuals who came to the US. Whether itâs Honduras, Haiti, Somalia or any other â#%&t-holeâ the best way we can help these countries flourish is by investing in these people at home in their countries.Â
The United States of America would not be the country that it is today if in 1776 there had been a better option for our forefathers to immigrate to. This vast land known as the New World was the âbetterâ option until the oppression became more than the people were willing to tolerate. The best and only option was to demand change, demand representation, demand equality, and to demand freedom.
This was the case for my great great great great great grandfather, Lieutenant Colonel James Francis Steen Sr, who was killed in battle in 1780 not too awfully long after arriving in the colonies from County Antrim, Ireland, with his family. They left Ireland, where, as impoverished farmers and Presbyterians, they were political and religious minorities, they had no rights. In our war for independence, Steen, along with some 25,000 other brave colonists, died fighting for change so that we could know freedom and launch this social experiment that we know as Democracy. As long as the United States has an open door policy for migrants there will never be a bold group of people in those foreign lands who can come together and risk their lives to see change, representation, equality, and freedom, if not for themselves, then for their great great great great great grandchildren 250 years from now. Immigration reform, passed by Congress, is the only solution to this problem.Â
Why speak up now? As is the case, we typically tend to stay quiet when there is injustice until it affects those we love. About 18 months ago Olman Santeliz came to the US under the Biden administrationâs Humanitarian Parole program. Olman is a former employee of mine, Iâve known Olman a long time, I love Olman.Â
Olman was not your typical migrant coming to the US. Olman holds dual citizenship from Honduras and Nicaragua. Some 15 years ago we helped Olman go to college in Honduras where he earned an engineering degree in agronomy. He even traveled on a visa at the time to visit LSU with a group of students from his university and afterwards he spent time with my family in Tennessee. After graduating he became our Director of Agriculture Development in Honduras. Later he earned a scholarship and traveled to Taiwan where he earned his masterâs degree. After graduating in Taiwan he moved to Nicaragua where he worked with a large agricultural development organization. When the opportunity arose for Nicaraguans to apply for Humanitarian Parole from the US government he applied. He was surprised and very thankful when his application was approved. Not only was it approved, the US government flew Olman from Nicaragua to the US and gave him a work permit. Olman, not one to sit around, immediately enrolled in truck driving school and in a matter of months received his CDL. It didnât take long for Olman to land a position as a truck driver with a large highway construction company in Texas. Olman was dependable and a hard worker. When others would spend their weekends in bars Olman picked up extra work any time that he could. 12 days ago Olman wasnât concerned when he was stopped for an inspection by Texas highway patrol. This was a normal occurrence and Olman always made sure that he and his loads were legal. However, on this day, nothing about this stop would be normal. Upon learning that Olman was not a US citizen the officer called ICE and before Olman could even realize what was happening, he was being detained. His semi-truck left on the side of the road. Olman was quickly sent to a migrant detention center in the desert of West, Texas. Olman was in the US legally. Olman had a valid work permit. Olman had a valid driverâs license. Olman has never had a single run in with the law, not in Central America and not since he arrived in the US.Â
Olman was handcuffed. He wasnât given answers to his questions. He didnât have due process. It would appear that Olman was indeed guilty of a crime.   His crime, having trusted the system that brought him to the US in the first place.  The system that invited him to apply to come here. The system that paid for his plane ticket. The system that gave him a work permit. The system that encouraged him to seek out an employment opportunity. Or was it that the ruling power was responsible for his demise? A ruling power, like others before him, that implemented new laws that greatly limited the freedoms of certain minorities. A ruling power whose treatment of foreigners was harsh. A ruling power who is known for deporting entire groups that he views as his enemies.  Â
Something must change. I am indeed proud to be an American. Iâm proud of a country that offers so much opportunity. That respects the rule of law. That allows me to speak my mind without fear of persecution. But the way that we are conducting ourselves on the world stage does not make me proud. What happened to Emma Lazarusâ famous words that are engraved on the base of the Statue of Liberty welcoming all to our land?
âGive me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!â