I’m in Edinburgh, Scotland, doing a PhD in church history, on the origins of puritan spirituality. I’m hoping to finish my thesis by April, God willing. My family is in College Station while I’m finishing here. My dad’s an LSU grad, and my nephew is a senior there now, though I remain a faithful Aggie.

Take care …

As it is, they are primarily coming here to find financial freedom (and sending a significant portion of the money back to their own countrymen) and to do so illegally puts a burden on the rest of our citizens.

In addition, it’s not like the only law they break is in crossing the border. To come here illegally, they are forced to establish a life of illegality (not having or stealing social security numbers, not having mandatory car insurance, not paying taxes which would send the rest of us to jail, etc.) which is incovenient at best to law-abiding citizens and dangerous at worst.

Wow, I didn’t know that. Where are you now? Thanks for reading and commenting.

Denny

Two pastes from the Romney website:

“As President, Governor Romney will promote a culture of life. Governor Romney believes that Roe v. Wade should be overturned so that the issue of abortion can be returned to the American people and their elected representatives at the state and federal level.”

“I am pro-life. I believe that abortion is the wrong choice except in cases of incest, rape, and to save the life of the mother. I wish the people of America agreed, and that the laws of our nation could reflect that view. But while the nation remains so divided over abortion, I believe that the states, through the democratic process, should determine their own abortion laws and not have them dictated by judicial mandate.” (Governor Mitt Romney, Boston Globe, Op-Ed, 7/26/05)

Basically, he now claims to be a states’ rights guy on this. I can live with that.

… Especially considering that McCain’s position is even worse: according to this site (http://www.ontheissues.org/John_McCain.htm) McCain is fairly soft on abortion and supports stem-cell and fetal tissue research, in addition to supporting abortion in the case of rape or incest. In 1999 McCain said no to repealing RvW, but then said he would repeal it in 2000. He’s no less a flip-flopper.

At least Romney is a penitent flip-flopper, not an equivocating one like Bill Clin– I mean, John McCain.

Illegal or not, it shouldn’t matter to kingdom of God citizens. These are people whom we are called to minister to and show Christ’s love. Look on the bright side, it gives some of the people who are so full of American pride a chance in a sense go into all the nations. Immigrants are actually some of the most responsive people to the Gospel (so the studies say), so this should be a great opportunity to minister to them and show them Christ in word and deed.

By the way, short-term missions have destroyed missions. Long-term change requires long-term presence.

However, churches are not there to enforce the law. I think churches should welcoming all people (Leviticus 19:33-34), including people who have entered the country illegally. I think some evangelical churches have grown as a result of immigration.

How can Christians find a balance between welcoming immigrants, and obeying the law?

I’ve read several posts where your comments contain the phrase “alien and stranger.” I think you might have left out a key word as it pertains to this issue. Our country is not against the alien and stranger. A quick look at our history and Lady Liberty and other famous ports of entry will tell you that. It’s the ILLEGAL alien and stranger that we are trying to send home and prevent from entering. It’s a national and economic security issue, and a matter of upholding the rule of law.

I do think we need to be considerate of illegal aliens in the States. I am from Texas, where there are a lot of Mexicans who have come north to work and earn more money than they could in their own country.

I sympathize with their ambitions, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask them to register as citizens if they’re going to come and work in the U.S. It’s not a very difficult procedure – drawn out and tedious, perhaps, but nothing valuable comes easily.

By enforcing immigration laws, we also ensure that terrorists can’t get through our borders as easily.

Inasmuch as McCain plans to cut spending, I’m with him, but some of the other things he has stood behind give me the heebie-jeebies.

God bless, Kris. May God give us all wisdom in the voting booth!