Why so much conservative hostility towards undocumented immigrants?

Rion

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You would be correct if you were taking the Native American side but if you take side that immigrants should not be allowed, then that would be extremely hypocritical.

Why would it be hypocritical? "My ancestors came here, did awful things because they were left unchecked. Better not make that mistake myself." Are you suggesting that Americans have to allow the same to happen to them as penance?

Oh, I guess, "Do unto to others as they would do unto you" didn't cross your mind? In short, if you want mercy, show mercy. If you want love, show love. If you want God to judge you, judge others.

First of all, "judge not lest you be judged" doesn't mean you never make a values judgement. It means don't try and judge a person's spiritual destination like the Pharisees did. Christ also commanded us to render unto Caesar what is Caesar and to not violate the law just because the people over you are hypocrites like the Pharisees.

Why is it so difficult to understand? Enforcing a border is not showing a lack of compassion. Allowing people to be exploited and mistreated so that you lettuce is a little cheaper isn't being compassionate either.
 
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A_Thinker

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"Neighbor" in that context, meant fellow Israelites, not foreigners, and the word "neighbor" denotes proximity.

Sounds like you're ignorant of the lesson of Jesus parable "The Good SAMARITAN" ...

Luke 10:25-37

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?”he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”

28 “You have answered correctly,”Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
 
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Hammster

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Sounds like you're ignorant of the lesson of Jesus parable "The Good SAMARITAN" ...

Luke 10:25-37

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?”he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”

28 “You have answered correctly,”Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
What does this have to do with people coming here illegally?
 
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A_Thinker

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majj27

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Derailing already?

You know, you're absolutely correct. That was derailing, posted in haste, and attacking a position you didn't actually take.

I apologize. That was bad form on my part.
 
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Hammster

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You know, you're absolutely correct. That was derailing, posted in haste, and attacking a position you didn't actually take.

I apologize. That was bad form on my part.
:thumbsup:
 
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Yarddog

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Why would it be hypocritical?
A country of illegal immigrants denying immigrants. Yep, hypocrisy.


"My ancestors came here, did awful things because they were left unchecked. Better not make that mistake myself." Are you suggesting that Americans have to allow the same to happen to them as penance?
No, as Christians.


First of all, "judge not lest you be judged" doesn't mean you never make a values judgement.
Didn't say that it did, but what judgment have many Conservatives lain upon immigrants? Many, not all, down grade immigrants from Latin America as criminals and thieves and those from Muslim countries as terrorists without understanding that most are good people.

Christ also commanded us to render unto Caesar what is Caesar and to not violate the law just because the people over you are hypocrites like the Pharisees.
And?? Immigrants should come here legally but I have no problem with a person who needs to feed or give their family a better life coming to America to do just that, even if it may be illegally. That is part of the reason people came here from Europe in the first place.
Why is it so difficult to understand? Enforcing a border is not showing a lack of compassion.
I glad that you believe that the Native Americans who waged war against early Americans were being compassionate and it was the European settlers who were the sinners.
Allowing people to be exploited and mistreated so that you lettuce is a little cheaper isn't being compassionate either.
Why is it so hard to understand that compassion is paying people a living wage to that work? With higher wages it wouldn't be exploitation.
 
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redleghunter

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What part of "illegal" are people not understanding?
Indeed. I will add our gracious host and brother @compassion 4 humanity to this post.

As pointed out by YHWH even the alien among them must obey the Laws of YHWH:

Numbers 15:

15 'As for the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the alien who sojourns with you, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the alien be before the LORD. 16 'There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the alien who sojourns with you.'"

Which means the alien among them must obey the Law as the Israelites. Not bring their idols and worship them, bring their own law or be apart from the culture of the land.

And the Law stipulated what an alien could not do. Meaning YHWH did discriminate what an Israelite ('citizen') could do and what an alien could not:

Exodus 12:

43) The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the ordinance of the Passover: no foreigner is to eat of it; 44) but every man's slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it. 45) "A sojourner or a hired servant shall not eat of it. 46) "It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it. 47) "All the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this. 48) "But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it. 49) "The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you." 50) Then all the sons of Israel did so; they did just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51) And on that same day the LORD brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

Meaning if an alien did want to celebrate in the fullness of Israel and the Law (citizenship), they had to be circumcised thus becoming a full citizen. Even YHWH had standards of a 'pathway to citizenship.' No amnesty. That did not of course divorce Israel of being kind and providing to those in need who were aliens.

Confirmed that there is one Law, ordinance for all:

Leviticus 24:
22)
"There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the LORD your God." 23) Then Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and they brought the one who had cursed outside the camp and stoned him with stones. Thus the sons of Israel did, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

The Law was to set apart Israel for God's Glory. If the Israelites obeyed God's Law as commanded, she would be a beacon on a hill for others (the nations) to come to her and gain salvation through her. However, Israel and by extension later Judah became more like the foreign nations abandoning their God and thus invoking His anger and jealousy. Which then led to Israel's demise in judgement.

Therefore, if we are using Torah to demonstrate our obligation to love and be kind to the sojourner (alien), then we should be looking at the governing Torah ordinances addressing the alien (sojourner).

Taken for us as Christians in the USA? The moral principles should align. We are to love and be kind to the alien (sojourner) and expect them to obey our laws.

Looking at the means of Christians in the 21st century, especially in the West, a great deal of love and kindness (with resources) is expressed for the alien, refugee and down trodden. Which we know is how we ought to treat our neighbor (Leviticus 19:34) As is abundantly exampled by just a few relief ministries:

Help Families Fleeing the Fighting in Mosul

Emergency Field Hospital Sent as Christmas Gift to Iraq

Loving Care for an Orphan | Samaritan’s Purse Gift Catalog

A Brighter Future for Ebola Widows

Women’s Programs

Crisis & Disaster Response

Feeding Programs

Health & Medical Ministries

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene

Children’s Heart Project

Putting a Stop to Human Trafficking

Deadly Earthquake in Nepal

U.S. Disaster Relief
 
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redleghunter

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Aren't most Americans illegal immigrants?
Good question since when?

Though not all Native Americans were hostile to the new settlers many were. On the eve of our Thanksgiving Day celebration, I wonder just how hospitable those tribes would have been, at first, if they knew what the European invasion would have done to their peoples.

Even "Native" Americans were not here first. Did the various Native tribes have immigration laws? Of course not. I thought some Progressives advocate open borders? Then why would a bunch of European nations be excluded from such a philosophy?

The Wampanoag Indians did eventually declare war on the settlers because of English intrusion and were almost wiped out.

Maybe they should have built a wall.
 
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redleghunter

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the problem is the government's systematic non-enforcement of its own immigration laws.

Precisely. There are laws and they are not being enforced.

Imagine if some Levite priests advocated an alien could take of the Passover without being circumcised as YHWH commanded.
 
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redleghunter

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and it would allow us to welcome more foreign nationals who are in need.
The above is what the State Dept grappled with (and continues to) when considering bringing war refugees to the US.

The usual refugee policy is to safeguard them initially in refugee camps. If the conflict continues find neighboring nations where they can temporarily integrate get jobs and sustain themselves. For Syria that would mean the neighboring nations not engaged in war.

The reasoning for the above is that after a war ends, the very people needed to rebuild are not far from their nation. When the Syrian conflict is over and most of their refugees are in the US and Europe, who is going to rebuild their nation. Let's be honest, when refugees come to the US, they never go back. When this happens we have phase 2 of a failed state with no citizenry to rebuild a war torn nation.

As Americans we tend to look at human refugees like the SPCA commercials. AKA "Something must be done and someone else should take them in."

When I inform other Christians of what their brethren are actually doing to safeguard war refugees and help integrate them in neighboring countries and the ones we take in here in the US, they are shocked these activities and ministries exist. Here are some examples of your brethren acting not solely war refugees, but pointed at every suffering and need globally :

Help Families Fleeing the Fighting in Mosul

Emergency Field Hospital Sent as Christmas Gift to Iraq

Loving Care for an Orphan | Samaritan’s Purse Gift Catalog

A Brighter Future for Ebola Widows

Women’s Programs

Crisis & Disaster Response

Feeding Programs

Health & Medical Ministries

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene

Children’s Heart Project

Putting a Stop to Human Trafficking

Deadly Earthquake in Nepal

U.S. Disaster Relief

I'm sure you could tell us of how your local church ministers to refugees in your local community. My church helped plant an African refugee church where they have their own building, shelter and Bibles in their language. That's just one example.
 
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