Posted on 03/28/2006 2:18:36 PM PST by razorbak
The Roman Catholic Church, dozens of grass-roots coalitions and Spanish-language radio disc jockeys have helped fuel protests nationwide against congressional efforts to tackle illegal immigration....
The Catholic Church has played a key role in opposing legislation to restrict immigration and rallying protesters....
"As we've been able to reach more and more people, they're waking up to the ills of the proposals made to date and seeing the need to be vocal about the kinds of reforms that would be more acceptable," said Mark D. Franken, executive director of migration and refugee services for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops....
The bishops conference in May began "Justice for Immigrants," a campaign focused on activating a network of grass-roots movements against punitive immigration-reform legislation....
Mr. Franken said all the nation's 197 Catholic dioceses are in some way backing the campaign, with more than 70 being particularly active. Disseminating pamphlets and networking, community-level groups tied to the campaign are operating "in churches and everywhere they can gain access," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at insider.washingtontimes.com ...
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Yeah, all those trust-fund Chicanos.
Respectfully, gently, even courteously: Welcome home, ma'am! God bless you and yours!
Thank you for your thoughtful reply, Black Elk.
I take a different attitude towards Mexican immigration than I would toward Muslim immigration.
Mexicans are culturally Western (if not Northern): Spain being Western Europe, and Spanish and Portuguese being closely derived from Latin, the classical language of the West; and Central America being Western Hemisphere, and Christian for the past 400+ years.
Unlike Muslims, Mexicans are not culturally committed to polygamy; genital mutilation; the whipping of women who show their bare elbows and knees; the physical destruction of most of the art, music, and literature of the West; the sawing-off of the heads of apostates; and other ugly domestic and judicial behaviors based on the Hadiths and the Qu'ran.
Despite sillies-on-stilts who talk about "Aztlan" (mostly at a University near you), the vast majority of Mexican-Americans don't want anything even remotely resembling a worldwide racial or religious caliphate.
Suppose (and this is not theology, not prophecy, and certainly not politics, just a "supposal") suppose, --- since demography abhors a vacuum--- God is allowing us to experience the logical consequences of aborting 50,000,000 American babies, by replacing them one-for-one with Mexicans.
If that's the case, then I'd still urgently want to regulate the border we can minimize the vulnerability, criminality, exploitation, and misery associated with illegal immigration, and at the same time I'd like the INS to issue many, many more visas so that Mexicans and Central Americans can come here legally and make swift progress towards becoming U.S. citizens.
(Covering head to avoid FReeperflames --- not from you, Black Elk! ---but I'm saying what I think all the same.)
I'd also say thank God that what we face, taking the bad with the good, is more taxes, more crowded ER's, higher fertility, more day-laborers, more kindergarten kids, more salsa, more ai Chihuahua!, higher GNP, more fiestas, more Nuestra Senora and more Jesucristo--- and not jihad, dhimmitude, and Shari'a law.
Interesting hypothetical questions, but let's take them one step further. I think your questions are a retake on the question that was actually posed in Europe during the 1930's and 1940's. But instead of the unemployed, simply substitute "Jews."
I think that puts a much more interesting spin on it, because we all know what happened when those questions were posed in reality. And we also know that far too many of our bretheren did not account for themselves very well.
I'm reluctant to answer hypothetical moral questions. Because personal experience has shown that more often than not, the most honest answer is: "I don't know" or "it depends" or in this case: "Lord, please don't ever put me in a situation where I'll have to actually answer that question."
However I will note that my choosing a site name containing the acronym "RKBA" might offer some small insight into my philosophical starting point.
An awesome post, BlackElk. You did a great job of arguing your case.
Well spoken, Black Elk!
Disagree though I may with Barry Goldwater on social issues, an atheist, Karl Hess, who later became an anarchist-left libertarian, wrote BMG's acceptance speech as to the 1964 nomination. We do well to always remember its closing words and to adopt them to our own causes:
"I will fight and I know you will too until our cause has inspired the world and shown the way to a tomorrow worthy of all our yesterdays."
In fact, it is well worth the time to read the entire speech and to read other works of Karl Hess, a very interesting and principled man (not always our principles) who died all too young when his great heart failed.
Pray for the souls of Karl Hess and Barry Goldwater just in case either has an eternal chance.
God bless each of you and all of yours.
I'm not as familiar with Karl Hess, but I am with Barry Goldwater.
As politicians go, he was a good man and unusually principled in his beliefs. We don't have to agree with someone to recognize that their motivations are honorable.
"The Roman Catholic Church, dozens of grass-roots coalitions and Spanish-language radio disc jockeys have helped fuel protests nationwide against congressional efforts to tackle illegal immigration...."
Not completely accurate. The Minutemen and HR4437 are the fuel that drives the anti-Minutemen movement. The Minutemen and their small number of supporters angered a much, much larger number of people. They awoke a sleeping giant.
The result for the Minutemen will be a much worse bill than no bill... much worse than if there has been no HR4437 (from the viewpoint of the Minutemen). The result will also be that even though conservative Rpublicans are split down the middle on immigration, the Republicans have been made to appear mean spirited. This will lead to less votes in November. How many less depends on how long the issue stays on the front burner or is forgotten as other issues emerge.
Strictly as tactics, the lesson is pick you battles. It is better to pick a small, limited battle and win, rather than a larger battle and lose.
Anyone who thinks mean-spiritedness has big support anywhere needs a reality check.
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