I wrote a post on the subject of building a fence or barrier on the southern border of the United States on April 9, 2008. There is another post on walls featuring the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem dated May 29, 2008. That one is more about spiritual matters. The bottom line of my position is that we should not. That being said, we are. On this I am pretty much counter cultural. Well, today we have five carpet installers working at our home. All of them are from Mexico and I have heard nothing spoken in English with the exception of "thank you" as I offered up some Rice Krispy bars as a snack. There is much laughing, singing and, above all else, quality work going on. I know a bit about the installation of carpeting and I can tell you that I am getting a good job for my money. So, the questions flow...are these gentlemen taking work away from deserving United States citizens? Are they all legal? Am I paying for their medical insurance through our welfare state? Am I at a greater security risk because they don't speak much English? Is their being here in Minnesota fare to us working stiffs who are more qualified to be Minnesotans? I wonder not for long on these questions. I don't ask them when someone of European/English speaking descent comes to work at my home. I don't ask about their insurance, their families, and how they spend their money and their time when they are not at my home. I simply ask for and make sure that the work I get is done and done correctly. I also make sure that I pay my bills. So, I will do the same with these gentlemen and smile and shake their hands when they leave, but do so after I check the final work. Assuming that it is fine we will part and probably never see each other again. Many times I have had this type of relationship with workers at my house. Today should be nothing different.
We need to vote our beliefs and express our philosophical positions when the time comes. We need to think our positions out thoroughly. But, after we have done that, after we stuff the ballot in the box, the people we meet with, the folks we deal with should be treated with respect, fairness, and the love of Christ. Whether a worker comes from south of the boarder or north they deserve the same treatment.
More on this subject to follow.
2 comments:
Completely agree Bruce. I haven't quite thought of it like that before. Thanks for the insights.
Good post Bruce, I agree wholeheartedly. To over-simplify the immigration issue a bit, I have yet to meet a Latin American immigrant who did not work his butt off to provide for his family. Just seeing their hard work and desire to improve their lives makes me think that continued immigration is a good thing; if we could increase those who are legal and decrease those who are illegal, clearly this is a good thing as well.
Of course, there are illegal (and legal) immigrants who have a terrible effect on this country - joining gangs, draining the health care system, etc, nonetheless, not all those born and raised US citizens are models of hard work and perseverance either. My biggest gripe with the entire political immigration issue is when politicians, citizens, religious and lay people demonize the immigrants as the root of "our" problems, when this clearly is not the case.
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