Immigration ... Maybe They're Both Wrong

Support for immigrants cost him his party's nomination for President. Lincoln went on to become President in 1860 instead of William Seward, who became the Secretary of State in Lincoln's administration.

Later, Republicans opposed illiterate immigrants; Democrats opposed importing "pauper labor" to do the menial jobs. That was the 1896 election between William Jennings Bryan and William McKinley.

Teddy Roosevelt said, "Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country." Franklin D. Roosevelt, disagreed saying, "Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists."

Little has changed in one-hundred years with respect to politics and immigration.

Conservatives say, "Close the borders and restrict immigration to individuals with the skills and talents to make our society thrive. They, in turn, can benefit from the American Dream."

Progressives say, "Do away with borders. We are all citizens of the world. Let anyone who wants to, come and benefit from the American Dream."

What both are really saying is, "We've got it pretty good here; the only question is who and how many are we going to allow in to enjoy it?"

But the men and women who founded the United States were missional - both in their faith and in their form of government. They believed that, to have a good government, you needed to have citizens who were grounded in the Christian faith. Their ultimate dream and ambition was to see their faith and their form of government spread to every nation around the world.

"You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are." - George Washington.

"…we cannot better express ourselves than by humbly supplicating the Supreme Ruler of the world… that the confusions that are and have been among the nations may be overruled by the promoting and speedily bringing in the holy and happy period when the kingdoms of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and the people willingly bow to the scepter of Him who is the Prince of Peace." - Samuel Adams.

"…the religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His apostles… This is genuine Christianity and to this we owe our free constitutions of government." - Noah Webster.

"…the Christian religion – its general principles – must ever be regarded among us as the foundation of civil society." - Daniel Webster.

Rush County was named after one of the three most notable Founding Fathers, Benjamin Rush. In 1791 he wrote, "Christianity is the only true and perfect religion; and… in proportion as mankind adopt its principles and obey its precepts, they will be wise and happy."

These statements show that the founders believed that Christianity was the only foundation that would make a democratic republic work. And they longed for the day when every nation around the world would follow their lead. But statements like these are not politically correct. How could we impose our belief system on others?

But, if we've found something that works, why is it okay to keep it to ourselves? How self-centered, and uncaring are we to let other people struggle with oppressive governments while we enjoy the fruits of our founders' vision and labor?

If the Bible really is the Word of God, if it really can transform the human spirit, if it can take spiritually dead people and make them live again, why wouldn't it impact our everyday lives? Daniel Webster said, "Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens." If that's true, won't good citizens make good governments?

What would it be like if every leader around the world prayed like Solomon, "…give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong"? 1 Kings 3:9a

We can take part in the immigration debate that has been argued for many decades, or we can recapture our founders' vision by becoming missional both in our faith, and how it can impact our everyday lives. The choice is yours. Choose well.

Questions? curtisferrell1962@gmail.com

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The REAL Problem With The Casey Anthony Verdict

What happens when we fail to recognize the biblical foundation of our legal system? We get something like the Casey Anthony verdict.

Nobody is happy with the outcome of the trial, except for maybe Casey and her legal team. Everyone knows there is something wrong when a little girl, almost three-years old, goes missing and her mother doesn't report it. When confronted 31 days after the disappearance, Casey lied multiple times. Deep down, everyone knows that this is not the way a mother would normally respond when her daughter was missing for over a month.

So society cries for justice! Go for the death penalty! Prosecutors, equally outraged, give the public what they are crying for - and lose.

After the verdict, most analysts agree that the prosecution's error was in the death penalty. The case was entirely circumstantial, and a "win" was more likely if they had charged Casey with a lesser charge. But the legal system is not about winning and losing - it's about justice. And everyone, including the prosecution team, had forgotten the biblical foundation of our legal system.

This nation, and it's legal system, was built on principles found in Christian and Jewish scriptures.

The concepts of the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances were instituted because our Founders believed and applied Jeremiah 17:9 to real life - "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" If the heart of every human is deceitful, then power must be distributed among several individuals so that power, when it is misused, can be corrected.

The writers of the Constitution applied Deuteronomy 17:15 to real life and required  our president to be a natural born citizen of the United States. It states, ". . . be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord  your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite."

Article 3, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution dealt with the requirements for a conviction of Treason. Deuteronomy 17:6 reads, "On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness." Treason is a capital offence meaning you will be put to death if convicted.

Unfortunately, this foundational scripture was forgotten or ignored when it came time to charge Casey Anthony. There wasn't even one witness willing to testify to the crime (the murder or, if you believe the defense, the cover-up of the accident).

There was no biblical foundation for pursuing the death penalty in the case of Casey Anthony. But charging her with first-degree murder made us all feel good.

There are those who may want to do Casey harm when she is released in the next few hours, but that would be wrong as well. The government has been given charge of meting out justice. Romans 13 reads, ". . .  he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves . . . For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer."

Justice comes in a variety of flavors: social, legal, spiritual, and racial, among others. When we pursue justice driven by our emotions, either by creating law or holding someone accountable to it, we will always end up with the kind of mess we are seeing played out this year in Florida.

But if we stand on principles marked out by scripture, the same principles that the Founders used to "form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, and promote the general welfare", we may actually "secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." That was their dream - a dream based on truths found in scripture.

You can find me on FACEBOOK at my Facebook Page (http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=504321719). Here's a link to my Flickr.com Page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/curtisferrell/) Thanks for reading!