Bryan Fischer
The Evangelical Immigration Table is flat wrong
By Bryan Fischer
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
The Evangelical Immigration Table is a pro-amnesty outfit that spent yesterday on Capitol Hill purporting to lobby for immigration "reform" that "is consistent with biblical values."
Foolish Republicans, even in leadership, are leaning toward amnesty, with visions of huge campaign contributions from the Chamber of Commerce, Microsoft, Google and Facebook dancing in their heads.
While many members of the EIT, including representatives of the Southern Baptist Convention, are men I respect and admire, when it comes to the immigration issue, they are just flat wrong. They are wrong because they are misrepresenting the biblical principle on immigration.
There are numerous problems with the EIT approach to the immigration problem, not the least of which is the EIT is insisting that the American government reward people for breaking the law. This is hardly an evangelical position.
EIT's position is an offense against the biblical concept of justice and equality before the law. Those who have broken our immigration law, by trespassing on sovereign American soil, a criminal offense, will jump to the head of the queue, ahead of the 4 million foreigners waiting patiently in foreign countries for their immigration requests to be processed.
Lawbreakers will be guaranteed a path to citizenship denied to those who are playing the rules. This turns justice on its head, and ought to be abhorrent to any evangelical who is thinking clearly and with a biblical mindset.
What most Christians do not know is that the EIT is using George Soros money to fund its efforts. Most evangelicals would rightly be suspicious that anything Soros is financing is going to be in the best interests of America. The EIT has spent well over $1 million overall so far, most of it from Mr. Soros and his socialist buddies.
EIT spokesmen stress that immigration policy should be a matter of "compassion and justice." Agreed. And so we ask, where is the compassion for the victims of illegal immigration? Those who have had loved ones murdered by illegal aliens? Those whose hospitals have been closed because they have been overwhelmed providing medical care to those who have no right to be in this country and cannot pay? Where is the compassion for them?
Where is the compassion for those whose families and communities have been ravaged by the drugs that flow freely across our southern border? Where is the compassion for the 230 cities which have active drug cartels in their midst, poisoning the lives of their children and endangering the peace and safety of their communities? Where is the compassion for American workers who will eventually have 56 million additional workers competing with them for already scarce jobs?
And where is the compassion for the growing number of unaccompanied minors sent across the border by their parents, children who become the victims of human trafficking and sex trafficking? Where in the world is the compassion for the suffering these innocent children are forced to endure?
Where is the compassion for those whose wallets will be drained providing welfare to those who have no just claim on taxpayer resources? The Heritage Foundation indicates that the ultimate cost of the amnesty plan supported by the EIT will be over $6 trillion. Where is the compassion for those who will be forced to bear this burden against their will and against every principle of justice, fair play and national sovereignty?
Let's not forget that Moses asked Edom for permission to enter his land (Numbers 20:14-21). When he was denied entry, he didn't sneak in and demand special favors. He respected Edom's border and its national sovereignty and went in a different direction.
Our friends in the EIT seem to have forgotten the biblical principle that God is the one who has allotted the boundaries of all nations (Acts 17:26), and insists that those boundaries be respected by peoples from other lands.
Evangelicals should welcome immigrants who enter legally through the front door. They should not, however, welcome those who without permission break and enter through the back door.
The EIT, frankly, is trying to take evangelicals and their congressmen for a ride. Here's hoping evangelicals in the pew hop off this train before it leaves the station, and that congressmen are smart enough not to get on.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
May 1, 2014
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
The Evangelical Immigration Table is a pro-amnesty outfit that spent yesterday on Capitol Hill purporting to lobby for immigration "reform" that "is consistent with biblical values."
Foolish Republicans, even in leadership, are leaning toward amnesty, with visions of huge campaign contributions from the Chamber of Commerce, Microsoft, Google and Facebook dancing in their heads.
While many members of the EIT, including representatives of the Southern Baptist Convention, are men I respect and admire, when it comes to the immigration issue, they are just flat wrong. They are wrong because they are misrepresenting the biblical principle on immigration.
There are numerous problems with the EIT approach to the immigration problem, not the least of which is the EIT is insisting that the American government reward people for breaking the law. This is hardly an evangelical position.
EIT's position is an offense against the biblical concept of justice and equality before the law. Those who have broken our immigration law, by trespassing on sovereign American soil, a criminal offense, will jump to the head of the queue, ahead of the 4 million foreigners waiting patiently in foreign countries for their immigration requests to be processed.
Lawbreakers will be guaranteed a path to citizenship denied to those who are playing the rules. This turns justice on its head, and ought to be abhorrent to any evangelical who is thinking clearly and with a biblical mindset.
What most Christians do not know is that the EIT is using George Soros money to fund its efforts. Most evangelicals would rightly be suspicious that anything Soros is financing is going to be in the best interests of America. The EIT has spent well over $1 million overall so far, most of it from Mr. Soros and his socialist buddies.
EIT spokesmen stress that immigration policy should be a matter of "compassion and justice." Agreed. And so we ask, where is the compassion for the victims of illegal immigration? Those who have had loved ones murdered by illegal aliens? Those whose hospitals have been closed because they have been overwhelmed providing medical care to those who have no right to be in this country and cannot pay? Where is the compassion for them?
Where is the compassion for those whose families and communities have been ravaged by the drugs that flow freely across our southern border? Where is the compassion for the 230 cities which have active drug cartels in their midst, poisoning the lives of their children and endangering the peace and safety of their communities? Where is the compassion for American workers who will eventually have 56 million additional workers competing with them for already scarce jobs?
And where is the compassion for the growing number of unaccompanied minors sent across the border by their parents, children who become the victims of human trafficking and sex trafficking? Where in the world is the compassion for the suffering these innocent children are forced to endure?
Where is the compassion for those whose wallets will be drained providing welfare to those who have no just claim on taxpayer resources? The Heritage Foundation indicates that the ultimate cost of the amnesty plan supported by the EIT will be over $6 trillion. Where is the compassion for those who will be forced to bear this burden against their will and against every principle of justice, fair play and national sovereignty?
Let's not forget that Moses asked Edom for permission to enter his land (Numbers 20:14-21). When he was denied entry, he didn't sneak in and demand special favors. He respected Edom's border and its national sovereignty and went in a different direction.
Our friends in the EIT seem to have forgotten the biblical principle that God is the one who has allotted the boundaries of all nations (Acts 17:26), and insists that those boundaries be respected by peoples from other lands.
Evangelicals should welcome immigrants who enter legally through the front door. They should not, however, welcome those who without permission break and enter through the back door.
The EIT, frankly, is trying to take evangelicals and their congressmen for a ride. Here's hoping evangelicals in the pew hop off this train before it leaves the station, and that congressmen are smart enough not to get on.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
