Orlando had its immigration march this afternoon. TCS dismissed at 11 AM, so we had no conflicts with the car lines. The march took about a half hour to pass the campus, from 12:55 to 1:25 PM. Much of the downtown area was shut down by the estimated 20,000 marchers. First Pres had a tent at the corner of Jackson & Rosalind on the march route where they handed out free water and cups of ice. It was
peaceful for the most part...couple of reports of counter-demonstrators getting into shouting contests which then went to name calling and hand gesturing. I saw several people wearing Mexican flags as drapes around their shoulders, which seemed to me to be rather in-your-face. One man had a 6 ft. pole with a US flag and another national flag attached on it side by side...tacky. The US flag should have been by itself and above any other flag.
I hope you read Senators Martinez & Hagel's proposal for immigration reform. It seems to be a reasonable and pragmatic solution to this quandry. I keep thinking of your great-grandma Holtrop standing in line as an 11 year old with her family
at Ellis Island, and your great great grandparents Ver Hoef, Bosscher, and Schrotenboer who did the same thing. We need to honor the image of God in each person, pay people a decent wage. We also need people to enter legally, just like our forebears did. This is a marvelous country, truly a land of opportunity, with a great Constitution...which serves it citizens well. It's not a one way street -- get in line, earn citizenship, pay your dues, and enjoy the opportunities. Now, if we can just get the politicians in Washington to take a stand and do the right thing instead of looking at the polls and watching the wind blow...
3 comments:
Yeah, lots of talk in Chicago too--with close to 400,000 marching yesterday. Thankfully, no arrests. I really get torn with these demonstrations. They come illegally and want all this stuff and rights, but don't follow the correct ways to get them. And then it's our fault...but at the same time, many do come from some pretty nasty situations and if we can help, maybe we should. It just burns a bit to see people wanting to have all the benefits of America without the other stuff that goes with it--trying to uphold their national identity as if that's the greatest country, while benefitting from this one. I think the difference between our relatives is that they made a solid decision--to become American. They hung on to their heritage, but new this was starting over and followed the guidelines of this nation. I don't know all the sides or what all I think, but I would love to get good legislation on this matter if possible. :) Bob will probably disagree with me on this--well, let me have it!
Actually, I pretty much agree with you Em. I have no problem helping people out, and the more we do help people out, the better. But if you want our help, the laws of America says you need to become a citizen. No I don't want families to be split up, no I don't believe in racial segregation, but it seems that the illegal immigrants are mostly of one ethnic background; how do you enforce a law and not have it look like racism? My sociology prof was comparing this stuff right now to the Civil Rights movement of the 50's and 60's and I have to say I in no way see it as the same. Most black Americans were taken to the states by force; civil rights was giving them equality as humans in the image of God. This issue is one of people entering the US by illegal means and wanting the rights without giving up something of their old nation. Yes they should be treated as image bearers of God, but they are here by choice, and they chose to not go through the legal channels, and there should be some consequences...
I don't know; though, it will be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming days. :)
That's just my 2 cents...
Having such wise children is a gift from God and honoring to their parents...nice gift on Mother's Day. Hope you had a happy Mother's Day Gayle! love, Cindy
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