Give immigration a broader view

Much is being said about immigration lately, and of course I have my opinion too. One of my many teachers taught me one of the greatest lessons I have ever learned. He taught me to look at important issues holographically, from many different angles.

Let’s put this in perspective. To the Native Americans, those that lived here for 10,000 to 15,000 years, we white people—who have been here a few hundred years—are all illegal aliens. We are aliens who have trashed their native land. So maybe we white folk should all go back to where we came from.

But in truth, we are all natives of the same planet and the same Divine. And what is a country but an arbitrary physical division of the planet? I feel patriotism and protectionism can be used as a sin against the will of God. Patriotism can be a good thing, but it can also be “thinking small.” It judges and separates the races of the world. The this-is-mine-and-you-can’t-come-in attitude fails to show the big picture.

And what would Jesus say? Jesus might be ashamed of a country that treats its neighbors like invading trash. And what makes them illegal, a man-made law? Surely not a spiritual law. And in my heart, the spiritual laws of God and nature will always take precedence over the arbitrary laws of men. I think it’s time to open our hearts and minds and accept these so-called illegal aliens as fellow Americans, for we are all fellow children of God.

— Alan W. Ostmann
Candler

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