Your assertion here is entirely inappropriate. Worse, it is irrelevant - and I don’t just mean because it refers to a different situation in a different century. If your position cannot stand on its own merits then it is wrong whether or not the people who oppose it are the scum of the earth.
You are free to make that argument and we are free to oppose it because it isn’t a moral question and the Church has no opinion on the matter.
I’m sure this is true. I’m also sure that, for Catholics, their position is entirely irrelevant.
I see a trend here. If I am caught in the mall parking lot without a receipt, I am not a shoplifter, but an undocumented consumer.
A large part of winning any debate is controlling the terms with which it is discussed. I’m sure focus group studies and surveys would confirm that people in general are more favorable toward “undocumented” immigrants than they are to “illegal” ones. Hence the great preference for the use of the term “undocumented immigrants” over the phrase “illegal aliens.” It is an attempt to influence the debate without having to engage in it.
One of those famous ‘annoying’ bits of logic is everyone who breaks a law could be called ‘illegal ______’ (fill in the blank). But, stop and consider - the idea is to make a valid distinction between LEGAL immigrant and one who breaks the Law. There is no such thing as a ‘Legal Shoplifter’ or a ‘Legal Rapist’. So, we have in this country, both legal and illegal immigrants.While I have no problem with either term, I notice we do not call people who go in excess of the speed limit illegal drivers. Perhaps it is too close to home to too many people.
There is not such thing as the Traditional Roman Catholic Church. There is only the Catholic Church, which by definition is universal, as opposed to partisan. The bishops in this country are criticized by political liberals when speaking on some issues and political conservatives when speaking on other issues. Like Jesus, the Body of Christ on Earth is not always popular when proclaiming truths.
Hi, Neum334,
“There you go again …”
But, how to increase the ways that a post can be overflowing with compassion is not the issue or the thread. It is tough to be a citizen … so, I won’t argue with you about it being tough to be an illegal immigrant. But, so what?! I did not choose to be born in this country - and if I wanted to leave I would have to do a lot of things to make it work. The illegal immigrant did not choose to be born in whatever country he was born in - and, unlike me - chose to do something about it. Unfortunately, his choice places additional burdens on me (financial in the form of taxes to pay for border patrol enforcement, extra security measures and welfare in all of its various forms.) I do not have many choices in this area, either. The illegal immigrant must put up with circumstances that he himself created by being in the US without proper authorization. Just what kind of sympathy do you want me to have for someone who breaks the law in this manner?
I honestly do not think that if we engage in discussing ‘hard luck stories’ we will be any closer to a logical and uniformly applied immigration policy.
You know, there apparently wasn’t a ‘compassionate soul’ out there when the woman caught in adultery was thrown down in front of Christ by the Pharisees. Yes, the good news is that she was not murdered right on the spot with the stones these guys had already picked up because they were so sure of the verdict.
Ah, but here is Christ telling her to ‘sin no more’! My goodness, all this time I was thinking that prostitution was her way of making a living and here is Christ effectively putting her out of business! Hey, didn’t He know that things were tough all over, that she only went into prostitution to feed her aging parents, and crippled sibling who can no longer work. Hey, where is the compassion in being told this is not to be your way of making a living?!!!
Fortunately, the ‘Compassin Lobby’ had not had a chance to form yet… and this woman apparently pulled her life together by cooperating with the Grace of God. How she did it is not mentioned in the Gospel - but, we can be sure she gave up her sinful life. The take home message is that there will always be those who see breaking the law (any law in any country) as in their best short-term interest. But, having them convince us that it is our laws that are flawed not their poor conduct is what makes this such a unique topic.
God bless
You are more then welcome, Neum334.
But I should point out that the thrust of each of your posts could be summarized as, “Current US immigration law lacks compassion and therefore is unjust to those who have come to the US without benefit of proper authorization.” This is simply nonsense.49 years ago, I got my Driving Learner’s Permit when I turned 16. While this is memorable to me for a number of reasons - one of them was that I had to had over to the Officer my Birth Certificate. Being focused on only one thing - I thought it was only to prove I had turned 16 … but, you know, it also proved at the same time that I was a US Citizen. As I recall - the State has declared that driving is a privledge - and not a right.
You are going to great lengths to ignore and evade the links I have provided to you. Let me repeat - in 1986 an amnesty was granted to illegal immigrants by a law signed by President Reagan. Some took advantage of it and some didn’t. Those who chose to violate that law (in addition to their being in the US illegally to begin with) are further compounding their life as a law breaker - and complicating things for their children. Today, we hear the same argument for ‘amnesty’ or a ‘Dream’ law that would take these children, young adults … not so young adults and grant them citizenship, too. There is no reason to believe that this law, were it to be enacted, would not be a failure.
Tax them $1.00 (and, of course, do the paperwork! 
) but, let them become part of the system that we all benefit from. This is an important psychological aspect that the Welfare State does not want - it really wants more people dependent on it and not themselves … but, that is another topic.As for the welfare statistics, I’ll admit I didn’t do enough research yet. My apologies. However, I did point out before that most of those immigrants receiving them have US citizen children. I do wonder if the mothers would not have had these children if they had the legal avenues to enter as legal immigrants, rather than resorting to bringing a child into the world they cannot support, so that when then child at 21 years of age will be able to sponsor them for a visa (there are no quotas for US Citizens sponsoring their parents). That said, these same children raised right will be successful and be future taxpayers. What of the illegal immigrants that don’t have children in the states and never asked for handouts?
While you can see the Good Samaritan as representing Christ, I had looked at the Good Samaritan as what Christ sees each of us becoming (Luke 10:37 “Go and do likewise” tells the one who initially addressed the question (a scholar of the Law) who is his neighbor. What I was trying to say is that we can not be unjust or uncharitable to our family so that we can be ‘charitable’ to others. Admittedly, this requires some balancing (an item not apparent in the parable) for addressing competing demands and setting priorities.
While you are certainly free to make up your own story … please … do not adjust mine and then say it does not fit. What I provided in the way of NON-factual details was simply for illustration purposes. Your basic claim is that illegal immigrants do what they do because:
First, the way federal money (from all of its multiple sources) gets to an illegal immigrant both directly and indirectly is a very complex matter. It is not like when I go to the store and buy bread, eggs and milk and I tell my wife how much I spent. You will need to examine whatever dollar amount you come up with if you want ot be accurate. Bogus numbers exist on both sides of this issue and they do not cancel one another out.
Now, would you just look at that … here is the adult son/daughter working within the system to bring his parents in legally. While it is not the manner most choose for sponsorship - here it is… obeying the law.
Just as an FYI, it can be criminal under some cases in your state.
Actually, the ‘little compassion’ argument is truly difficult to either qualify or quantify.What does it really harm us to show a little compassion? Not much, in the long run. Yes, it costs us money to educate the children of illegals, but it costs us just as much to educate the children who were blessed enough to be born here in the US. For every immigrant child in my classroom struggling to learn enough English to be able to pass the AIMS test, there’s another born here who slacks off, doing just the minimum to get by, or, worse, distracting the ones who want to learn. Beyond that, is it so difficult to forget that less than three centuries ago, we were all immigrants? Who has given us the right to judge others for doing what our great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, etc., did?
I’m not saying the fact that so many come here illegally is okay. I am saying that we have a moral obligation to act compassionately towards those who have far less than we can imagine doing without.
Again, just my two cents worth. And yes, I’m deliberately ignoring the crime done by drug cartels, because that is another issue - I speak here of the illegal immigrants I know, whose children show up in my classrooms - the ones who truly come here for a better life. Have a blessed day, all!