Photo by Michael Cavazos, Longview News-Journal |
First, let’s get this out of the way right off the bat: TFN does not now nor has it ever had a position on immigration.
What TFN does have a position on is the First Amendment and the freedom it gives anyone, regardless of immigration status, to practice the faith of their choice or no faith at all.
Now to this, a disheartening article on a town hall meeting hosted by Republican state Rep. David Simpson in his east Texas hometown of Longview last night.
The story is full of crazy.
Simpson might be a tea party hero with lots of cred among conservatives, but he argued for compassion toward the unaccompanied children who have entered the United States to escape violence in their home countries. His constituents, on the other hand, are another story. They angrily accused the immigrant children of bringing with them a host of diseases, including leprosy, tuberculosis, influenza, etc. One went as far as saying that the children “are bleeding Texas (Democrat) blue.”
But the most disheartening comment came from an audience member the Longview paper identified as Thomas Rolland. Here’s that part of the story:
“Don’t take what we say personally,” Rolland told Simpson. “We need our borders protected. We need a lot of things, but what we don’t need is more people at the trough. These people are not coming in with a good, Christian heart. Most of them are criminals, anyway.”
Since when is Christianity a requirement in the United States? Moreover, how does Mr. Rolland know what’s in the hearts of these children? And if what’s required to stay in this country is a “good, Christian heart,” then Mr. Rolland just made the case for his own deportation.
Honduras is 97% Roman Catholic; I wonder how much of this is from the traditional prejudice of Protestants against Catholics as not being “real” Christians.
I think you hit the nail on the head, abb3w. In the Deep South, Catholics are put in a separate category than Christians. This is baffling to people in the rest of the nation.
Maybe the anti-immigrant folks should just think of those poor children as unwanted fertilized zygotes, and then they would be all for protecting them!
Don’t exclude the possibility that Mr. Rolland subscribes to the ideas of Congressbeing Gohmert, i.e. that those are not actually South American (and therefore Catholic) kids but Muslim terrorists in disguise. And if they are not yet old enough, then they are the ‘terror babies’ groomed to become sleeper agents that will hit the US in a decade or two.
If Mr. Rolland is old enough, he may also believe them to be Japanese saboteurs 😉
For every absolute truth there are one or more other absolute truths of equal validity and opposite direction.
Beware of all who hold absolute truths, for they are duty-bound to destroy all others.
The “feeding at the trough” part is what upset me. What these people are saying is that government money will be needed to feed,clothe, house, and provide medical care to these children who are coming across the border to escape horrific conditions in their homelands. That money will come out of their pockets—money they could have otherwise set aside for something really important like remodeling the bathroom or stepping up from a Lexus to a Mercedes.
Yes, you worked hard for that money, but the thing you forget is that it is not your money—not really. The Bible says the Earth and ALL that is in it belongs to God. That includes every dime of your money and material assets. Nowhere in the Bible does Jesus say:
“Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven (except for the Hispanic kids).” (Matthew 19:14)
We Christians have a God-given responsibilty to use God’s money in whatever form it takes (taxes, gifts, charity, and whatever else) to take care of—notice this:
GOD’S CENTRAL AMERICAN CHILD REFUGEES COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES.
Make no mistake. If you fail to do this with love, generosity, and true compassion—your sorry conservative ass is going to get nailed to a wall someday and no excuse you have to offer will be good enough because blood, death, and suffering will be on your uncaring hands—dripping—dripping BIG TIME. And you dare to call yourselves Christians?
You say: “But we don’t have endless resources!!!”
No, but you have enough. You can let the bathroom go another year. You can drive a Chevy economy car instead of a $96,000 Mercedes. You can do lots of things so there will be more tax money and other money to help the refugee kids.
God!!! I don’t believe you people!!! How do you sleep at night???
How dare they call themselves Christians?
LEVITICUS 19:33 “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
LEVITICUS 19:34 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
What do you expect out of Longview, Texas -neighbor to nut of the year Louie Gohmert. Redneck, rural, uneducated, fake christian wingnut idiots. No thanks-I left East Texas the very DAY after i graduated from high school.
I think God has a special plan for these fake Christian morons.
I have yet to read anything about our responsibility in creating the horrific conditions these children are escaping, that US gun sales and drug use are two of the things driving the situation in their countries yet too many of us don’t want them here. Christian or not that is disgraceful.
“more people at the trough”. Um, does that include social security, medicare, armed forces, roads and highways, schools, “cheaper” gasoline, school books, medical schools (govt. subsidizes about half of each student), health insurance at a huge discount for all members of congress and their families, water, electricity in some cases, man made lakes, TAX FREE STATUS FOR CHURCHES: BUILDINGS, LAND, INVESTMENTS, SCHOOLS. The most powerful pig gets the front tit.