HispanicVista Columnists

Thank you for returning to visit me here again for the third time this month. The immigration reform debate in the U.S. has become so discombobulating I had to check into this treatment center. I’ve been learning a lot since I was first admitted into this facility several weeks ago. I hope you might find the following useful, should you decide that you too may be a problem thinker, suffering from the disease of immigrationism.

Immigration Anonymous ( IA ) is a fellowship of U.S. residents who share their experience, strength and hope with one another that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from immigrationism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop stinking thinking. There are no dues or fees for IA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. IA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to think soberly about immigration policy reform and help other problem thinkers to achieve sobriety.

“Humbly?” Like me, most of my colleagues in IA are self-obsessed, small-minded, self-righteous, have all the answers types. My IA sponsor said “There is little hope for us until we become tough-minded enough to break loose from the shackles of prejudice, half-truths, and downright ignorance.”^{^[ii]}^[2] We prayed together.

Step Eight: Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.^{^[iii]}^[3]

My sponsor said, “regeneration carries a price which those who think of it idly will balk at.”^{^[iv]}^[4] He went on to say that I was now preparing for action, rather than honest introspection. I had to admit that my illness had hurt others. My family who heard my self-righteous prejudice flung through the rooms of our home, co-workers, friends, my community, my country and my own soul. My sponsor reminded me to put myself on the list. I began to realize the wisdom in “To the degree that I harm my brother, no matter what he is doing to me, to that extent I am harming myself.”^{^[v]}^[5] I became willing and was prepared to move forward.

Step Nine: Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.^{^[vi]}^[6]

My sponsor said the essence of this step is captured in the following, “If we are sorry for what we have done, and have the honest desire to let God take us to better things, we believe we will be forgiven and will have learned our lesson. If we are not sorry, and our conduct continues to harm others, we are quite sure to drink, sink. We are not theorizing. These are facts out of our experience.”^{^[vii]}^[7] (emphasis edit mine). I found that there was something supernatural that occurred when I met folks face-to-face and confessed my role in the harms that I had caused them. Some forgave me. Others didn’t. It’s the sincerity of my amends that mattered coupled with the deep desire to refrain from offending anyone in the same way again.

I wish our country would check this program out. It’s a key to curing our present soul sickness.

Please come back and visit next week as I continue walking the path of recovery from immigrationism sharing Steps10 through 12 with you. Keep coming back! It works!

Bill Dahl, a contributing columnist to Los Angeles based HispanicVista.com (http://www.hispanicvista.com/) is a freelance writer and social justice advocate. Contact Bill at: wsdahl@pacbell.net or see his website at http://www.justjesus.us/ He tackles social issues from a Christian perspective. For the past fifteen years, Bill and his wife have been called to work with the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized as volunteer community youth workers. Bill is published in numerous professional publications, magazines, websites, newspapers and newsletters. He has been an on-air radio guest, and has appeared on both public and network television. He is the author of five manuscripts, presently under consideration for publication. Bill earned a Bachelors and Masters degree in liberal arts from Washington State University. He has taught at the university and community college levels. During his business career, Bill was an executive with several FORTUNE 500 companies including Chrysler, Nations Bank, Bank of America and GMAC. He also led a consulting practice providing strategic advice to companies for several years. He has traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and internationally. He has substantial public speaking experience and has led seminars throughout the United States. He is a member of the Christian Writers Guild and has been accepted to begin graduate study at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, CA. Bill and his family make their home in southern California.

Copyright © 2005 by Bill Dahl. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. All rights reserved. Rights for publishing this poem, in part or its entirety, in other languages, audio and any other form are contracted to Bill Dahl.

Requests for permission to make copies of or reprint any part of the work should be mailed to: Bill Dahl, wsdahl@pacbell.net

Bibliography and Notes

[viii][1] Alcoholics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. New York, New York © Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. 1939,1955, 1976 p. 59

[x][3] Alcoholics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. New York, New York © Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. 1939,1955, 1976 p. 59

[xiii][6] Alcoholics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. New York, New York © Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. 1939,1955, 1976 p. 59

[xiv][7] Alcoholics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. New York, New York © Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. 1939,1955, 1976 p. 70.