Discussing a film called “Gospel Without Borders”:
“What part of ‘illegal’ don’t you understand?” is a popular piece of the narrative that supports the hard-line perspective of the legislation.
One wants to reply, “What part of the Gospel’s clear admonition to offer hospitality to the stranger don’t you understand?”
Is it a legal issue, or a faith issue? If both, then which should have priority among people of faith?
Reducing the issue of immigration to a matter of legality (as in the prevalence of referring to our undocumented neighbors as “illegals”) seriously oversimplifies the economic, social and theological dimensions of this arena of our common life.
Then discussing how people tend to favor strict enforcement of laws when it serves ones immediate purposes while conveniently ignoring the same laws when not enforcing them benefits the lifestyle one values:
Much more than a legal problem that can be fixed with new laws, it is a human problem that must be responded to (as the prophets would say) with new hearts. The core of the problem is not with “them” but with “us.”
via Immigration Issue Far More Than a Legal Problem on EthicsDaily.com.