Justice and Mercy

I have already written about Justice and Mercy not long ago, but in light of recent events, and looking at the immigration issue, I thought I would take a slightly different approach.  

As I wrote in December, “justice without mercy is too hard and mercy without justice is too soft”.  Jesus puts seeking righteousness (justice) before mercy in the Sermon on the Mount.  It seems to me that while our government is erring on the side of too much justice and not enough mercy, the Left is on the opposite end.  I believe the prophet Micah (6:8) sums up the Christian approach: “Seek Justice, love Mercy, walk humbly with your God.”   

Justice.  Liberals will completely overlook the fact that many immigrants’ very presence in this country has broken the law.  The phrase “path to citizenship” seems to have vanished from the conversation.  Independent research indicates that illegal immigrants pay in total about $100 billion in taxes, which works out to about $9000 per person, if there are 11 million in the country today.  But most of the work being done by these janitors, dishwashers and ditch diggers is being paid for off the books.  Let’s ensure that people are here legally, we all pay our taxes (as Jesus directed), and we all have equal protection under the Law.  

Mercy.  A government website concluded that “Relative to undocumented immigrants, US-born citizens are over 2 times more likely to be arrested for violent crimes, 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes, and over 4 times more likely to be arrested for property crimes.*” Let's recognize that the vast majority of crimes committed by illegal immigrants are non-violent, mostly that they came here illegally.  Their desire to become US citizens is the greatest compliment one can give this country.  Did the person that just got deported ask to be born into poverty, without opportunity, oppressed by his government, afraid for his life from the gang violence and drug wars (that our nation’s addictions feed)?  How can we reasonably support a policy that rounds up illegal immigrants, completely shuts down the border even to most forms of legal immigration and at the same time cuts off all aid that helps these poorest of the poor to get clean water and a mouthful of food?  

Walk humbly with God.  Did I ask to be born in this country?  Did I pick my parents?  Did I ask God to be good at my job?  We have a tendency to look past our blessings as things we deserve.  I think the Declaration of Independence is at least partially to blame.  We don’t have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Life is a gift from God.  Every day we are here is a blessing.  Liberty, in the Christian sense, means that God paid our debt, and we are free from the consequences of our sins.  We are not free to do whatever we want.  As Paul writes in Romans 6:1-2, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”  As for the “pursuit of happiness”, that has translated to a consumer society, measured by being richer than our parents. In this country, we all have access to safe places to live, hot and cold running water, clean water, electricity, things that hundreds of millions around the world will never experience.  Happiness will not make me grateful.  Gratefulness will bring me joy.     

* Comparing crime rates between undocumented immigrants, legal immigrants, and native-born US citizens in Texas - PMC