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Archive: May 23, 2010 - May 29, 2010
Church
Religion tends to keep people captive. True church sets people free to serve.
By Susan K. Smith | May 28, 2010; 10:01 AM ET | Comments (0)
Graduation season
In Jewish terms, learning comes with no graduation date.
By Erica Brown | May 27, 2010; 9:11 AM ET | Comments (0)
Illegal acts, not people
We must stop all illegal immigration. But we carry a spiritual and moral obligation to help even those who came into our country illegally.
By Samuel Rodriguez | May 27, 2010; 8:53 AM ET | Comments (7)
Immigration and the brotherhood of man
Illegal immigrants do not flock to America because they want to be American, but because it is impossible to earn enough money in their home countries to take care of their families.
By Pamela K. Taylor | May 27, 2010; 8:32 AM ET | Comments (5)
A culture of illegality taints all immigrants
Illegal immigration as a legitimate expression of international problems is unsustainable -- for the victims are those that play by the rules.
By Aseem Shukla | May 26, 2010; 4:19 PM ET | Comments (2)
Reform for God, not for Country
I think it is impossible to understand today's embrace of anti-Latino legal measures without taking account of the deep-seated fear from white Protestants, Evangelicals and many Christian groups that they are about to lose hegemony in America.
By Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo | May 26, 2010; 3:24 PM ET | Comments (6)
Loving our neighbors
Our religious obligation is to welcome and show compassion for the "strangers" among us. That is very clear from the biblical texts. Leviticus actually says that "The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you" (Leviticus 19:34). Jesus says that he will regard the way we treat the stranger as how we treat him. Immigrants are also our neighbors, and scripture tells us to "love our neighbors as ourselves," and to show hospitality to our neighbors in need.
By Jim Wallis | May 26, 2010; 3:06 PM ET | Comments (4)
Allowing illegal immigration is not compassion
Letting immigrants come illegally and remain poor simply so we can have cheaper food and clean homes is not compassion, it is near-sightedness, and it causes more harm than it fosters good.
By Ramdas Lamb | May 26, 2010; 12:37 PM ET | Comments (5)
Immigration issue uncovers new biblical literalists
The Bible passages that speak to hospitality to immigrants are specifically directed to a people who had experienced slavery and alienation. For another, they were part of the process of providing a legislative framework for a theocratic nation-state.
By Jason Poling | May 25, 2010; 11:16 PM ET | Comments (1)
Arizona immigration law outlaws faithful acts
We who live lives of privilege have a moral and a spiritual obligation to help illegal immigrants trying to better their lives. Our religious obligation to welcome the stranger is stronger than the laws of the state. And not only are we our brother's and sister's keeper, but we are our brother and sister at a different moment.
By Valerie Elverton Dixon | May 25, 2010; 2:35 PM ET | Comments (7)
Immigration, charity and national integrity
While my opposition to the Arizona law was visceral and immediate, I must admit that there is a common sense quality to the argument that there are laws regarding immigration which exist for a reason and should be enforced.
By Mathew N. Schmalz | May 25, 2010; 2:18 PM ET | Comments (3)
Bible commands us to welcome the stranger
The Bible actually includes almost 120 passages about welcoming, taking care of, and loving the stranger, including this from Jesus: "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you took me in."
By Debra W. Haffner | May 25, 2010; 1:54 PM ET | Comments (12)
Hospitality to those in need includes us
Those practicing hospitality with those in need of a better life religiously, economically, or politically are among the first. It would be wonderful to see the rest of society follow...before it is too late for many of the most vulnerable in society.
By Max Carter | May 25, 2010; 12:39 PM ET | Comments (2)
What's really immoral: slave wages paid to illegal immigrants
In the 19th century, Americans came to understand slavery as morally abhorrent, but now slavery has returned in a new form and it is undermining our sense of moral decency. It is also undermining our whole economy, and destroying the American middle and working classes.
By Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite | May 25, 2010; 11:06 AM ET | Comments (4)
Illegal Immigration and Christian Values
Focusing on one fact--the violation of U.S. laws on the part of those who got here illegally--misses other important facts, such as the reasons why desperate people so frequently have come here. And it also misses broader principles that must be contemplated as we search for a response.
By David Gushee | May 25, 2010; 10:37 AM ET | Comments (2)
Serve the poor, but don't surrender to them
The best course to follow is to assist poor nations to become self-sustaining so they won't come to America illegally.
By Cal Thomas | May 25, 2010; 10:37 AM ET | Comments (14)
Welcoming Bible's "stranger" may not include illegal aliens
Biblical "immigration policy" was not about maintaining the purity of the community or fear of withholding the benefits of membership, but it was quite clear about the obligations that needed to be met to enjoy the privileges (not rights) of such membership.
By Brad Hirschfield | May 25, 2010; 10:36 AM ET | Comments (11)
Immigration charitable, but unsustainable
Allowing large-scale immigration is out of the question for reasons that have nothing to do with race or culture. Of course, recognizing this requires us to rethink a couple of traditional verities. One is Christianity's historic call to welcome the stranger at all times and places (a call Christians have a very uneven record of heeding, by the way).
By Tom Flynn | May 25, 2010; 10:16 AM ET | Comments (6)
"And thou shalt love the stranger"
While we must safegaurd American sovereignty and the legal process whereby immigrants become taxpaying and law-abiding citizens, the Torah goes even further in its demand for justice. We are commanded to love our neighbor and even more so to respect the stranger regardless of his or her economic utility or social contribution.
By Shmully Hecht | May 24, 2010; 8:52 PM ET | Comments (5)
To whom much is given, much is expected
As a humanist, I believe I should be my brother's and my sister's keeper. It is pure chance of birth that many of us, myself included, are not sneaking into other countries to find jobs because our own country can't provide the work we are willing to do to feed our families.
By Herb Silverman | May 24, 2010; 7:23 PM ET | Comments (9)
