Immigration is a vital issue to the American people. We need leaders who will serve the common good, but since they are currently absent we need the people to proclaim the Christian truth with regard to illegal immigration. That truth might be different than what you instinctively presume. Look below the video box to see recommended resources on the immigration issue.
Chuck Colson is a national treasure. Who else speaks with such clarity and passion about the unique challenges of being a Christian with American nationality? Thank you Chuck-keep swinging for the fence!
Just the word illegal has lost all meaning. It is amazing to
me to see Congress let our Constitution be dismantled. Yet I
take part of the blame. For to long I did not speak up. In recent days I have written and written to my Senators & Rep
but to no avail. I realize that to be in Congress you have to have courage and integrity. They are suppose to represent us.
Yet they do not listen. Even if they not agree with us they
are suppose to listen to the pulse and vote accordingly. I
have tried in this fight for Arizona but to no avail. When I
do get a response in either e-mail or letter - it has nothing to do with my subject. After 4 years of speaking up
I wonder - why do they not listen to the pulse of their
constituents? I could not believe that my Senators voted with the Administration. They did it again with voting for
Kagan!! They must be blind and deaf to us. I think the only
way to get their attention is to get a new Congress.
I particularly like what T.M. Moore had to say on pg 17 & 18. There are things we (the church) can do right now. And doing them will be a tremendous witness--especially when we do them together as Christians. Jesus linked the world seeing us as one body with "so that the world will believe" (Jn 17: 21 & 23.)Isn't that what we all want?
The churches in Calgary, Alberta are working together through the Cooperative ESL Ministries. CESLM trains volunteers in churches how to do effective, relation-based, interactive ESL outreaches to our new immigrants. Our immigrants know they need help with English and need friends/contacts. How much easier can it be to touch their lives with the love of God? You may want to check out www.eslcooperative.ca for ideas and helps to get started. Seize the Day! God's open door.
I can't pretend to have an answer that satisfies what to do with the illegals already in our country, but I do think that there needs to be a penalty of some sort, just to be faithful to our laws - we can't concede that. My interest, though, is in recognizing the core problem that causes much or all of this, and that is desperation.
As someone who has been on multiple mission trips to impoverished areas of Mexico, I can tell you that they are a proud, noble people who don't want to leave their country. But because of the conditions there, many feel forced to, in order to survive and/or provide for their families. By fencing off the borders we are addressing the symptoms and not the cause. We are making it someone else's problem - which is entirely non-Christian.
Organizations like Casas por Cristo are able to build livable homes for Mexican families for about $7,000. Think of how many homes could be built with the money being spent on security, fences, etc. Then we'd be providing them with more hope, better living conditions, etc. and curbing their desperation, which causes them to explore illegally immigrating.
I'm not naive enough to think this would solve all of the problems. I also know that there are other very good reasons to secure our borders, not the least of which are terrorism and drug trafficking. But by at least helping those who are acting out of pure desperation we could reduce the number of illegals, and narrow the flow down to the more nefarious ones who we can put the full force of the US into focusing upon.
BUILD HOMES, NOT FENCES
I share your frustration Chuck, at the seeming inability of our Congress to engage in meaningful debate about the immigration issue. I know the issue is costly, on both sides and as TM Moore stys, we need a lovee based solution. In all of this, I can't help wondering how big a role globalism is playing here. If we truely are working toward a North American Union, there is no incentive for Cngress to enforce the borders. And as long as the federal government keeps our attention turned to the illegal immigaration problem, without ever actually providing a solution, like the "border fence" they never fully funded and never completely built, the longer they keep us diverted from seeing other issues that are as important or more so, again, that will go on without debate or solution. I see a smokescreen here and one we need to penetrate by calling for a national debate. I couldn't agree more.
Deporting all the illegal immigrants is not at all feasible or realistic. Dumping 3 million people on Mexico would destabilize that already weak government,creating a political situation that could create real refugees on our door steps. In addition we actually want the work force. They come here to fulfill a need.
If you are caught speeding (a law enforced as strongly as illegal immigration), no one demands that your drivers license be revoked. Instead you have to pay with a fine and in serious cases with jail time. Lawbreakers should be punished but at a proportional rate to the severity of their crime and the government's ongoing tolerance to the crime.
What we need to recognize is that the current system is defacto-amnesty for illegal immigrants. If we are angry about the thought of amnesty than we need to be willing to seek a political solution. Political solutions always require compromise. Failure to compromise is tacit endorsement of defacto-amnesty.
I'm not sure I entirely agree with you this time. We have a Federal law already that needs to be upheld. I do agree that the borders need to be sealed, but to allow all of the illegal aliens who have come here to be allowed to stay, is not the answer either. We are literally being overrun and some of those are not just illegals, they are criminals. To put on probation and illegal and then assure that he or she performs community service as you suggest, is a bureaucratic nightmare. I know there are many who are here and working, contributing, getting educations, etc., but the point is they they are lawbreakers. I can't get around that. Jesus told us that we are to follow the law, to render unto Caesar, and illegals here in America have broken out laws.
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2010-08-09 10:33:01
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