There are multiple angles of attack that could be pursued regarding illegal immigration on the biblical front, so I shall attempt to do so, though not as in-depth as I would perhaps like.
First, let us consider the employer’s role in things:
There is the story of Jesus and The Question of Taxes [Matthew 22:15-22 NIV]:
15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk.
16 And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.
17 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?
19 Show Me the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius.
20 And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”
21 They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
22 When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.
Here we are clearly shown that it is right to pay taxes; however, a little context may be appropriate: in that day and age the Tax Collectors were corrupt [surprise, surprise] and would often add to the taxes you owed and pocket the difference. Note that in His response Jesus did not condone that sort of dishonest theft; in other words, He did not say: “Render unto Caesar that which you are told must be rendered.” Instead we see a clear delineation of paying a legitimate debt [to the Government] which is owed.
Also, in condemnation of the aforementioned tax collectors there are the following:
Deuteronomy 25:13-16
13 “You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a heavy and a light.
14 You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small.
15 You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure, that your days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
16 For all who do such things, all who behave unrighteously, are an abomination to the Lord your God.
AND
Proverbs 11:1
1 Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, But a just weight is His delight.
But this does not condemn those tax collectors alone, it also condemns those who would cheat the system [by altering the amount that is being measured to calculate taxes].
Now, is it unjust to think that someone employing illegal immigrants would abuse them? It is far more likely because the illegal immigrants fear to take up their issues with the law due to their lack of legal [up]standing; this can only open the door to abuses, such as are listed here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2510698/posts
As I gave the original poster, so I give here; James 5:1-6 says:
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.
4 Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.
As you can see, the failure to pay one’s employees their full wage is a condemnation in, and of, itself.
Now, let us consider the honest citizen and legal alien:
As was stated above, God abhors unjust measuring; how then, can it be acceptable to render unequal legal rulings between the legal residents and the illegal? In the 14TH Century, John Wycliff put it this way: “How should God approve that you rob Peter, and give this robbery to Paul in the name of Christ?” [The origin, perhaps, of the saying “Rob Peter to pay Paul.”]
To grant the same benefits and privileges of either the Citizen or Legal Alien to the illegal is to give that which is unearned to someone, to the detriment of another; it is morally the same thing as “Robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
{Now, this is not to say that I condone the Courts withholding Justice to wronged illegal immigrants; however, it should NOT be ignored that they *are* law-breakers; that crime should be punished accordingly.}
Let us conclude by considering the government’s role in this:
The United States of America is founded on an ideal; that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by that Creator with rights that are unalienable and irrevokable. This could, in itself, take up a book; but let us suffice it to show the Covenant God made with Noah; Genesis 8:20-9:17 says:
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21 And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.
22 “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.”
1 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand.
3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.
4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
5 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.
6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.
7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it.”
8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying:
9 “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you,
10 and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth.
11 Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12 And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud;
15 and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
Take particular note of 9:4-6, where God established capital punishment, not as an option but as a *requirement.* This indicates that it is society’s duty to perform this act; we do it through a judicial-system which is a part of the established government, co-equal to the Executive & Legislative branches; if this ultimate punishment is to be applied for this ultimate crime [the wanton destruction of God’s image; murder] then it stands to reason that lesser crimes should also warrant punishments. Indeed, in 1 Corinthians 6:1-3 it says:
If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
This is written to the Christians! They are to exercise Judgment among one another; furthermore, in this context, it is Paul writing to encourage the punishment of a Believer via Excommunication [for sexual immorality]. So, we see in these two passages [and MANY more, should we look] that there are to be punishments for wrongdoing.
To say that illegal immigrants should be given amnesty, out of hand, is an affront to any who hold Justice in high regard.
I could go on; but this is at 4 pages currently, and I’ve covered enough of the topic on a Christian basis to refute the stance given by the Roman Catholic church on dignity; for what dignity is there in denying Justice to those who are being oppressed?
[Mrs. Don-o, you may or may not wish to ping that big -ol’ list to this; it’s up to you.]
ping