Immigration politics and the prelates

Rod, you hit one of my pet peeves in that column. I don't know if it was you or your editor, but you wrote,

The truth is, it would be an abdication of their religious duties if the clergy didn't get involved in politics. The Judeo-Christian tradition is prophetic, meaning that it has always held it a duty for religious leaders to speak truth to power, and to call society to righteousness. There is always the risk that religious leaders will be corrupted by involvement with the powers of this world, of course, but to stay entirely aloof from political affairs is at the very least un-biblical.

The phrase, "speak truth to power," always struck me as wrong. Who is the ultimate power? Would you dare "speak truth" to Him? I think a more accurate phrase would be one I picked up from Mark Davis. That would be "speak truth to evil." Righteous men already know the truth, even if they are powerful. It's the ones who are not righteous that need the truth spoken to them.

I would love for a bishop to publicly state that business owners who hire illegal immigrants for sub-standard wages are not eligible to receive communion.

Rod, My hat is off to the good Bishop for speaking up. His is a truly prophetic voice. One interesting piece from your oped: "Those who are weaker, for their part, in the same spirit of solidarity should not adopt a purely passive attitude, or one that is destructive of the social fabric, but, while claiming their legitimate rights, should do what they can for the good of all." I know you're offended by these people illegally coming here. I guess that that is what you are trying to get at with the previous quote. It sounds to me like their mere presence is a nuisance to you. In one previous post you compared them to squatters. Many of these people are fellow Roman Catholics. Maybe a more appropriate term would be "brothers in Christ." What would you have done Rod had you been faced with the same circumstances that these people face in their countries? Stayed in Mexico or wherever else they came from and continued to be unable to support your family? What would you have done in the same situation? Tell us Rod! I am half expecting a response like: "I would have stayed and fought to make my country better." That's the pat answer I normally hear. Tell that answer to a mother whose baby is crying for milk and who doesn't even have diapers for her baby, Rod. Give that answer to a father who makes 40 bucks a week working full time in an economy where food costs just as much as here. Show them the love of God by instructing them on how they shouldn't break some lousy border law when the misery they make here is like manna from heaven to a starving family. Walk in the tin shack barrios, Rod where children have worms and electrical wires run on the ground and kids get electrocuted when it rains. Enlighten them Rod! It's rather easy speak in terms of idealistic platitudes, Rod. And it sounds oh so reasonable and intellectual. But the question boils down to this: Would you be one of the inn keepers would turn them away. The answer is obviously "yes". Long live the Bishop and long live justice and compassion! Peace, Jim

Bugg, Secure the border. Be fair with the ones who are here. It is not just the Spanish oligarchs who pushed them here. If only it were that simple. NAFTA decimated their agricultural industry. We dump subsidized agricultural goods on the Mexican market. Illegal immigration spiked tremendously in the wake of NAFTA. So our country has a role in it too. No jobs in the city, they moved further north. Message sent by our government's lack of enforcement: if you can make it past the border, there's a job waiting for you. Do you care to comment on the appaling conditions from which these people came, or is it just not your problem, Bugg?
Jim