Christian Response to Executive Amnesty?

Comment by Richard on November 21, 2014 at 6:45 pm

Mark, your comments seem inflammatory. President Obama is not offering amnesty to millions of immigrants. The President does not have the power to do that. I don’t think you understand President Obama’s action. Congress can have an up or down vote on the immigration bill sent to them by the senate about 1 1/2 years ago. Yea or nay. If yea it would completely nullify President Obama’s actions.

I also seems that your use of the phrase “church elites” is a nebulous put down. But that may have been your intention. Possibly you preferrer to stir the pot.

Just an initial reaction.

Comment by michaelusa on November 21, 2014 at 10:22 pm

Comments miss some of the politics in this. The House worked on immigration, but it became clear Democrats were doubling down to ensure the only bill considered would be the Obama-Senate bill. If the House sent the Senate a bill it would be shelved and ignored as every other GOP bill sent to Reid’s Senate. Democrats are making hay ever the lack of a House bill, knowing that they had stonewalled and never would pay any attention to add anything from.the GOP. Obama is simply picking a fight while bullying ahead with a scheme to add more Latinos to the Democrat rolls, civility and constitutional procedures be hanged.

Comment by MarcoPolo on November 21, 2014 at 7:28 pm

I’m confused. Isn’t “mass legalization”, the same as “Executive amnesty”?
BTW, there were a lot of IF’s in your prognostications.

And how does either action affect you, or me?

Our recent economic collapse reduced the immigrant population, so unless we determine who can be legally hired during the next boom, we’ll face a bigger problem than we had before.

But Corporations want slave labor, so it seems only immigrants are willing to work for less.

Comment by BishopAndrewGeralesGentry on November 21, 2014 at 8:22 pm

Your response that uses the same old tired and inaccurate inflammatory words such as “executive amnesty” betrays the intent behind your “response” and other than xenophobic racists who hurled hate filled and violent threats against children on a bus as they carried their bibles and flags know exactly what your intent denotes, Your site claims to be a “Christian” forum but I can assure you sir that I have nerve seen the vitriol that is allowed in response to those who differ from your version of “orthodoxy” which for many “orthodox” Christians is anything but orthodox or Christian.

Comment by Michael C on November 22, 2014 at 10:24 am

Wow, you concocted a big fat cliche salad there – xenophobic, racists, hate-filled, etc etc.

You forgot to include “bigot,” so you don’t get your Political Correctness merit badge, sorry.

I have a hunch that people who always include “hate” in their comments must be well-versed in hating.

Comment by cochise1 on November 22, 2014 at 1:36 pm

“I have a hunch that people who always include “hate” in their comments must be well-versed in hating.”

Indeed so. I once made the mistake on a left-leaning site of posting a very civil and polite comment on something fairly innocuous. Wow. I got called names that would make a Marine DI blush. Particularly from the gay lobby….you can be polite and logical about your objection to, say, gay marriage and you will immediately receive a hate storm of such vileness it will shock you.

Comment by JohnnyAngel Advocacy Group on November 22, 2014 at 4:22 am

Mark, there is a little thing called the Constitution being either purposely overlooked or inadvertantly skipped over by you. It isn’t the issue that comes first, but the CONSTITUTIONAL way in handling the issue. Do not forget…there are immigration laws right now. If the Atty. General & the President helped to enforce them better then maybe we wouldn’t have this problem. This is an orchestrated coup against separation of powers. Obama is a Constitutional scholar and knows this. Let’s hope that you haven’t been deceived what’s really behind this “compassionate” move.

Comment by MatWeller on November 24, 2014 at 2:36 pm

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/1f5e041c11294c318d11779be7d22119/reagan-bush-also-acted-alone-shield-immigrants

Comment by Ray Dubuque on November 22, 2014 at 9:27 pm

Hey, Toomey, if today’s G.O.P. can claim with a straight face to be “the paty of Lincoln”, why can’t YOU get away with claiming to represent Jesus Christ!
REV. R.D.

Comment by ed-words on November 23, 2014 at 1:50 pm

Other than promoting sodomy and bashing Christians, what do you guys on the religious left have going on?

Comment by Ray Dubuque on November 25, 2014 at 5:14 pm

[ http://LiberalsLikeChrist.Org/.html ]
Ever since 1996, I have been urging people to check out my http://LiberalsLikeJesus.Org
where I provide overwhelming evidence, for the most part in the form of
Jesus’ own words, that Jesus was far more liberal than conservative.

But since so many people seem to be unable or unwilling to
click on a link to that site, I’ve decided to lay out the evidence
right HERE, where it can’t be missed, in it’s purest from, so that conservatives can’t imagine that in rejecting these words they are only rejecting my “liberal” website:

1) According to Luke 4:18 Jesus described his mission in life : ]

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me;
he has appointed me

to preach Good News to the poor;
he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted

and to announce that the blind shall see,
that captives shall be released

and the downtrodden shall be freed
(i.e. liberated) from their oppressors.”
2) { According to Matthew 11: 2-5, Jesus described himself in similar words to his own cousin, John “the Baptist” :]

” When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing,
he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is
to come, or are we to wait for another?”

Jesus answered them, “Go
and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the
lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
and the poor have good news brought to them.”

In response to the question, “Sir, which is the most important command in the laws of Moses?”
3) { According to Matthew 22:36-40 Jesus replied (Jesus explicitly identified his and the Bible’s highest priorities) : :]

“This is the first and greatest commandment: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.’

The second most important is similar: ‘Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.’

All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets
stem from these two laws and are fulfilled if you obey them. Keep only
these and you will find that you are obeying all the others.”
4) [ According to Matthew 25: 31-46 ]

“When I, the Messiah, shall come in glory, and all the angels with me, then I
shall sit upon my throne of glory. And all the nations shall be gathered
before me. And I will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep
from the goats, and place the sheep at my right hand, and the goats at
my left.

Then I, the King, shall say to
those at my right, “Come, blessed of my Father, into
the Kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world.
For I was hungry and you fed me;
I was thirsty and you gave me water;
I was a stranger and you invited me into your homes;
naked and you clothed me; sick and in prison,
and you visited me.”

Then these righteous ones will reply,
“Sir, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you?
Or thirsty and give you anything to drink?
Or a stranger, and help you?
Or naked, and clothe you?
When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?”
And I, the King, will tell them,
“When you did it to these my brothers you were doing it to me!”

Then I will turn to those on my left and say,
“Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his demons.
For I was hungry and you wouldn’t feed me;
thirsty, and you wouldn’t give me anything to drink;
a stranger, and you refused me hospitality;
naked, and you wouldn’t clothe me;
sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.”

Then they will reply,
“Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison,
and not help you?”

And I will answer,
“When you refused to help the least of these my brothers,
you were refusing help to me.” And they shall
go away into eternal punishment;
but the righteous into everlasting life.”
5) [ According to Matthew 5: 2-12, Jesus proclaimed :]

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you
and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice
and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way
they persecuted the prophets who went before you.”
6) [ According to Luke 16 : 19-31]

“One day Lazarus, a diseased beggar, was laid at the
door of a rich man’s house. As he lay there longing for scraps from the
rich man’s table,
the dogs would come and lick his open sores. Finally the beggar
died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham in the place of
the
righteous dead.

The rich man also died and was buried, and his soul went into hell.
There, in torment, he saw Lazarus in the far distance with Abraham.
‘Father Abraham,’ he shouted, ‘have some pity! Send Lazarus over here if
only to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am
in anguish in these flames.’ But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember
that during your life-time you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had
nothing. So now he is here being comforted and you are in anguish.”

“And besides, there is a great chasm separating us, and
anyone wanting to come to you from here is stopped at its edge; and no
one over there can
cross to us.’

Then the rich man said, ‘O Father Abraham, then please send him to
my father’s home – for I have five brothers – to warn them about this
place of torment lest they come here when they die.’ But Abraham
said, ‘The Scriptures have warned them again and again. Your brothers
can read them any time they want to.’ The rich man replied, ‘No, Father
Abraham, they won’t bother to read them. But if someone is sent to
them from the dead, then they will turn from their sins.’ But Abraham
said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen
even though someone rises from the dead.’
7) [ According to Luke 10 : 25-37 ]

“One day an expert on Moses’ laws came to test Jesus’ orthodoxy by asking him
this question: “Teacher, what does a man need to do to live forever in heaven?”
Jesus replied, “What does Moses’ law say about it?” “It says,” he replied, “that you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind. And you must love your neighbor just as much as you love yourself.” “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you shall live!”

But, wanting to justify himself, the man asked, “Which neighbors must I love?”
And Jesus replied with an illustration:

“A Jew going on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho was attacked
by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes and money, and beat him up
and
left him lying half dead beside the road. By chance a priest
came along; and when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other

side of the road and passed him by. A temple-assistant
walked over and looked at him lying there, but then went on.

But a despised Samaritan* came along, and when he saw him, he felt deep pity. Kneeling beside him the Samaritan soothed
his wounds with medicine and bandaged them. Then he put the man
on his donkey and walked along beside him till they came to an inn, where
he nursed him through the night. The next day he handed the
innkeeper two silver coins and told him to take care of the man.
“If his bill runs higher than that,” he said, “I’ll pay the difference
the next time I am here.”

“Now which of these three,” Jesus asked, “would you say was a neighbor
to the bandit’s victim?” The man replied, “The one who showed him some pity.”
Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
8) [ According to Luke 3:11-14 ]

In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.”

Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him,
“Teacher, what should we do?” He said to them, “Collect no more than
the amount prescribed for you.”

Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said
to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false
accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

9) [ According to Matthew 19:16, 21-26 ]

Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Good Master, what must I do to have eternal life?

“If you want to be perfect, go and sell everything you have
and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure
in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when the
young man heard this, he went away sadly, for he was very rich.”

. . . Then Jesus said to his disciples, “It is almost
impossible
for a rich man to get into the Kingdom of Heaven.
I say it again – it is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man
to enter the Kingdom of God! When the disciples heard this, they were
greatly astounded and said, “Then who can be saved?” And Jesus
replied, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are
possible.”

10) [ According to Luke 16:13-15]

” No slave can serve two masters; for a
slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the
one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” The
Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed
him. So he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the
sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human
beings is an abomination in the sight of God.”

11) [ According to Luke 14:33-35]

“So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be
restored? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they
throw it away. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”

12) [ According to Luke 12:15-21]

And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your
guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the
abundance of possessions.”
Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced
abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have
no place to store my crops?’
Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build
larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I
will say to my soul,
‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat,
drink, be merry.’

But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you.
And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’
So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves
but are not rich toward God.” “Yes, every man is a fool
who gets rich on earth but not in heaven. Sell what you
have and give to those in need. This will fatten your purses in heaven!
And the purses of heaven have no rips or holes in them.
Your treasures there will never disappear; no thief can steal them;
no moth can destroy them. Wherever your treasure is,
there your heart and thoughts will also be.”
13) [ According to John 16:1-3]

“I have said these things to you to keep you from
stumbling. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is
coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are
offering worship to God. And they will do this because they have not
known the Father or me.”
14) [ According to John 8: 2–11 ]

“Early in the morning he came again to the temple.
All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them.
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery;
and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman
was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses
commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”

They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him.

Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.
When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said
to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to
throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and
wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away,
one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone
with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up
and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one
condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” And
Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and
from now on do not sin again.”
15) [ According to Luke 18 : 9-14 ]

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were
were righteous and regarded others with contempt:

“Two men went up to the temple to pray,
one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus,
‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people:
thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even
look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying,
‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’

I tell you, this man went down to his home justified
rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves
will be humbled, but all who humble themselves
will be exalted.”
16) [ According to Luke 6: 37–8]

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not
condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be
forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed
down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the
measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
17) [ According to Luke 15:11-32 Jesus told this parable: :]

“A man had two sons. When the younger told his father,
‘I want my share of your estate now, instead of waiting
until you die!’ his father agreed to divide his wealth
between his sons. “A few days later this younger son
packed all his belongings and took a trip to a distant land,
and there wasted all his money on parties and prostitutes.
About the time his money was gone a great famine swept
over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local
farmer to hire him to feed his pigs. The boy became so hungry
that even the pods he was feeding the swine looked good to him.
And no one gave him anything.

“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself,
‘At home even the hired men have food enough and to spare,
and here I am, dying of hunger! I will go home to my
father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven
and you, and am no longer worthy of being called your son.
Please take me on as a hired man.’ So he returned home
to his father.

And while he was still a long distance away, his father
saw him coming, and was filled with loving pity and ran
and embraced him and kissed him. “His son said to him, ‘Father, I have
sinned against heaven and you, and am not worthy of being called your son.
“But his father said to the slaves, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the
house and put it on him, and a jeweled ring for his finger; and shoes!
And kill the calf we have in the fattening pen. We must celebrate with
a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has returned to life. He was
lost and is found.’ So the party began.

“Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working; when he returned home,
he heard dance music coming from the house, and he asked one of the servants
what was going on. “‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father
has killed the calf we were fattening and has prepared a great feast to celebrate
his coming home again unharmed.’ “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t
go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied,
‘All these years I’ve worked hard for you and never once refused
to do a single thing you told me to; and in all that time you
never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends.
Yet when this son of yours comes back after spending
your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the finest
calf we have on the place.’

“‘Look, dear son,’ his father said to him, ‘you and I are very close,
and everything I have is yours. But it is right to celebrate.
For he is your brother; and he was dead and has come back
to life! He was lost and is found!'”
18) [ According to Matthew 21: 28-32 Jesus made a similar point in this parable : ]

“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the
first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He
answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The
father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go,
sir’; but he did not go. which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of god ahead of you.
19) [ As for what the bible thinks about liberalism, according to Isaiah 32: 1, & 5-8 KJV : ]

“Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and
princes shall rule in judgment. . . . 5 The vile person shall be no
more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful. For the
vile person will speak villainy, and his heart will work iniquity, to
practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty
the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to
fail. The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked
devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy
speaketh right. 8 But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.”

Comment by Claus von Stauffenberg on December 20, 2014 at 4:43 pm

TO: Ray Dubuque

Evidence? No “evidence” at all, Ray – it’s only how YOU see it or the others that you are aping. Their goal is to drag divinity down to some trite earthly label. Antagonism is behind their mission. These empty words equate to a lot of caviling over insignificance. FOOFARAW !!

Jesus Christ is God Incarnate and his mission is not a worldly mission. If He has a label, it is Messiah, Savior, Redeemer, etc.

He redeemed sinners, once and for ALL, from eternal punishment by his vicarious perfect life, suffering the payment for our sins, and conquering death by rising from the grave…. all in our behalf. That’s love!

You can spin the human, earthly semantics anyway you choose, but the denouement will prove nothing and not change what God’s love has done for all of mankind. Lift high the cross !

Comment by Dan Trabue on December 22, 2014 at 9:49 am

Flagged your post. Nothing personal, but you should not be promoting an anti-Christian website on a Christian website, that is just plain wrong. Don’t you have any ethics at all?

Comment by Ray Dubuque on November 22, 2014 at 9:30 pm

louder than words:

Comment by Ray Dubuque on December 20, 2014 at 7:56 pm

The “Good News” according to so-called “Christian conservatives” ,i.e. good news for “the haves”, so that they can feel good about ignoring “the have nots”: