BreakPoint | A 'No Truth' Zone?
As hard as this issue is for our leaders, it's even harder for Christians. We're commanded to be good citizens who are committed to the welfare of the city in which God has placed us to live. The porous borders that have enabled 11 million people to settle in this country illegally raise obviously dangerous security concerns. Those same borders allowing people to seek a better life for their families allow terrorists to come in to destroy us. We need to tighten border security. And we must oppose blatant disregard for the law. If immigration laws are too restrictive, the answer is to amend them, not ignore them.
But along with these concerns, we also need to recall God's command to welcome the foreigner and sojourner in our midst. The Scriptures tells us that hospitality toward the aliens in its midst is the hallmark of a good society. In fact, extending the hand of friendship toward those who are different from them is a way the people of God distinguish themselves from their unbelieving neighbors.
While this kind of hospitality doesn't require that Christians advocate open borders, it does require us to be salt and light in the debate over immigration reform. At the very least, we should work to elevate the level of discourse and prevent the demonizing of the “other” in our midst.
Colson nails it. As a Christian I know that laws are meant to be followed AND I need to have compassion on the people trying to have a better life. I look at it this way, how many of us, if we weren't Americans, would want to come here? I'm sure most of us would. I don't blame the folks who come here illegally but things need to get fixed. We need tight borders AND let people who are here to work, come here to work. All people on visas need to be tracked so that when their visas expire they go home. It's still about terrorism, folks!
Posted by Tim at August 15, 2005 11:17 PMYep, the way I see it is as follows:
1. Determine a realistic number of visas (something to match the actual numbers coming in)
2. Set up a program to process and track that many people.
3. Enforce the border- for REAL- and prevent illegal crossings.
4. Handle the issue of people already in this country, either by deportation and/or amnesty.
There is no call for amnesty when the borders are uncontrolled. Afterwards, let's talk.
Too much rhetoric (on the extremes of both sides) ignores the central ground that a majority of people will agree upon: immigration is good, illegal immigration is bad. And as for the difference, a line from an old Batman movie illustrates the point:
Catwoman: Admit it, Batman, there's something between us.
Batman: Yes, and I'm afraid it's the law!
Using euphemisms for blatant illegality only contributes to the decline of respect for the law. It serves as a sort of 'original sin', with the illegal immigrant forever being a) outside 'legal' society and b) in defiance of the law for simply being there. It's a no win situation, casting him or her into an adversarial role.
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Posted by: Paula at August 17, 2005 10:30 AMYou make a few good points, however, we need to make sure our immigrant population is becoming "American".
Enough with the multi-culturalism already.
Posted by: the daily missive at August 17, 2005 06:08 PM
