I do not understand the passion around the immigration issue in the country today! And the most venomous anti-immigrant voices with all their denunciations of the so-called “illegals” are coming from people claiming to be religious and Christian!
Without getting into partisan politics, I was particularly disheartened by GOP candidate Fred Thompson’s proposal reiterated in the Republican debate in South Carolina to put an end to the sanctuary movement.
As a Christian theologian and believer, I find this outrageous, practically blasphemous. What Thompson, and the many others who claim Christ while denunciating "illegals," are actually showing the world is the weakness of their faith.
The heart of the Judeo-Christian message is “Welcome the stranger in your land. Remember, you were once strangers in a strange land yourselves.” The core message of the New Testament authors is the forgiving, all-embracing love of God. Jesus spent his life in ministry to the outcast and was put to death for his insistence on the loving forgiveness of God.
Forgive me for wondering how Protestants (or Catholics for that matter) on the political Right can so easily forget (or ignore) Paul’s insistence that the law does not and cannot save us.
With attitudes like this, we have a long way to go in generating a fruitful and thoughtful discussion on immigration today.
If you’re interested in a different take on immigration, please check out the Center’s new resources on immigration at www.coc.org/election2008.
Posted by James E. Hug, President, Center of Concern.
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