Resisting Christian Nationalism and Cultivating Compassion in Immokalee

By Rick Burnette

During the earliest days of his ministry, Jesus seemed to blow an opportunity to make a good impression with the folks back home in Nazareth. Invited to participate while attending synagogue on the Sabbath, he took the scroll of Isaiah and read:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me,

because He has anointed Me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to release the oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Finishing the passage, Jesus announced, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

So far, so good with the congregants. But then he brings an unexpected twist to Isaiah’s passage of good news for the poor, liberty for the captives, recovery of sight for the blind, and release for the oppressed. Using only three sentences to recount how Elijah and Elisha brought God’s provision and healing to Gentiles, Jesus communicated to the people of Nazareth – his own people – that the fulfillment of Isaiah’s passage is not merely limited to their tribe.

The Nazarenes were not ready for that message. In fact, they were so mad that they tried to throw their native son over a cliff. Somehow, Jesus managed to slip away.

In We Make the Road by Walking, Brian McLaren explains that when the home crowd realized that Jesus was saying that the good news wasn’t just for them, but for all humankind, they felt betrayed and viewed Jesus as disloyal.

Sound familiar?

Our churches are in a tight spot right now as societal tensions have amplified the us vs. them mentality. To court favor among the native-born during these uncertain times, immigrants are being criminalized and dehumanized for political purposes. Consequently, congregants may not be on the same page regarding this matter.

Meanwhile, we may not have noticed that the world is on fire. Climate change does not operate in a vacuum; it ripples spawning crop failure, homelessness, civil unrest, stalled economies, toxic politics, and war. It’s all connected, resulting in the displacement of millions worldwide.

We seem to forget that humans have always been on the move. But with increasing global turmoil, the volume of the displaced continues to grow, with more and more people desperate for security, shelter, and full stomachs.

During a recent gathering of CBF Global Missions field personnel, it was observed that most of us are now engaged in ministries related to global migration; right when migration has become a political dirty word. But as people of the Word, we are not ignoring the Biblical mandate to welcome the stranger, love our neighbor, and feed His sheep.

Our CBF-related ministry, Cultivate Abundance, serves the Immokalee farmworker community of southwest Florida. Despite being isolated, Immokalee isn’t tiny. This un-incorporated community has a population of roughly 26,000, largely comprised of people with roots in Mexico, Guatemala, and Haiti, with mixed residency status.

Immokalee is where most of America’s tomatoes, and other commercial produce, are grown during the winter. Despite approximately 16 million pounds of food leaving Immokalee each day, much of the community has been classified as a food desert; neighborhoods where quality, affordable food is difficult to access.

The core mission of Cultivate Abundance and our main partner, Misión Peniel, is to honor our hardworking, food insecure, immigrant neighbors by growing, collecting, and sharing nutritious food of cultural preference. But in the process, we have found ourselves confronting hostility as immigrant-rich communities, such as Immokalee, are in the crosshairs of hostile Christian nationalism.

Recent news has detailed how immigrant populations in places such as Springfield, Ohio, and Sylacauga, Alabama are being targeted by conspiracy theories and racist hate, all being fanned by the White nationalist political agenda.

Defined by Christians Against Christian Nationalism as “a cultural framework that idealizes and advocates a fusion of Christianity with American civic life,” Americans who embrace Christian nationalism are more likely to believe racial inequality is a result of the personal shortcomings of minority groups. They also fear refugees and hold anti-immigrant views (What is Christian Nationalism? ChristiansAgainstChristianNationalism.org).

The political effects of Christian nationalism reinforce inequality and the chronic lack of access to essential resources for and by the poor, resulting in inadequate food, pay, health care, and housing as well as insecure legal status. Such conditions are rampant in Immokalee.

One way Misión Peniel and Cultivate Abundance stand up to Christian nationalism is to work in solidarity with local organizations, including UNIDOS and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), who represent immigrant farmworker interests.

In 2023, the Florida governor signed a controversial anti-immigrant bill into law. Among other things, the law criminalizes traveling across state lines with undocumented people, invalidates out of state licenses issued to undocumented immigrants, requires hospitals to inquire about immigration status, bars DACA recipients from practicing law, and expels migrants outside of Florida (ACLU Florida, What Does Florida’s SB 1718 Do? https://www.aclufl.org/en/what-does-sb1718-do).

Just after the law was passed and signed, Cultivate Abundance and Misión Peniel team members involved with UNIDOS and CIW organized and implemented a peaceful march. Thousands of locals and their allies participated to protest the anti-immigrant legislation.

In addition to raising our voices against unjust governmental policies that ultimately harm immigrant communities, we have pushed back against the attempted intrusion of organized Christian nationalism.

Deeply conservative and home to very affluent coastal communities, southwest Florida is a hotbed for Christian nationalism. A vastly influential farm and business owner played a key role in organizing and transporting locals to take part in the January 6 effort to disrupt the convening of the U.S. Congress to count the electoral votes of the 2020 presidential election. Among them, a Naples man was later arrested for assaulting law enforcement among other charges.

In late 2022 a prominent Naples resident invited me to introduce our ministry to a small group led by his Episcopal priest. They had learned about Cultivate Abundance from a Ft. Myers-based evangelical nonprofit and wanted to see how we might collaborate to offer community gardening among farmworkers.

A few weeks later, I was introduced to approximately 10 people, including the priest, at a trendy Naples Mexican restaurant. I learned that most of them attended a nearby evangelical church. While digging into my chili relleno, I listened in on their conversations.

At one point I heard the priest refer to some nonprofits that work with “illegals.” The evils of COVID-19 vaccines were also discussed, as well as an upcoming meeting that would feature the January 6 organizer. I gathered that they were preparing to demand that the county commissioners reject a 1.2-million-dollar CDC grant intended to benefit Immokalee’s farmworker population.

They also began to demonize our Immokalee nonprofit allies, the Healthcare Network and Partners in Health (PIH). These reputable organizations had been selected to apply the grant towards assisting farmworkers with healthcare education related to diabetes, heart disease, the COVID-19 vaccine and flu. By the time I finished my meal, I had no doubt that I had somehow stumbled into a hornets’ nest of Christian nationalists.

At that point I informed them that our team works closely with the Healthcare Network and PIH and appreciate what they do.

My hosts blinked. They had assumed that I was one of them; obviously White, probably conservative and evangelical. Despite my pushback, they insisted on visiting our work in Immokalee. Weakly, I gave them a vague answer about getting back in touch, hoping they’d realize that we aren’t their cup of tea.

Feeling sick, I returned to Misión Peniel to share about my interaction with this group. Should we allow them to visit? Perhaps we can help open their eyes.

My colleagues were adamant about rejecting their visit. As long-time residents of Immokalee and other immigrant communities, they had already experienced racist trauma and had a better understanding than I that these wealthy people, with their anti-CDC bias, held the cards. No good would come from their visit.

The most prominent, wealthiest member of the group would continue to contact me frequently to offer plants and containers. I once picked up some of the trifling donations at his impressive farm to keep him away from Misión Peniel. Perhaps he was simply naïve in his intentions to help. But quite soon I ended all contact because of harmful actions committed by his associates the following month.

I would soon learn that those I had met at the Mexican restaurant were active in a local Medical Freedom group. Under the guise of protecting the Immokalee farmworker community from vaccines, during a venomous February 2023 public meeting, they browbeat the Collier County Commission into rejecting the CDC grant. They ultimately deprived the farmworkers of much needed public health assistance while spewing hate about various reputable agencies serving the community.

Obviously, they had no intention of helping. They only wanted to interfere.

Excluding those who pose a threat is not a preferable activity. Done poorly, efforts to protect are paternalistic.

Whether from an individual or organizational standpoint, we are all complex blends of positive and negative elements. Those seeking to make sense of the world will face a barrage of political, cultural, and religious influence, especially when delivered through social media.

Regarding the hot topic of immigration, I encounter many who are unsure what to believe. Why do immigrants come here? And are they a threat?

Because Cultivate Abundance and Misión Peniel depend on volunteer assistance, we engage with many from predominately White church communities outside of Immokalee. This is an opportunity to widen perspectives while mitigating fear and prejudice – the roots of Christian nationalism – as volunteers interact with members of the farmworker community.

One might think that Christian nationalism is mainly an evangelical issue. However, the Medical Freedom group included Episcopalians. Having been involved in a local mainline Presbyterian congregation that offered strong support to the work of Misión Peniel and Cultivate Abundance, I was once challenged by a church elder who stated concerns that we would bring diseases back to the church from Immokalee.

Among CBF congregations, as I share about our work, I sense an overall positive vibe. However, it’s not unusual for someone to question the legal status of those we serve.

By inviting church-based volunteers from PCUSA and CBF congregations, as well as other vetted groups, to work alongside us in Immokalee, helpful conversations are inevitable. I hear from supportive church contacts that such engagement and immersion is helping to move the needle from mistrust to greater understanding and compassion for the immigrant community.

Additionally, we ask visiting teams not to limit their interest and concern to Immokalee. Our community isn’t the only location where immigrant workers are engaged in vital services.    Practically every locale is being enriched through the diversity and skillsets of those who harvest, process, and prepare our food as well as those who construct our homes, care for the sick and elderly, and keep industries going, usually with minimal compensation. Therefore, our hope is that all visitors and volunteers will go home to nurture awareness and further positive interactions with their immigrant neighbors.

With the winner of the 2024 presidential election having promised mass deportations, we expect the economy of Immokalee and other immigrant-dependent communities to be shattered. We also anticipate that the next farm bill will be severely deflated, offering even less food assistance than before.

Considering these circumstances, the need to address local food insecurity will be heightened. We will stand alongside our beleaguered immigrant neighbors and continue to help inform and nurture the involvement of future allies to overcome ignorance and vitriol.