My priest from church said this...?
"one day, i was at a grocery store in garland, texas buying food and a man approached me.
he asked me if i was a priest. i said, yes. he noticed i wasn't born in america and asked if i was an immigrant. i said yes. he asked where from and i told him i was from venezuela
he then asked if i was against illegal immigrants and i told him no. his attitude changed completely and he started saying i was bad for this country and i needed to go out of america. that was so rude.
God didn't say, 'love just the legals,' He said 'love thy neighbor,' which means everybody. we don't have a mass for the legals and a mass for the illegals. we are all people.
some people say, 'illegal immigrants don't pay taxes!' but they do. every time they go to a store, they pay sales tax.
and when thy get their pay at work, the employers take some of that money and send it to the IRS.
and they don't get the portion of the money back like citizens do because they don't have a social security number. they could get about 100 dollars back, but they can't because of that. the money they never get back goes to pay for hospitals, schools, and to help people
so i say do as God said. and love thy neighbor. not just him or her. or them. thank you."
needless to say, the church erupted in applause.
Answer:
I've heard some ppl use the Bible to back up there anti-immigration beliefs but for some reason I can't picture Jesus booting people out the country since Jesus taught compassion
Loving them and paying to educate their families at the expense of my own children's failing education are two different things.
God loves our children, too.
God says love thy neighbor but also obey the law.
I believe God also said not to covet your neighbors house, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. Isn't that what the illegals are doing?
Please prove to me that illegals pay income taxes. otherwise, your carefully-constructed apocryphal story falls apart at the seams.
Pay back Ceaser's things to Ceaser, but God's things to God.
Immigration law would fall under Caeser.
They are illegals and so where did they get the social security number from? Not only are they here in this country illegally they are stealing identity. Your church is obviously filled with illegals and should be raided.
So does this mean that your priest is an illegal immigrant?
Isn't that against the law?
Well I'm from NZ so I'm not sure how it all works in other countries. But if your Priest is breaking the law then He will have to answer to his God. Not a good look in my opinion.
Hey Amigo i love every Mexican woman i can catch and i don't ask her to pay me taxes after i love her all nigh.
Actually, I think people who employ illegal immigrants mostly pay "under the table." That way they can pay below minimum wage and lessen their chances of getting caught hiring illegals.
If that were only true more often. ALas it isn't.
Illegal aliens may pay sales tax, but too many are paid by their law breaking employers in cash, without income tax and other withholding.
As such, many don't pay federal income taxes. I dont know about you, but that's where most of my taxes go. A huge amount by golly.
Bringing the Bible into the illegal immigrant conversation is frustrating. We'll find plenty of soundbites in the Bible to support just about any position you choose out of context. The bible also says it is OK to sell your daughter into slavery.
religion is not politics, He was right about preaching to the masses what ever their status, but he crossed a very delicate line when he proposed that it was OK to be illegal as the scriptures also state that the laws of the land are to be obeyed.Not to mention the separation of church and state issues but he he is a priest with compassion so he was in the right place to say what his heart told him.my opinion.
All the more reason to become legal.
He sites a few false statements and uses others in a way that is misleading.
Illegals only pay sales tax, then why can't I?
everyone pays sales tax even if your here visiting LEGALLY, so that's just a blind ally used to say they do pay taxes.
Their employers send money to the IRS that they don't get back because the don't have SS#s if they don't have SS#s then there is no tax withheld and none going to the IRS.
If they are using a fake SS# that's fraud, that's a crime!
God did say love thy neighbor, but even God gave us laws to follow and consequences for breaking them.
We are all people and people who break laws are punished not praised.
"It's not freedom OF religion, it's freedom FROM religion."
This is the very reason why we have a separation of Church and State in this country.
To pander to Christian beliefs of love, charity, or anything else and make those the rule of law does nothing but discriminate against those of us who do not share the Christian view of the world.
Frankly, the priests statement make me wonder if he would prefer a theocracy to a democracy, and shame on anyone who would agree with his sentiments and call themselves patriotic.
There are plenty of countries where the religion determines the law of the land, and if you want to have a theocracy move there.
America was founded on a concept that people can decide from themselves what to follow, and we would have a law fair and equitable to all people.
Illegal immigration is illegal and the law of the land, and does not the Christ tell us, "Render unto Ceasar that which is Ceasars"?
The Priests statements are a non sequitur.
"Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination." -Thomas Jefferson
He is right.
BS
I can love but that doesn't change the fact that they are still illegal and breaking the law. Jesus didn't give criminals a "free pass" even though he loved them. He expected them to take responsibility for their actions and suffer the consequences of their actions. Even your formerly Venezuelan priest knows that he cannot give absolution to a penitent if that penitent isn't sorry for his sins and willing to avoid the occasion of those sins in the future. Loving illegal immigrants does not excuse their breaking the law.
BS X 2
I think it's a bunch of crap. Jesus was also in favor of upholding the laws of the land including taxes. your priest was playing to the crowd
I think it's a good end-of-service homily. God does ask us to love others, and I believe compassion is his greatest gift to us.
I do not disparage against my brother or sister; I do not insult their race, their creed (if any) or gender. I know in my heart that we all spring from the same waters, and to those waters, we shall all return.
But I do demand that the laws of my country be heeded, and about 20 million have deliberately broken those laws. I do not love them any less; yet, I will not sit back and let people break the laws of my country and demand amnesty because of their sheer numbers.
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By the way: He sounds like a good priest; a good man. I disagree with this particular perspective, however.
And we are suppose to care about your priest said ?
You just want to make bad Christian name, right? an illegal is an illegal. Every country has their own rule. If you brake the rule, you are not more than thief. Come to some body's house and stay there without permission. America is our house, you have to ask before you come in. Don't make excuse. especially bring religion. Not good...not good...
And since when did "love thy neigbor" trump "thou shalt not steal" and/or "thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's property?"
Why should I turn the other cheek while getting overtaxed by the government to pay for some illegal welfare glut & it's anchor brats?
Illegals are still illegal, and are breaking God's laws.
That's funny, I don't see much love from from "my neighbors". I see them coming here illegally and offending in the following ways.
They are prideful,envious,gluttonous and greedy.
They covet,steal,lie,murder and what about lifting up the name of god for a vain purpose?
I also remember something about an eye for an eye in the bible,I think that's a bit more appropriate when dealing with this invasion.
I wish I could have been there for your mass. No one wants to see the good in anybody and that is just the way we as Americans have been raised and taught. When I was managing a restaurant I saw many of the paychecks of some of my closest friends and they had alot of tax dollars taken from their checks both federal and state, and the other taxes that come out of all our checks. I agree with you most do not see a penny of that money, it goes straight to the schools, hospitals, etc. I have a friend who is a teacher and some of her best students are those from illegal parents. They try so hard to prove themselves and exceed in all subjects. I have seen these parents explain to their kids how important their education is. Unfortunately, my friend said she has seen a decline in the rest of the parents willingness to be a part of their children's education. Yes we should love our neighbors, we are not the judge of anyone. People can give me a thumb downs for how I feel, but this is the sad truth.
The US, like 200 other countries, is a sovereign nation with laws to protect its citizens and especially its borders from economic, military, and political threats. The overwhelming majority of these countries are not as lax as our government is enforcing these laws.
Maybe the parishioners didn’t realize illegal immigration is costing them at least $1000 annually per person and eroding their way of life. Maybe they’re OK with supporting the downtrodden that a neighboring country is fully able to support if it so desired. (i.e. our predominately Catholic neighbor doesn't love or even like over 60% of its citizens). It's not OK for most of us however.
The last time I noticed, the U.S. was still a democracy vs. a Christian theocracy.
In terms of taxes, the taxes the illegal aliens don’t pay due to “off the books” arrangements more than compensates for the taxes they pay. I'm talking in aggregate - obviously some get payroll taxes deducted on all they receive.
I'm glad I don't go to your church. Jesus said 'give to Cesar what is Cesar's and to God what is God. God never encouraged illegality, using others, disobeying laws.
I think everyone who applauded should open their homes to the illegals. Instead they want the rest of us to pay for them.
The Catholic Church should send masses of priests, nuns and other 'compassionate' people to Mexico and provide for the people there. The rest of us believe charity begins at home!
God also said to obey the law of the land, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not covet, and when the Church became "God's chosen people" that meant that the followers in Jesus were thus "grafted onto the olive tree" that is Israel, God's chosen people.
Even God says that newcomers need to assimilate into the new society.
I don't get why even priests are so confused. If they would simply crack their Bibles open and read for a while, they might actually have a clue what it SAYS.
EDIT: thumbs-down all you want ... I'm still right.
listen up they are doing things that are illegal, breaking the law yes jesus loves everyone but dosent like when they are breaking the law, i repeat they are illegal immmigrants illegal as in not legal, its against the law so your priest says let those people break the law when jesus dosent want them to so your priest shouldnt be a priest anymore for supporting something illegal as in against the law
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