Faith traditions clear on law breaking

The July 9 letter of Mss. Morkert and Birner of Our Saviour's Church attempting to recruit Judeo-Christianity, and other faiths in support of illegal immigration is totally erroneous.

Its stated thesis is, "Few commands in the Bible are as frequent and consistent as the command to welcome strangers in our midst." The fact is, this "command" is nowhere to be found in the Bible. God told the Old Testament Hebrews that they were to treat strangers as they would their own. That's it.

Nothing about "welcoming" them. And they didn't need to "welcome" them; well-defined borders are a relatively recent phenomenon, so at that time, people came and went as they pleased.

Then they say, "The values of love, welcome, and care for the sojourner and the person in need are echoed through a wide variety of faith traditions." This assertion is a sly way of sneaking in geographical "welcoming," which is not important to faith traditions, with "love and care," which are.

The next paragraph contains a clear example of illogic. They say: "Two thirds of adult undocumented immigrants have lived in the U.S. for more than 10 years and more than half 15 years, which counters the administration's claim that's there is a new influx of immigrants." What does the first half of that assertion have to do with the latter half? Absolutely nothing.

The answer to Morkert's and Birner's penchant for welcoming lawbreakers into our country is to elect congressmen who will change our laws so that they require virtual open borders. (Good luck with that.) Breaking the law is breaking the law and must not be tolerated. On this all nations and faith traditions agree.

Hans Schultz

Arlington Heights