Spiritual Issues in the Immigration Debate

What are our moral obligations to illegal immigrants_and to the laws of the U.S.?  

From an article by Rabbi Marc Gellman,

For me, the ‘obligations’ to obey the government is not as strong as the obligation to obey the God that lives within my heart. I see the “problem’ of immigration not as a problem of immigration but as a problem of fear and greed. WE, Americans, are afraid to share out WISDOM and knowledge with people of other countries. We are afraid to reach out to them and show them how to be free and as wealthy as we are. And, we are afraid to see that we have gone beyond wealthy here, we are outright decadent and gluttonous, we are obsessed with materiality.

If we were open to the Spirit we would not be building walls (or fences) but would be breaking them down. Truth liberates, it does not builds walls. Do we really want our own version of the Berlin Wall?

It is time to attack the problem, not hide behind walls. The problem is people feel more opportunity here than in their own countries. It is time for us to confront those countries and their beliefs that keep them financially and spiritually handicapped. AND, it is time to confront our decadent and gluttonous ways.


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