I was going to respond , but then I saw Darryl 1958 's response . His response is fine with me . ( IOW , what he said ) .
Dennis Prager refers to those 3 pronouncements on every US coin as the " American Trinity " .
Thanks.
I don’t think that there really ought to be any real disconnect between the understanding of God as it has been presented to Americans in their constitution and the beliefs of anyone, not even atheists. The ‘God we Trust’ in of Dennis Prager’s American Trinity is as relevant to him as a Jew as it would be to any of the Christians who framed the constitution for a secular nation in the first place.
This basic building block of America, to which any American really needs to subscribe to if America is to have any meaning at all, is that the source of their rights and freedoms— and responsibilities too— lie outside of any government decree and are part of their birthright. Like God himself, the source of naturally endowed rights and responsibilities lie outside of any political process.
It is easier of course for a Christian or a Jew to intuitively understand this more than an atheist might, but the American principle set for is the same for anyone.
It is something being lost with Obama, as he misquotes the basic line of where American rights come from.
To try to steer back on topic, I think the bishop’s compassionate response is that the rights of the immigrants come from God too, and no government decree can take them away. Where the bishops fall short, as with many liberals, they forget that responsibilities come from God too, and as such immigrants are responsible for respecting the laws of the country, including the laws of entry. They also have a moral responsibility, not just to their own families on whose behalf they have jumped queue in the first place, but to those in line whom they have displaced in the first place, and to those who are already here, who are now out of work on account of their jobs going to the queue jumpers.
The bishops may describe themselves like the revolutionaries who founded this country in their statement that oppressive laws do not trump rights, which come from a higher source in God. They are also being political nevertheless by conveniently not noticing that the source of the illegal immigrants grief is not really with American law, but with the corrupt and economically oppressive regimes which make the emigrants life so intolerable in the first place. They are also forgetting that any who call on God’s name for compassion and for rights, are also obliged to follow God in showing compassion and in respecting the rights of others.
Queue jumping is not a victimless crime. The people lined up waiting to get in are the real ones being hurt by bad law, the real victims of a muddled immigration policy. The fact that millions are jumping the line altogether and taking their place makes their situation impossible.
As well, those already here and who cannot get work as a result of the queue jumpers are being victimized too.
Justice is important to God, it should be Just as important to the Bishops.
