Sanctuary covers everything
Lately we have wanted God to stay out of our schools and out of sight for fear of "upsetting other people's religious beliefs." But recently, God has become the "King of Cool," as he had always been; especially now with the hype about a fugitive harboring herself in a church to escape deportation.

Obviously, Elvira Arellano is an intelligent woman. Look at what's she done to stay in the United States. She's been in the country for nine years illegally. She has been deported once. She knowingly committed a crime by falsifying a Social Security number to gain employment at O'Hare International Airport, yet she did not apply for a visa. (It only takes anywhere from five months to two years to obtain.) She has been granted three stays of deportation starting in 2003, after arrest. The option to return to Mexico is one she chooses not to take because she says she can't leave her son. Says who? The government isn't stopping her. She can take him with.

Ms.
Arellano is using this event to her own advantage under the guise of her son's ADHD (which is getting better) and not wanting to leave. With deportation still looming, she states, "If I have to spend 10 or 20 years in jail, I don't care. Because I am going to fight."

Wait a minute. She doesn't care? What about her son? Isn't he the reason she doesn't want to leave in the first place? And going to prison will help him how?

My son has a penchant for driving really fast. Recently he was ticketed for speeding. He was livid. Like a law-abiding citizen, I told him to pay the ticket because what he did was against the law, and he paid.

Well, hell. Forget that. Next time I'm going to tell him, "From now on, son, drive as fast as that car can go. The faster the better. And while you're at it, rob a bank or two. We need the extra cash. That way we won't have to pay taxes. Take it from the ones who need it and rightfully earned it; and, before the police can catch you, hole yourself up in a church, seek sanctuary and declare yourself a political activist. You are defending your right to help your disabled brother, your single-parent mother, and all the single mothers and disabled that are out there today."

God is good, God is great. But that's another column.


- Kathy McCarthy is a single mother, works two jobs (three if you count this column), has two sons, one disabled, and is a second-generation Italian. Her grandparents were Ellis Island immigrants. She can be reached at youcantalktoo@yahoo.com.


08/21/06
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/city/4_1_JO21_COMMON_S10821.htm