Today’s saint, Paulinus, lived in the 7th century. He ended up on the radar screen (admittedly, I am writing anachronistically here) of holy men when the king of Northumberland demanded a marriage to a specific princess of Kent. The princess’s brother (a king in his own right) opposed the marriage. Butler report’s that the Kentish king declared:

“[A] Christian maid could not lawfully marry an idolater, lest the faith and its mysteries should be profaned by the company of one who was a stranger to the worship of the true God.”

Note how similar an argument this was to arguments against the so-called mixing of races–the idea that such marriages lead this to a profanation (or pollution) of the pure faith or race.

Being a political as well as a religious matter, the compromise between Northumberland and Kent was that the Northumberland king pledged that he would fully allow and protect the princess’s right to worship as a Christian, and that he would himself even consider becoming a Christian …perhaps. And in response, the Kentish king agreed to marry off his sister but required that one of the Pope’s priests (thereby invoking the backing of more than just Kent) accompany the princess to make sure that her Christian rights and rites were safeguarded.

Enter Paulinus. He was sent, courtesy of the Pope, as part of the princess’s retinue, and faithfully attended to her and worked hard (and successfully by his lights) to Christianize the king and, by extension, Northumberland. So Paulinus is now a saint.

But backing the wedding train up: What is this fear really about? Is Christianity so fragile that the mere “company of one who is a stranger” to Christianity could befoul it? Is a Master Race so fragile that one person’s genetic contributions could cause it to buckle?

This speaks to how we approach diversity. If we fear that “what is special about us” will be lost if we have intimate interaction with those who are different, then I suspect that we’re not talking about something that is all that special to begin with. If we fear that “others will pollute our purity” then I suspect we’re not so pure to begin with.

Change is stressful, yes. Refusal to change however brings lethal consequences. Failure to recognize both of these facts simultaneously defines, at least in part, our country today.