Posted on 03/18/2006 9:19:19 AM PST by sanormal
In a tiny house on the West Side, two nuns provide a daily break for Mexican immigrant mothers struggling to raise families in a foreign culture.
The nuns teach English, computer skills and arts and crafts. They celebrate birthdays and invite residents to the local Catholic church for Masses. If requested, they give advice on applying for citizenship.
It's free. No questions asked. Not about religion. Not about legal status.
But the work of the 7-month-old Presentation Ministry Center and similar organizations could be in jeopardy, according to opponents of a bill approved by the U.S. House in December.
As part of a proposed overhaul of immigration law, the House wants to make it a crime for any individual or group to knowingly assist the nation's estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants.
Whether Catholic, Protestant, Jewish or Islamic, religious leaders say critical social services to the undocumented potentially could be reduced — if not stopped — should that part of the bill become law.
It could force them into a moral quandary: Obey civil law or God's mandate to show compassion to the poor.
Many religious leaders already have made their choice.
"If they want to put a bunch of priests and ministers in jail, then we're going to have to face the consequences," said Father Jim Loiacono, pastor of Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Church in Eagle Pass, four blocks from the Texas-Mexico border. "It's heartless because these are people who are so desperate there's no way we can turn them away."
(Excerpt) Read more at mysanantonio.com ...
Thanks for the heads up.
susie
Liberation theology bump for later.
Further, the danger of attaching oneself to this fallacy is that you will be predisposed to assuming that all material goods must be earned by direct effort. Ironically that is what leads to socialism, since it precludes the possibility of God gratuitously granting success. For just as one can argue that I should not give food to someone because they have not earned it, someone who, say, inherits wealth should not be allowed to keep it for the same reason. Thus all material goods should be controlled or in the hands of those who labored for it directly, which usually translates as collective ownership. At first that sounds fair, and in a way it is. But it's not the way the world works. It is however the central philosophical idea upon which socialism is formed.
Which is why I find it ironic that I was accused of being socialist when my ideas are technically antithetical to socialist philosophy.
Do you support open borders?
By this logic we should all do nothing, since we don't deserve anything if we work for it. Sorry, I can't buy that kind of convoluted thinking. But thanks for sharing.
susie
Isn't a foreigner an alien?
No, that would only be if we didn't acquire benefit from our efforts. If you work the odds are you will get something out of it. For example, the Lord commands that we should compensate those who labor for our benefit. Thus if someone works for me I am required by God, under pain of sining against His command, to pay that person. But it's a moral issue between me and God as much as between me and hypothetical employee.
Yes, a foreigner is an alien. My point is that the Bible is talking about foreigners or strangers, but there is no evidence that those in the Bible were illegally present in those countries.
Todays illegals are not the equivalent of those aliens in Scripture.
They are, upon entry, lawbreakers.
Never been to Egypt.
That is my point. God's law did not allow for special laws against aliens.
God allows man to make positive law on earth and my point is that there was no law then. There is now. Then a person could move across lines legally, now they cannot.
We can prevent illegal entry and those who break that law are morally wrong to do so.
Which is a consequence of Gods' command to treat aliens like themselves. Your reasoning is circular.
Your thinking is not reasonable.
Illegal aliens are not the same as legal aliens.
He found a man hiding in the bush and he--
Gave him a drink of water
Gave him 20 bucks
And called the Border Patrol
Can you show me where God made a distinction.
Yes.
Render unto Ceasar ...
Thou shalt not covet, steal etc.
Catechism of Catholic Church:
Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, TO OBEY ITS LAWS and to assist in carrying civic burdens
Can you provide a relevant on point bible reference that says contradicts the one's I posted from the bible?
Do you really not recognize the above teachings from the Bible?
If you are a sola Scriptura person, we cannot dialogue and we should quit right here.
God Bless.
I think this might count as spending the taxpayer's dime:
The diocese also is working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to obtain certification that will allow Catholic Charities to help immigrants navigate the legal system, said Bill Hoey, vice president of Catholic Charities. The diocese will not necessarily provide immigrants with lawyers, but will help file paperwork and answer questions about citizenship, he said.
Immigrants to get help from diocese
http://news.newstimeslive.com/story.php?id=81293
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