I am a conservative. But I am NOT a nationalist. The nation that now exists between the oceans is one made of immigrants. People have come from all over the world to have a better life here on the USA. The only thing that makes it "illegal" to come across our borders is the laws we have set up to prevent "undesirable" immigrants to come and live among us. To fight against their rights to better themselves is NOT A CHRISTIAN stand to take.
The criminals among us are the employers that employ people at a lower wage while not reporting it to anyone. Much of the labor force in the USA is not even reported. It is under the table. Of course, those that take such payments and don't report them are partaking in illegal activities themselves. However, many of them probably don't know this.
Consider our history as we conquered this continent from roughly the Great Lakes to the Rio Grande (points which form borders from which to draw a line to the sea). We came as either religious pilgrims or mercenary adventurers. We encountered the indiginent population with our odd ways, eventually pushing them to less desirable wastelands among hardier tribes that didn't want them as neighbors! And then, we took THAT land as well. Now we acknowledge them as legal entities with land of their own, allowing them to rule themselves. But only within land we allow the to keep.
They didn't have "laws" against OUR immigrating into THEIR land, did they? It was "social darwinism," survival of the fittest. The Europeans won. "Might makes right," or at least that's what "THEY" say (see my first post). Our fight to preserve our "sovereignty" is not a Christian virtue either. We are called to live in the world -- at peace if at all possible. Who knows what would have come of this continent if Christian virtures of LOVE and PEACE had prevailed?
And what does this have to do with the current "problem"? Well, if our employers did not exploit these desperate folk, then they would not flood our borders in such numbers. But when even minimum wage is, say, eight times what many in the developing world make (in Peru, for example), then it is no wonder they come. If we let the market run correctly, with employers paying ALL workers a decent "living" wage, then jobs will be filled by the most competent workers no matter where they are from.
I don't know if this will ever happen, but it is the ideal. How do we manage the influx of "aliens" in a Christian way? We love them. We assist them when they are down. We help them fit in here, or else we assist them in returning to their homelands to affect change there. We stand against "slave labor" in developing lands. For example, we don't pay such low prices to China just because they have manufactured goods using under-compensated workers (keeping their costs WAAYY down!) What is their living standard, and what of their workdays? Are they using underaged children? We "flex a little muscle" as the worldwide church -- a nation without borders!
Remember" "Ego de lego." What has Jesus said?
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2 comments:
Henry-
I was led to your blog from your post on mine.
I note that you are say that you are conservative. My question is: which type? I've been exploring 'conservatives' on my blog and identify 5 types:
fiscal, Christian, social, neo, and the original, often called paleo.
Up here in the north, we don't have the bevy of Christian conservatives as you must down in Dixie, but nonetheless, they have managed to choke several school districts and have had quite a headlock on the Ohio State legislature.
That "look-back law" which was the subject of my ex-priest story was killed in committee by righteous Christian conservatives, for example.
I note your many quotations from the Bible in your postings. On an earlier post, I talked about the book, The Sins of Scripture, whidh pointed out how zealots often use scriptural passages for their own purposes and for the demonation of other groups whom they do not like.
Do you find this a common practice down in Dixie? If so, who are the targets of such?
Thanks from LD in Ohio.
LD:
Thanks for dropping by. Please feel free to scroll down and check out any and all of my posts. Even though I am a charter member of Rock's ring (#1 actually!) my blogs are not that much into politics.
If I had to pick one, I would have to say I am a Christian conservative. I am a Christian first, and so I may differ from other Christians own politics. My in-laws are "so conservative" that they have pulled out of the Republilcan party all together. I would not go that far for practical reasons. As a Christian conserevative I tend more toward a "social" conservative than a "fiscal" conservative. I don't believe that the government should be dong what charities (especially Christian ones, but others as well) should be doing. However, when it comes to laws that deal with morality (as all laws do) then I think it is the right of the citizentry to determine the standards of right and wrong (preferably based on absolutes as in the Bible). The best laws are local laws, but good laws made by our representatives are not to be despised.
I think the midset that holds that people cannot change -- that puts eighty-year-old men in jail for crimes committed fifty years ago -- is wrong-headed. Of course there needs to be some retribution, but where's the proof that someone is "dangerous" at such a later date?
If one holds to an absolute truth, then there will be "targets" to which to apply these truths. I think, for example, to come down hard on smokers is not a Christian thing to do. Especially when the same standards are not applied to alcoholic beverages. Both smoking and alcohol are dangerous to your health, but our experiment in the twenties with prohibition showed that taking on the beverage industry is NOT a good idea! And so, we see alcoholic beverages sponsoring racing cars on tracks where tobacco advertising (and sponsorship) is now forbidden. Now where is the logic in that?
The same scripture proof texts can be used against tobacco, alcohol, and drugs. These are "targets" for some Christian conservatives. Lifestyle choices that are against biblical standards are also targets, though it is inconsistent to preach against one minority position while many in the majority have made another which is just as "condemned" in Scripture. But it is not politically correct to preach against divorce, now is it?
Ironically, it comes down to our ability to change. If we are determined by our enviroment, then anything goes. But if we can change in spite of our enviroment, then even the homosexual has hope. Or the pedophile for that matter! I just visited with a family from Ohio (some conservatives such as give you a "hard time"). The husband was relating how his father is the picture of health after stopping smoking just a few years ago! He was surprised at the change and at how fast a change in lifestyle can turn one's health around.
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