Wednesday, October 10: Welcome to LBC, StumbleUpon visitors! After reading this post, visit the home page and bookmark the blog for future reference.
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Update (1/16 @ 5:38 p.m.): What? I hope Tom Tancredo decides to run for president. The pro-enforcement, pro-life politician definitely would get my vote. I met him briefly at this event. He was swarmed by the media.
Related post: Lame Duck, Straw Men, and Cosmetics
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Evangelical Christians say the issue of illegal aliens in the United States often creates a conflict between their allegiance to the Gospels and their loyalty to the government. – from “Christian groups torn over illegals,” Washington Times
George Bush wants amnesty for illegal aliens, and now he’s got the Congress he needs to make it so. But I don’t want to talk about him. I want to discuss Christian “compassion,” illegal aliens, and illegal aliens who call themselves Christians.
Some people make the ludicrous argument that I can’t speak out against illegal “immigration” because I am a Christian. I expect such ignorance from unbelievers, but it’s 10 times as irritating when Christians say it. “Ministering to all people” and spreading the Gospel are not in conflict with my opposition to giving criminal aliens the gift of American citizenship.
Whenever some Christian starts ragging on me about how “un-Christian” my views on illegal aliens are, I ask them to tell me what criticism they’ve leveled against illegal aliens who profess Christ. In anticipation of the sounds of chirping crickets, I give them an out: Hypothetically, what would you say to the illegal alien who professes Christ?
Still… crickets.
Last year I attended a panel discussion called “Faith, Culture and Law in the Immigration Debate,” and one of the speakers was a Reverend Samuel Rodriguez, Jr., of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. I asked how he could advocate rewarding lawbreaking Christians, considering Christians’ duty to obey the law, and how “Christian” illegal aliens he knew justified the lawbreaking.
After quoting from the usual Bible passages about being kind to the alien in your land, Rodriguez added that the so-called Christian border jumpers he knows had a choice between starving and breaking the law (he didn’t say “breaking the law” but inserted a euphemism I can’t recall). He still didn’t answer my question about how Christian illegal aliens reconcile clear biblical teachings with their behavior. The lobby (where I’d cornered him) was chaotic, so I didn’t press the issue.
If I had pressed the issue, he would not have given me an answer that made sense. He, as an hispanic himself, put his shared ethnicity with Central American illegal aliens above what he knows is right as a so-called man of God. That’s my opinion, and I’m sticking to it.
A couple of years ago, I got so fed up with e-mails from Christians, I wrote “Illegal Immigration From A Biblical Point of View,” which I hoped put things in perspective. It generated a lot of discussion, sometimes heated, but I think we made progress.
People who favor open borders and/or believe anyone speaking out against border jumpers is racist and/or un-Christian fail to understand our government’s role. The United States government, as created by the founders, has no power or rights or money of its own. Its derives its power from the people — you and me. We give it huge chunks of our yearly income so that it can carry out the functions we empowered it to perform. Part of that function is to protect its citizens, and to the extent that it isn’t detrimental to citizens, protect aliens in our midst. The problems caused by illegal “immigration” (crime, overburdened social support and legal systems, etc.) warrant some kind of action by our government to solve those problems and to repair the damage.
A government that not only fails to protect citizens from harm but actually seeks to bestow further benefits on those harming us is out of line, to put it mildly. As a custodian of sorts, with certain responsibilities toward citizens (as enumerated in the Constitution), it has effectively abrogated its whole purpose (hyperbole, you say?). The underlying principles mean nothing at all if our custodian can’t be trusted to do what it’s supposed to do.
Back to matters of faith. It is not the government’s job to show “Christian” compassion to illegal aliens, nor is it my commission as a Christian to excuse the behavior of illegal aliens simply because the Bible teaches that I must be kind to them. There is no conflict. Kindness entails more than just feeding people and providing comfort in times of need. It’s also about holding people accountable and encouraging them to make amends for their wrongdoing, to alleviate the suffering they’ve caused others. Why don’t I ever read a Christians-and-illegal-aliens news story that mentions the moral and legal obligations of Christ-following illegal aliens? What am I the only one being chastised?
Having “compassion for the alien” is Christ-like, but so is holding other so-called Christians accountable for their un-Christ-like behavior. Each of us will have to account for what we’ve done. The saved among us won’t have to suffer for it, as Christ has already suffered in our place. But God established governments for a purpose. Perhaps Reverend Rodriguez and my Christian detractors should remember these words (emphases added):
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. – (Romans 13: 1-4)
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