Immigration Cont'd
As promised dear readers, though fighting my sleepy eyes, I am going to attempt to make some more comments and attempt to further the discussion on immigration and how I can better understand how this pitiful sinner can learn how to give honor and praise to my Savior in my views of immigration. But first, I got to draw some attention to Lil' Brother Ricky, this dear brother just gave me some undeserved props for which I am truly grateful. (Beware, selfish plea coming!) Please, Please, Please, someone, especially Lil' Brother Ricky, since none of my other readers have responded, help me learn how to put some pictures into my posts, I've tried and failed too many times and have waisted at least 2 hours of my life, please help!!! (You can probably tell that I'm tired.) Also, I've been meaning to do this for awhile, but if someone help me in showering E-Walk with some encouragement about his blog, it's wonderful. To have a peer devote so much time to make a great intellectual God-ward post day in and day out, it's marvelous, please, if you visited here, make sure you visit there too, and if you think about coming back here again, make sure you visit there first!
Now to immigration, first, I need to apologize to Where the Redfern Blogs for not reading the common-sensical article he suggested, I meant to before I blogged tonight but my eyes are about to shut, I promise I will though. I am basically going to be responding to Jed's comments, so if you haven't read them you might want to take this brief second and read them...
Okay, I too believe that the world, in our minds, shouldn't have borders, we are to love all men, this world-view is played out to me as when I see hurting Somalies and Iraqi's and Ethopians and Africans throughout the world my heart should ache, most of the time it does but sometimes I experience hardness and self-centeredness and then it doesn't of which I am ashamed. Though in my mind the world shouldn't have borders for a person is a person no matter where they were born (their life begins at conception too)and unredeemed peoples are going to spend eternity away from God. Saying this, the way the world is constructed and according to the infinite wisdom of God this world has borders, there are multiple countries in this world, some have more than others. I believe that this country should do everything in its power to help out the poor and needy, and fight for the defenseless as much as we can. I agree with Jed that this country as it is today is not doing a good job with any of this. I think we did the right thing with Iraq, people dying needlessly is never a good thing and something needed to be done about it and thankfully we stepped in.
We still don't have a good judicial system that appropriates justice, this is not to say that we shouldn't because we should, this is inexplicable to me. I hate the fact that we don't enforce our own laws, it's just so contradictory to me. I am for the illegal immigrants in the fact that I want them to have opportunity and not have to live in poverty for the rest of their lives, I don't have a problem with them working in the states and sending their income back to Mexico for their family either. The main problem that I do have is that they are here illegally! Let me break the law and not pay my taxes and see how fast I wind up behind bars, it's just not right! Besides them not paying taxes, I hate it that Cubans, North Koreans, Africans, Somoli's don't have the opportunity to walk across our borders and have freedom as well. It shouldn't be so easy for the Mexicans and not everyone else, it's just not right! Plus, the whole deal with Mexicans crossing the border to give birth so that their children are citizens isn't right either. I guess my chief complaint is that we should allow immigration the same to all and not make it so stinkin' easy for one people group while for the Iraqi's, Somoli's, and North Koreans it's so stinkin' difficult.
Taking this worldview a step further, I am desperate to know how I can care for the poor and needy in my area? If anyone in the greater Tulsa area can help me out with this I'm open to suggestions. I'm in the book, Brian Barnes.
Mainly I want to know how I can balance, two jobs, saving for a house, paying off all my debts and helping out those in my community that I lived just like a little less than 8 years ago. Also, how do all of these things balance out with having parents that are struggling to make ends meet as well? This inquiring mind wants to know! If you have any advice on how I should set my priorities and honor the King by doing these things please help a brother out. You can be any geek off the street, I don't care, as long as you have some helpful advice, it's more than welcome!
As always, thanks for visiting, check out Lil' Brother Ricky's site check out E-Walk's as well, give them both some encouragement, they deserve it. Post comments as many and as long as you'd like. Don't forget my other question that no one has commented on in my previous post, I think it's two posts before this one, I still need answers. Finally, if I wake up tomorrow and realize that I didn't make any sense than I'll revise this post and post again on this matter that I desperately need help in. Have a good rest of the day.
Soon to come... a post on being considerate (this won't be your normal post!) so come back soon.
Hiding in Him,
Brian Jason Barnes
posted by Brian @ 10:20 PM
4 Comments:
Rob-dogg, no need to apologize. I didn't take it as you having it all together or you being arrogant. I took it as you attempting to help me out, and I appreciate that.
Brian,
I have a few Scriptural ideas and a few thoughts which I hope are Scriptural. I don't presume to have all the answers or even live them out perfectly. I have learned a lot by being at a church which emphasizes these types of things.
1)What should you do? I think the Bible is clear that your first and primary duty is to your family. I Tim. 5:8 speaks clearly to this. Notice how the verse makes a distinction between family and one's own household. So you are not only to provide for you wife/kids, but also you family - which I think would include your parents. This idea is seen elsewhere in Scripture. So I think that the place to start is not necesarily with the poor of Tulsa (not to take away from that - more to come) but if your parents need help, help them. Don't just help them, but help them first and don't feel bad if this leaves you with no time or money to help others.
2) The Bible also lays out priorities in other areas. Gal. 6:10 "So then, as we have oppurtunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to thoes who are of the household of faith." So yes, we are to good to all, but especially to fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Again, this is seen all through the New Testament. 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 are aobut an offering taken for the relief of the saints . In Acts 4:34 there was not a needy believers among them. We are to do good to thoes outside our family and outside of the faith - but it is not the place we are to start. We are to "bring the homeless poor into your house." (Isa. 58:7) but God has given us other command, which I understand as being before this one. I think the Bible is clear that we should feel no guilt if our time and resources are genuinly being poured into other legitimate "mercies." This is what God has called us to first.
All that being said, where does that leave us in relation to imigration. Well I know less about this than the previous things. A few thoughts are this. At a more basic and foundational level: we cannot be a long term help to the poor and needy of the world if we allow them to come into our country unchecked. I think there is enough evidence that this will ultimatly do long-term damage to our economy (not that the American Economy is the highest value). I mean; rather than let these people flood into Amreica: some to get better jobs and some to freeload off our system, we should use our economic wealth to develope the infastructure of these nations and help them create jobs that would encourage people to stay there. This would help them more in the long run. Rather than the lucky few who make it through our borders being in a better position, the entire nation would be able to benifit. In short, if we let them ruin our economy we will not be able to use our economy to help them.
This being said, I know that is not the plan of America to use our economy to help the poor nations of the world, so I still haven't realy addressed the issue at hand. What do we do now. Short of revival sweeping America and the nation as a whole getting a heart for the less fortunate of the world... I don't know. I think there needs to be more strict laws in place to stem the tide of imigration. I think this because many of the same reasons you said Brian. In a fallen world where our county is self absorbed and matarialistic I still think we may have more responsibility to help the poor of our own nation. When there is so much materialism that we cannot even do that we are in a sad sad place.
These are a few of my thoughts. I'm still working through these things as you are brother. I hope we can help each other in this!
here is what Blogger has to say about uploading pictures http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=42475&query=pictures&topic=&type=f
that should help
This might be easier to click.
On immigration;
it's really a trail of money which leads back to the larger corporations (namely construction companies) that hire illegals because they will work for less and don't have to pay taxes on etc. If we held OUR OWN CITIZENS accountable for the laws the illegal influx would stop. But it would create a new problem which we are already seeing which is the outsourcing of jobs to cheaper countries. While you can't really out source ditch digging you can a lot of other more technical jobs that many americans do or did. My company has stopped send many technical people around to different locations around the world and started out source most of it to india (because it's cheaper of course). Why send the people to the work when you can send the work to the people. What we really need to do is strengthen the economies of developing countries so that they have their own work to do and don't need american work. And we need people to humble themselves in this country and work regardless of they job.
Post a Comment
<< Home