Hearts of the City / Exploring attitudes and issues behind the news

A rotating panel of experts from the worlds of philosophy, psychology and religion offer their perspectives on the dilemmas that come with living in Southern California.

Today’s question: A Gallup Poll last year found that, on balance, immigrants to this country say the moral values of their homelands were better than the values they find in the United States. From your experience, do you think immigrants tend to feel that way? If so, is the unfettered freedom of expression here the immigrants’ cause for alarm, or other factors?

Donald E. Miller

USC professor of religion and author of “Survivors: An Oral History of the Armenian Genocide”

“The answer depends on what values are at issue. In terms of political values, the immigrants I encounter have tremendous trust in the integrity of the ballot box and the openness of our political system. On the other hand, many immigrant parents feel that too much freedom is given to children, allowing them to challenge traditional standards of obedience and respect for elders. But the dilemma of this freedom is that it also provides opportunity that more class-bound societies do not allow. So freedom is a two-edged sword.”

Dr. Hassan Hathout

Director of outreach, Islamic Center of Southern California

“It is not only immigrants who believe that America is suffering a moral crisis, but also many multi-generation Anglo-Saxon and European Americans. And it is not only in comparison with former homelands that the moral decline is noted, but also with the same America of only a few decades ago. Freedom of expression has been overstretched to include license and moral pollution. The immoralities of yesterday have become the social norms of today, and separation of church and state has been erroneously translated into the exclusion of God from human life.”

Bishop Roy I. Sano

Bishop, Los Angeles Area of the United Methodist Church

“When immigrants are disoriented in a strange new world they understandably rely heavily on their heritage. Bewilderment can prompt excessive pride. It can sadly degenerate into hostility toward others. At the same time, recent arrivals more often than not infuse our society with family loyalties. And the new friendships they provide replace the frayed relationships in our neighborhoods and the deteriorating trust at work. Their ‘get-up-and-go, can-do’ spirit consistently revives the best values in our democracy, including ‘a new birth of freedom.’ ”