SFIWJ_Cassese

Some Theological Principles about Honest and Decent Work

A summary of the Rev. Dr. Giacomo Ca

ssese

Lecture

at the Annual Meeting of the South Florida Interfaith Committee for Worker

Justice

For work to be honorable it must always be related to God the Creator and to his creation.
The original intention of the Creator when he instituted work was that of preserving and promoting
what he created: life.
Work must always be considered as a sacred activity because the human being was given what God
did in six days.
The Hebrew word Avodah means not only work but also worship. God’s plan is that man’s work be
an act of communion with and worship to God. Thus the human being would be in perfect harmony
with the immanent (creation) and the transcendent (God). With that double and perfect relationship,
the human being would give sense and purpose to his/her existence.

It then can be said that work mandated by God to Adam (Gn 1:27) was

first

religion, the

first

form of worship to God: “Prelaxary Religion” (before

The

Fall).

We could also assume that the original intention of work was to create

communion

as well

community.

According to Genesis, the two main characteristics of the work are:

it is a humanizing event. Through work, the human being was to build a

special

relationship with his/her Creator that would allow him/her to reach

his/her highest potential

and

integrate his/her existence where there was no

division between the holy and the

profane.

The human being assumed the work as a “holistic” or cosmic act where

his/her

double

physical and spiritual dimension were to be used.

It is a sacramental event. According to the theology of Genesis, work must be considered as a
“means of Grace, that is, a way through which God makes himself present, permeates our reality and
finds us in the midst of that reality. The sacraments serve to build deep and intimate relationships
with God that transcend our own limited reality. Frey Bartolomé de las Casas understood this
perfectly when he became the defender of the oppressed. In Sirac 34:22 it says, “He slays his
neighbor who deprives him of his living. He sheds blood who denies the laborer his wages.” He
understands that at the time of the colonial system “Holy Communion” was a macrocosm of an
oppressive regime; not only were the American Indians denied the holy communion, but their salary
and the sustenance this action represented as well.

Conclusion:

Decent work is a God-created activity that

allows the human being to hold a

special

relationship

with

the

Creator and his creation. That is to say that

the

human being is co-

creator with God, a

responsible

partner in taking care of what

God has

made. As he/she

works, the human being

promotes

and fulfills

him/herself, develops his/her divine

creativity, becomes humanized and reaches

his/her

potential;

however, when one works

alienated from

God’s original

intention,

he/she is

exploited, used

and

dehumanized.

Work is not only a resource to obtain our material sustenance, but rather a divine

instrument to

defend

and preserve life. Life only belongs to the Creator, our Lord.

In the

book of Ecclesiastes,

Solomon

sums it up like this: “The only pleasure he

has in this life

is eating and drinking and enjoy

himself. He

can at least do this as

he labors…”

Ecclesiastes 8:15.

CLERGY STATEMENT ON IMMIGRATION AND WORK
No Human Being is Illegal

In South Florida, our neighbors are very likely of diverse races, countries of origin, language groups and
cultures. We depend on our immigrant neighbors who work the farm land and perform a wide range of
service work for our comfort and convenience in condominium complexes, retail stores and
supermarkets, hospitals and nursing homes, and in countless other places. Our community needs to
reflect on how we, each of us, support our neighbors. One way is to enact comprehensive immigration
reform legislation that establishes a safe and humane immigration system consistent with our values.
However, a change in law will not by itself produce a brighter future. We need to value the immigrant
working family as we value life itself.

Our diverse faith traditions teach us to welcome our brothers and sisters with love and compassion.
The Hebrew Bible tells us: "The strangers who sojourn with you shall be to you as the natives among
you, and you shall love them as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt (Leviticus 19:33-
34)." In the New Testament, Jesus tells us to "welcome the stranger," for "what you do to the least of
my brethren, you do unto me (Matthew 25:35, 40)." The Qur'an tells us that we "shall give to the needy
who immigrated. They were evicted from their homes and deprived of their properties because they
sought God's grace (59:8)."

Too many of our poor are immigrants considered “lucky just to have a job”. While we commiserate with
the suffering of immigrant families who have lost loved ones to death in the desert or immigrants
themselves who have experienced exploitation in the workplace or abuse at the hands of unscrupulous
smugglers and others, we stigmatize them by calling them aliens or “illegals”.

As religious leaders, we will aggressively educate our community on the benefits of immigration and
strengthen public opinion about the positive contributions of our current as well as previous immigrants.
The net benefit of immigration to the U.S. is nearly $10 billion annually. As Alan Greenspan points out,
70% of immigrants arrive in prime working age. That means we haven’t spent a penny on their
education, yet they are transplanted into our workforce and will contribute $500 billion toward our social
security system over the next 20 years. Many will never see a penny of this money if we don’t have
immigration reform.

As in Leviticus 23:22 - "When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field
or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien (Italics mine). I am the
Lord your God. (NIV)". The poor and the alien have always been related in our faith traditions. It seems
that the poor as well as the aliens among us are the un-enfranchised. That is why the faith community
needs to "speak for the poor and needy" (Proverbs 31:9).

As religious leaders we advocate for the application and improvement of our federal labor laws so that
ALL workers rights for ALL workers are respected, including their right to organize, and that our local
labor standards reflect the need to have family sustainable employment. ALL workers have rights and it
is up to the community to make sure that they are respected. While we look to our political leadership to
redress the wrongs of keeping many millions of valuable immigrant workers in a parallel universe, we
have to look to ourselves and our own actions to see God in everyone and honor his creation by making
work holy.

DECLARACIÓN SOBRE LA INMIGRACIÓN Y EL TRABAJO
Ningún ser humano es ilegal

En el Sur de la Florida es muy posible que nuestros vecinos sean de diversas razas, países de origen,
grupos lingüísticos y culturas. Dependemos de nuestros vecinos inmigrantes que trabajan la tierra y
realizan una amplia gama de servicios para nuestra comodidad y conveniencia en complejos de
condominios, en tiendas al menudeo y supermercados, en hospitales o geriátricos y en un sinnúmero de
otros lugares. Nuestra comunidad necesita reflexionar sobre cómo nosotros, cada uno de nosotros, les
brinda respaldo a nuestros vecinos. Una manera es la de promulgar una legislación global de reforma
migratoria que establezca un sistema de inmigración seguro y humano congruente con nuestros
valores. Sin embargo, un cambio en la ley no producirá de por sí un futuro más brillante. Necesitamos
valorar a la familia trabajadora inmigrante de la misma manera en que valoramos la vida misma.

Nuestras diversas tradiciones de fe nos enseñan a acoger a nuestros hermanos y hermanas con amor y
compasión. La Biblia hebrea nos dice: «Cuando algún extranjero se establezca en el país de ustedes, no
lo traten mal. Al contrario, trátenlo como si fuera uno de ustedes. Ámenlo como a ustedes mismos,
porque también ustedes fueron extranjeros en Egipto» (Levítico 19:33-34). En el Nuevo Testamento,
Jesús nos dice, «fui forastero, y me dieron alojamiento», porque, «les aseguro que todo lo que hicieron
por uno de mis hermanos, aun por el más pequeño, lo hicieron por mí» (Mateo 23:35, 40). El Corán nos
dice que «debemos darle a los emigrados necesitados que fueron expulsados de sus hogares y
despojados de sus bienes cuando buscaban el favor de Dios» (59.8).

Muchos de nuestros pobres son inmigrantes considerados «con suerte porque tienen un trabajo». Si
bien nos compadecemos del sufrimiento de las familias de inmigrantes que han perdido a seres
queridos en el desierto o de los mismos inmigrantes que han sido víctimas de explotación en el lugar de
trabajo o de abuso por parte de contrabandistas inescrupulosos y otros, los estigmatizamos cuando los
llamamos extranjeros o «ilegales».

Como líderes religiosos educaremos insistentemente a nuestra comunidad acerca de los beneficios de
la inmigración y fortaleceremos la opinión pública en cuanto a las contribuciones positivas tanto de
nuestros inmigrantes actuales como de los predecesores. El beneficio neto de la inmigración en los
Estados Unidos es de cerca de $10 millardos anuales. Según lo señala Alan Greenspan, un 70 por ciento
de los inmigrantes llega en la mejor edad para trabajar. Esto significa que aunque no hemos gastado un
solo centavo en su educación, son transplantados en nuestra fuerza laboral y contribuirán con $500
millardos a nuestro sistema de seguridad social en los veinte años siguientes. Muchos ni siquiera verán
un céntimo de este dinero si no contamos con la reforma migratoria.

Levítico 23:22 - «Cuando llegue el tiempo de la cosecha, no sieguen hasta el último rincón del campo ni
recojan todas las espigas que queden de la mies. Déjenlas para los pobres y los extranjeros [el énfasis
es mío]. Yo soy el Señor su Dios» (NIV). Los pobres y los extranjeros han estado siempre relacionados
en nuestras tradiciones de fe. Parece que los pobres al igual que los extranjeros entre nosotros son los
no privilegiados. Es por eso que la comunidad de fe debe «defender a los pobres y necesitados»
(Proverbios 31:9).

Como líderes religiosos abogamos por la aplicación y el mejoramiento de nuestras leyes laborales
federales con el fin de que TODOS los derechos de los trabajadores para TODOS los trabajadores se
respeten, incluso el derecho que tienen a organizarse, y que nuestros estándares laborales locales
reflejen la necesidad de tener un empleo que sirva para sostener a la familia. TODOS los trabajadores
tienen derechos y le corresponde a la comunidad garantizar que esos derechos se respeten. Si bien
confiamos en que nuestro liderato político repare los daños de mantener a muchos millones de valiosos
trabajadores inmigrantes en un universo paralelo, tenemos que mirarnos a nosotros mismos y a
nuestras acciones para ver a Dios en cada persona y honrar su creación al hacer del trabajo algo
sagrado.

Septiembre 2005