Immigration: Mainly of the Illegal Kind, but Open for Discussion!

This week's Theology on Tap Lite topic will focus on immigration, particularly that referred to as "illegal immigration" in the United States of America.

Before I offer up a slew of links, first I want to give some opening thoughts and commentary.  A reminder that we have a commitment to mutual respect and dialogue. Let us engage in respectful dialogue - including the elements of trust, sincerity, respect, willingness to learn, agreement to disagree and commitment to work through issues. If honest mistakes are made, let us support each other with gentle reminding in correcting them.

I believe most folks are of a mind that SOMEthing needs to be done. The problem is finding the solution(s) that is logical, feasible/work-able, and agreeable across all lines.  Essentially, asking the government to finally find a common ground - perhaps, asking the impossible!

The General Board of Church & Society of The United Methodist Church (along with all other mainline denominations) has really done a phenomenal job at putting together a comprehensive statement, along with goals, objectives and resources available to individuals and congregations.  The UMC's stance (similar to that of most mainline denominations) and writings is found here.

Last week, I posed the question on Facebook, "What are your thoughts on Immigration?" Here are some of the responses:

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses...For me, this still applies as long as those individuals pay taxes and obey the laws. We are all descendants of immigrants unless you are American Indian."

"I'm not against immigration IF they're legal, AND they are trying to learn our language, AND everything I do or say isn't considered racist because they don't want to work and they're living on the system (not that tons of Americans aren't doing the same thing, they should get off their asses too)."

"I think the process of legal immigration/citizenship should be simplified. As of now it's a lengthy (sometimes years) , costly (thousands of dollars) and difficult process (I scored poorly on the exam when I took it and I'm no slouch). I believe anyone earning a wage in the U.S. should have to pay taxes and any cash leaving the country should be taxed as well. The language issue doesn't bother me much; I can speak enough Spanish to hold a basic conversation. It bothers me more when Americans butcher our language...I also think aliens convicted of non-capital crimes should be deported at their own expense and not be placed in our already overburdened penal system." 

"I agree with deportation of illegals. It also irritates me that it costs so much and is so hard to become a citizen. It's too easy for them to be here illegally."

"I don't believe our founding fathers ever would have agreed with the concept of forced deportation, illegal immigrant or not. Part of the beauty of this country and the freedoms it allows to all people is the right to be or say anything, s...o I also don't believe that anyone should be forced to learn another language. I believe that our government was created in order to help those who cannot help themselves, that need to live off system for a little while, whether they are legal or not. Perhaps the question we should be asking ourselves isn't whether or not immigration is a good or a bad thing, because naturally that's too loaded of a question; but instead, why don't we ask what makes America such a great country compared to where they're immigrating from?"

"'Won't someone please think of the children.' -Maude Flanders. That pretty much is a sermon in its own right. Is it reasonable to disrupt families in exchange for the civic value of reporting/arresting/deporting those who do get caught? I've seen it happen firsthand. There is a better solution, there must be. 'Each society can be judged by how it treats its weakest citizen.' Our weakest citizens, in my opinion, are children of illegal immigrants. Our society deports their parents if we catch them. Ponder that."

"Here's one from a Law Enforcement Perspective. Legal Immigration I have no problem with. Illegal Immigration creates several dangerous problems, and raises several issues. In no particular order...

1. There is no way of confirming identity. This means that if I pull over a person wanted for murder in Ohio, because he can simply change his identity whenever he pleases, his identifiers will not return as wanted. That's not good.
2. On the heels of that, if I arrest an illegal, ICE won't come and get him, which means he is allowed out on his own recognizance. Then, he never comes to court to answer for his charges. You and I cannot disregard the law with such impunity, but illegals can.
3. On the heels of THAT, there are no financial liabilities for illegals. For instance, the illegal who ran into a [company's name] power box last year. He OR'd out (OR - Released on Own Recognizance), never returned. Of course, not only was he unlicensed, he was, of course uninsured. [The company] cannot recoup the cost of that power box, therefore costs are passed on to the consumers. [An individual in town] was nearly killed by an illegal immigrant driver out in California. Court costs, ambulance costs, NONE can be recouped from these people. 
4. Even if a person comes here illegally with the best of intentions, most must use the pipeline through the southern border, through which are also smuggled 12-year old sex slaves, drugs, and guns (the guns are usually southbound), lining the pockets of some VERY bad people.
5. Speaking of guns, traffickers, cartels, etc., we have ceded land to the cartels in AZ. Read here. We are being invaded by a sovereign nation, and the Fed is indifferent.
6. I am, of course discussing the hispanic element coming from the south. This is not racism, as it is so commonly dismissed, it's just what I see every day. I have arrested ten illegal immigrants in the [city] area since I came on the force last year. I don't see illegal Norwegian immigrants, I see illegal Hispanic immigrants. It's not racism, it's fact. 
7. The solution is simple - deny social services, housing, and employment to those here illegally, and they will deport themselves. Put REAL security on the border (like soldiers and a DMZ) and the drugs and human trafficking will desist. None of this is possible without the Fed (by their own admission; they have hotly contested immigration as THEIR jurisdiction in Federal Court), who seem completely apathetic. Extremely frustrating... 

From God's Politics Blog: Rethinking Our Approach to Immigration Reform
 

Heard this on CNN earlier this week: Online publisher pulls assignment on immigration after outcry
 

ICE Nabs Illegals With Criminal Records- Obama Challenges GOP to Reform Immigration
 

130 immigrants with criminal records arrested in Virginia, agency says
 

If you can't open these following links, and have an RSS Reader (like Google Reader), look for them there. NYT started their new "system" this week. You get 20 links a month, then they charge you and you still have to establish an account with them, BUT they haven't done anything to their articles if you subscribe (free) to the NYT through an RSS service: Women, Children and Immigration Reform (NYT Letter-to-the-Editor); As Mexicans Fill Pews, Church Leaders Are Slow to Welcome Them
 

$5 million reward posted in immigration agent's killing

NOT directly related to Illegal Immigration, but interesting reads:
Skilled Immigrants' Talents Go to Waste in U.S. 

Immigration Office Back to Denying Same-Sex Couple Visas After Legal Review

Wearing Orange on St. Paddy's Day!

While I was growing up, my mother used to say, "Protestants wear orange on St. Patrick's." I also remember her giving me some additional information like, "we're Scottish...William of Orange is our champion, not St. Patrick" and so on and so forth. Since childhood, I've done additional reading and research and have sorted most of this thing out. I want to share it with you, if you were not aware of this phenomenon. Now, the stories I'm about to tell you are true; however, they should not in any way truly reflect our attitudes or opinions. If the majority of Americans wear green - when they aren't really religious or believers in St. Patrick at all - then we can, in jest, enjoy the story of why we should jubilantly wear orange!

First of all St. Patrick (if you don't know much his story): St. Patrick (5th century), the patron saint of Ireland, is one of Christianity's most widely known figures. But for all his celebrity, his life remains somewhat of a mystery. Many of the stories traditionally associated with St. Patrick, including the famous account of his banishing all the snakes from Ireland, are false, the products of hundreds of years of exaggerated storytelling (probably a result of too much beer!). After more than six years as a prisoner, Patrick escaped. According to his writing, a voice - which he believed to be God's - spoke to him in a dream, telling him it was time to leave Ireland. To do so, Patrick walked nearly 200 miles from County Mayo, where it is believed he was held, to the Irish coast. After escaping to Britain, Patrick reported that he experienced a second revelation - an angel in a dream tells him to return to Ireland as a missionary. Soon after, Patrick began religious training, a course of study that lasted more than fifteen years. After his ordination as a priest, he was sent to Ireland with a dual mission - to minister to Christians already living in Ireland and to begin to convert the Irish - when Patrick arrived, many Irish practiced a nature-based pagan religion. Interestingly, this mission contradicts the widely held notion that Patrick introduced Christianity to Ireland.

NOW, for William of Orange: Protestant Europe and England did, indeed, look to William of Orange (1650 - 1702) as their champion. In 1677, William had married the English Princess Mary, Protestant daughter of the Roman Catholic James, duke of York. After Jame's succession to the English throne, the Protestant William kept in close contact with the opposition to the king. Finally, after the birth of a son to James in 1688, he was invited to England by seven important nobles.

William landed in Devon with an army of 15,000 and advanced to London, meeting virtually no opposition. James was allowed to escape to France. Early in 1689, William summoned a Convention Parliament and accepted its offer of the crown jointly with his wife. The "Glorious Revolution" was thus accomplished in England without bloodshed, and it proved a decisive victory for the Parliament in its long struggle with the crown; William was forced to accept the Bill of Rights, which greatly limited the royal power and prescribed the line of succession, and to give Parliament control of finances and the army.

William's reputation is tainted as it's believed he condoned the bloody massacre of Glencoe in 1692. In Ireland, after William's victory over the exiles James at the battle of Boyne and the conclusion of the Treaty of Limerick, the Penal Laws against Roman Catholics were increased in severity.

Now, you figure it out....

A Reflection on Lent

March is always a hectic month - spring begins to burst forth and all it brings: flowers, gardening, spring cleaning and SPRING BREAK!  This year, it also brings the start to the season of Lent.
 

However, not everyone knows what Lent is and what its purpose is to accomplish.

Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance. It is a season for reflection and taking stock. Lent originated in the very earliest days of the Church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves and when converts were instructed in the faith and prepared for baptism. By observing the forty days of Lent, the individual Christian imitates Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days.

What are the “forty” days? Because Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, we skip over Sundays when we calculate the length of Lent. Therefore, in the Western Church, Lent always begins on Ash Wednesday, the seventh Wednesday before Easter. In many countries, the last day before Lent (called Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, Carnival, or Fasching) has become a last fling before the solemnity of Lent. For centuries, it was customary to fast by abstaining from meat during Lent, which is why some people call the festival “Carnival,” which is Latin for farewell to meat.

 

Enough explaining the details. What’s the purpose of Lent? What should the Christian feel and how should the Christian respond? We avoid Lent and Holy Week because it isn’t a happy and uplifting time – but to be honest, neither is most of life. Sometimes we come to church all scrubbed up, dressed nicely, with smiles on our faces, and when people ask how we are, we reply that everything is fine and we even boast how wonderful things are – but it’s not truthful at times. Life is not always uplifting, or wonderful, or pleasant, or joyous – but we have been taught the lie that for spiritual people like us, it must be so. So we become play actors. In a sense, we’re hypocrites.

But in this we miss the whole point of the incarnation! God became flesh in Jesus. Jesus faced temptation, he suffered hunger and thirst, and he suffered the agony of a crucifixion. Jesus did not face these things so that we would be exempt from them. He faced these things so that we would have dignity in them.

The people of this world believe in the power of positive thinking and in happiness, and in believing these things, they are very shrewd. For people of this world have only the present moment, and if they are unhappy in it, they have lost something. But we who are Christians can endure unhappiness and sadness and loneliness and backstabbing and betrayal and friendlessness and poverty and hunger and thirst; we can face mourning and grief and even death, because Jesus faced all those things and we can take comfort in this and figure out a better way to handle and deal when adversity smacks us in the face. 

 

On Palm Sunday, there were crowds who cheered Jesus as the King, but where were all those fair-weather friends when Jesus prayed in agony on Gethsemane, and where were they when he got the death penalty?

Therefore, let us show that we as Christians are not just Jesus’ groupies, we are his friends. Let us be bold to join him, fasting in the wilderness for forty days during Lent. Let us be bold to pray with him in the garden on Maundy Thursday. Let us fearlessly stand at the foot of his cross on Good Friday, so that we may witness his Resurrection and his Ascension, and join in his triumphal life!