Jesus was, is, and Always will be Lord

There are numerous passages in the Old Testament that speak of the Messiah, and His coming to establish His kingdom on earth.  Christians believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, and that these passages speak of Him. (Hebrews 1:5)  The Second Psalm is prophetic, and it predicts Jesus’ Second Coming, when He will establish His kingdom and rule it for 1,000 years.

Psalm 2

Why do the nations conspire

and the peoples plot in vain? 
The kings of the earth rise up

and the rulers band together

against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,

 “Let us break their chains

and throw off their shackles.”

The One enthroned in heaven laughs;

the Lord scoffs at them.

He rebukes them in His anger

and terrifies them in His wrath, saying,

 “I have installed my King

on Zion, my holy mountain.”

I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my Son;

today I have become your Father.

Ask me,

and I will make the nations your inheritance,

the ends of the earth your possession.

You will break them with a rod of iron;

you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

Therefore, you kings, be wise;

be warned, you rulers of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear

and celebrate His rule with trembling.

Kiss his Son, or He will be angry

and your way will lead to your destruction,

for His wrath can flare up in a moment.

Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

(Psalm2:1-12 NIV) *

* https://biblehub.com/niv/psalms/2.htm

Immigration, the Border Wall, Sanctuary Cities, the Rule of Law, and Refugees

People are fond of the idea that the United States of America is “a nation of immigrants.”  My mother’s paternal grandparents came from the British Isles.  My paternal grandparents were naturalized citizens who immigrated here from northern Europe.  My father had to repeat the first grade because he could not speak English when he started school.  In those days, they didn’t have kindergarten, or English as a second language programs.  The teachers went to his family’s home, and they told my grandparents that if they didn’t speak English in the home, their boys would not be able to progress in school.

Please do not misunderstand.  Immigrants sometimes face difficult adjustments, but assimilation was always something that my father’s family sought after.  I still have my grandfather’s naturalization papers, which were a source of pride to the family.  My dad’s people were proud of who they were, but they came to America wanting to become Americans.  My dad was raised with “old world” values, and he did his best to raise his children accordingly.  We became “Americanized” anyway.  We are aware of our ethnic and cultural heritage, but our personal identity is not based on it.

My own family’s history has influenced how I view the issues of immigration, the border wall, sanctuary cities, and the status of the so-called “U.S. Persons” who live in the United States but are not citizens.  I confess to a conservative, “rule of law” point of view, but please believe that, in Christ, there can be no hatred.  Jesus loved everyone enough to die for us all.  As a Christian, I can do no less.

A useful tool for understanding how people view election issues is a probability distribution that shows the extremes of each perspective on the ends, and the central tendency in the middle.  I like it because, in many cases it shows that most of us fall somewhere around the arithmetic average.  Americans are a quarrelsome bunch, but I hope we are reasonable enough not to become as polarized as the news media would have us believe.  The example following resembles a normal probability distribution:

Percentages under the curve

(https://www.statisticshowto.com/tables/z-table/#What)

If we say that people whose views are liberal fall to the left of the center line, and people whose views are conservative fall to the right of the center line, we might speculate that about (68%) of Americans could be described as “left or right of center.”  About 14% of us might be seen as “hard left” and 14% as “hard right.”  That leaves about 2% of the population holding “extreme leftist” views and 2% who may be “right wing extremists.”  The extremists are sometimes described as a “lunatic fringe,” but they make the most noise.  Therefore, they often get the most attention.

The figure above resembles Chebyshev’s Theorem.  Accordingly, although there may be variance from issue to issue in the 2020 general election,  most populations are well described by the curve shown.  Ask yourself, “Where do I fall on the curve?”

Along the spectrum of public opinion about immigration, there seems to be broad based support for “legal” immigration.  Some on the far left favor open immigration, allowing in almost anybody who wants to come to the United States.  Such was the case when my grandparents and great-grandparents immigrated.  It is safe to say, however, that a majority of Americans do not want open immigration today.  A few on the far right want to shut down legal immigration and illegal migration entirely.  Stopping legal immigration would not serve the needs of the country well.  I think most of us simply want a just immigration policy that works.

There appears to be strong opposition to disregarding our immigration laws and rules by allowing people to migrate into the country illegally.  However, there is general agreement that those laws and rules need to be reformed.  Our politicians promise reform, but little has been done since 1986, when the Simpson-Mazzolli Act granted amnesty to about 3 million persons who were residing in the U.S. illegally.  Amnesty encouraged ever greater illegal migration.

Personally, I am in general agreement with President Trump’s stated policy of allowing controlled immigration by people who have skills the country needs and who want to become Americans.  I think, however, that safeguards need to be in place that ensure there will be no discrimination due to race, ethnicity, national origin, or gender.  Those safeguards should include a limited opportunity for those who are unskilled and under-educated to immigrate.

I support actions that will limit illegal migration into the country.  The United States of America cannot be a nation ruled by law if people are allowed to violate our immigration laws and policies.  I am especially opposed to allowing noncitizens to vote, obtain American drivers’ licenses, hold elected public office, or receive public assistance.  I oppose federal funding for cities who refuse to cooperate with federal and state immigration laws and policies.  Sanctuary cities undermine the rule of law, thus eroding the very foundation of the country.

During “die Hitlerzeit” in Germany, the United States refused to admit Jewish refugees. The excuse was that they would bring communism with them.  Things are usually done for more than one reason, and Antisemitism was doubtlessly involved.  In retrospect, there was little risk to admitting the Jewish refugees.  People died in concentration camps whose lives could have been saved.  We must never let that happen again.

Today, we face infiltration by terrorist groups who want to destroy us.  Consequently, we must do what we can to keep terrorists from exploiting the refugee crisis in the Middle East (and our porous borders) to infiltrate the United States.  Hopefully, ways can be found to safely admit the victims of the turmoil in the Middle East while keeping out the terrorists.  Until that time, strictly scrutinizing refugees from failed states is prudent.

I support efforts to make all our borders seaports, airports, and other points of entry more secure.  President Trump has worked to create a wall along our border with Mexico.  It has been shown to be effective enough to justify its cost. Continued strengthening of border security will help to suppress illegal activities like migration, drug trafficking, human trafficking for illegal servitude and sexual exploitation, and the illegal arms trade.  The Democrats and others want to rely exclusively on technology to interdict illegal migration, which has not been cost effective.  Technology should be used to supplement other security measures.

President Trump has been able to motivate the Mexican government to work harder to stop illegal immigrants from entering our country.  All due credit should be given to him for doing something his predecessors were unable to accomplish.

I think that physical barriers and technological surveillance should both be used when effective outcomes can be proved.  We should also pass and enforce laws that take away the incentives that motivate people to migrate into the United States illegally.  We need to find ways to help improve life for potential illegal migrants in their native countries instead.

Some people who benefit economically from exploiting migrants for cheap labor favor unrestricted immigration.  Politics makes strange bedfellows, as the saying goes.  These normally conservative businesspeople, farmers, and building contractors end up supporting Democrats who, in turn, favor open immigration because it increases the number of Democratic voters.

Some Americans are alarmed by the results of poorly managed legal immigration and the social and financial problems caused by illegal migration.  They are often demeaned unfairly as racist “haters.”  If you share their legitimate concerns about immigration and related problems, you may want to vote for President Trump and the Republican candidates who say they will support him.

My prayer is that We the People will elect a president, senators and congressional representatives who are not so locked into ideology that they cannot work together to craft immigration laws that make sense.  Everybody is harmed by bad law, whether they are a citizen or an immigrant.

Memorial Day 2020

In honor of those who have passed us the torch of freedom:

Excelsior

BY HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

The shades of night were falling fast,

As through an Alpine village passed

A youth, who bore, 'mid snow and ice,

A banner with the strange device,

Excelsior!

His brow was sad; his eye beneath,

Flashed like a falchion from its sheath,

And like a silver clarion rung

The accents of that unknown tongue,

Excelsior!

In happy homes he saw the light

Of household fires gleam warm and bright;

Above, the spectral glaciers shone,

And from his lips escaped a groan,

Excelsior!

"Try not the Pass!" the old man said;

"Dark lowers the tempest overhead,

The roaring torrent is deep and wide!"

And loud that clarion voice replied,

Excelsior!

"Oh stay," the maiden said, "and rest

Thy weary head upon this breast! "

A tear stood in his bright blue eye,

But still he answered, with a sigh,

Excelsior!

"Beware the pine-tree's withered branch!

Beware the awful avalanche!"

This was the peasant's last Good-night,

A voice replied, far up the height,

Excelsior!

At break of day, as heavenward

The pious monks of Saint Bernard

Uttered the oft-repeated prayer,

A voice cried through the startled air,

Excelsior!

A traveler, by the faithful hound,

Half-buried in the snow was found,

Still grasping in his hand of ice

That banner with the strange device,

Excelsior!

There in the twilight cold and gray,

Lifeless, but beautiful, he lay,

And from the sky, serene and far,

A voice fell like a falling star,

Excelsior! *

* https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44631/excelsior-56d223cb4e6fa