Thread: Mr. Santorum, don't build this wall

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/new ... 903122.htm

Posted on Mon, Jun. 26, 2006

Mr. Santorum, don't build this wall

By JERRY BOWYER


I'VE BEEN interviewing Rick Santorum for almost two decades now. One thing that always struck me about Rick was his willingness to speak openly about his belief in Christianity.

That's why I was surprised when the senator recently sent an e-mail to me in which he bragged about his tough position on immigration and slammed Bob Casey for his soft one.

As I read the e-mail, I thought, "Has Rick ever read what the Bible actually says about immigrants?"

The biblical case against abortion is inferential. The Bible doesn't speak directly to the topic. It lays out some principles - sacredness of life, humanity of the unborn - that lead to the conclusion that abortion is not permitted. It's the same with stem cells, child tax credits, faith-based social services, etc.

Immigration is different. The Bible is explicit. In the Torah, Moses commanded, "Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt."

The Bible is unabashedly pro-immigrant. The argument is simple: You were immigrants in Egypt, and you didn't like being mistreated, so now that you have your own country, you should treat immigrants compassionately. It's basically the Golden Rule: Treat people the way you used to want to be treated when you were in Egypt.

The Exodus was an act of protection against mistreated immigrants. The children of Israel had earlier crossed the border of Egypt to seek a more economically secure life for themselves. Eventually they were seen as a threat to Egyptian cultural purity and national security. Much later, King David surrounded himself with immigrants, as did his son, Solomon. The prophets spoke out on behalf of aliens frequently.

Jesus of Nazareth was an immigrant. When he was a child, he and Mary and Joseph crossed the border to Egypt illegally. You see, they had a well-founded fear of political persecution from a Middle Eastern dictator named Herod.

I understand that on the surface, the current argument is not about immigration per se, but about illegal immigration. I also understand, from nearly a decade of hosting talk radio, that I almost never meet anyone who wants to throw the book at illegals who at the same time voices enthusiasm for immigration in general. Let's face an obvious fact: People tend to want the laws they like to be strictly enforced, and the laws they don't like to be loosely enforced. Conservatives can complain about "amnesty" being offered to illegal immigrants, but we led the charge for a kinder and gentler IRS which had the power to forgive penalties for back taxes. Typically when we see a lot of people violating a law (say tax law, or a 55 mph speed limit) we wonder whether that isn't a sign that the law was too draconian to begin with. There's no reason that immigration should be treated the same way.

The president wants to create a program in which illegals can come forward, pay a fine, and apply for legitimate citizenship. What do the hardliners want? Deportation. I have two words that I'd like for them to contemplate for a moment: "concentration camp." There is no way that you move 10 million to 20 million people from one nation to another against their will without concentrating them.

We could go the way of the hardliners, or we (a nation of immigrants) could go the way of the God of Israel, "The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt... . "


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Jerry Bowyer is the author of "The Bush Boom: How a Misundestimated President Fixed our Broken Economy."

All these bleeding hearts have the same thing in common.....they suffer no impact from illegals.....they don't have to live among them.....they don't really care what it costs us. One week, in some of our lives, would change their mind forever. They should read the thread about having illegal neighbors!

Another from the GOD SQUAD spewing forth half truths by only quoting those parts of the bible and scriptures that SUIT THEM.

Jesus said Render under Ceaser what is Ceaser and God what's God. We have man made laws that need to be obeyed for the safety of all. LEGAL immigration is a good thing but what part of ILLEGAL to the liberals not get

Where is that violin I saw the other day?
Wouldn't it be nice if we could take in all the poor immigrants (he likes that word) of the world? But our system can't handle it.
Scripture quoting could be done to support our views also, I'm sure, but somehow this just doesn't seem right.

We could go the way of the hardliners, or we (a nation of immigrants) could go the way of the God of Israel, "The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt... . "

Hardliners? Hardly! That means aliens who want to be part of us, not aliens who sneak in to break our laws and flaunt it in our faces! If they come in to contribute to our society in like manner but not to undermine and destroy because of their HATE!

Not all Americans are immigrants, most are are born here through many generations of native born Americans! This 'we are all immigrants' is spouted to put us on the level of the illegal immigrant. As if the ONLY difference is we are legal and they are not. Add the bullhockey "no one is illegal" and now we are all the same right?

Originally Posted by jean

Where is that violin I saw the other day?
Wouldn't it be nice if we could take in all the poor immigrants (he likes that word) of the world? But our system can't handle it.
Scripture quoting could be done to support our views also, I'm sure, but somehow this just doesn't seem right.

Was this the one?

Originally Posted by Brian503a

Originally Posted by jean

Where is that violin I saw the other day?
Wouldn't it be nice if we could take in all the poor immigrants (he likes that word) of the world? But our system can't handle it.
Scripture quoting could be done to support our views also, I'm sure, but somehow this just doesn't seem right.

Was this the one?

Bingo! Sure made me laugh. Thanks Brian!

I just love people who pull out parts of the bible to suit them, when they probably otherwise do not give much thought to God at all.

I'm getting so sick of these bleeding heart types who's hearts bleed at the mere thought of having compassion for foreign criminals. Can't we deport the bleeding hearts too?

I'm so sick of hearing they come here for a better life. Well I want a better life too. I have bills to pay, yet I don't beg the government for a handout and committ illegal acts.