Jesus Was An Illegal Immigrant - Matthew's gospel records that Mary, Joseph, and little Jesus fled to Egypt to escape Herod's massacre of the innocents. What happened next? According to the noncanonical 'Infancy Gospels,' the child Jesus performed many miracles in Egypt before returning to Palestine.
Bart "The Bigot" Didden rails like a maniac against illegal immigrants while demonstrating his public piety by attending and supporting Church at Corpus Christi Church.
In fact, Bart "The Bigot" Didden has even accused persons of being anti-catholic at the lohud.com forums during the last Port Chester Mayoral Election.
No one in Port Chester can seem to forget Bart "The Bigot" Didden's racist two page flier that clearly intense anger toward Port Chester Hispanics.
Week after week, Bart "The Bigot" Didden's hostile anti-immigrant postings at lohud.com are very upsetting to the many Christians of Port Chester.
Didden's hostility is all the more jarring at Christmastime, when Christians around the world commemorate the birth of Christ.
You’d think that the season would bring forth an outpouring of compassion, mercy and generosity.
After all, the Bible, which conservative Christians hold out as the inerrant word of God, includes several admonitions to practice kindness toward “strangers.”
The biblical case against abortion is inferential. The Bible doesn't speak directly to the topic. It lays out some principles -- sacredness of life, humanity of the unborn -- that lead to the conclusion that abortion is not permitted. It's the same with stem cells, child tax credits, faith-based social service provisions, etc.
Immigration is different: The Bible is explicit. In the Torah, Moses commanded, "Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt." The Bible is unabashedly pro-immigrant.
The argument is simple: You were immigrants in Egypt, and you didn't like being mistreated, so now that you have your own country, you should treat immigrants compassionately.
Compassionate treatment of immigrants is basically an early version of the Golden Rule: Treat people the way you used to want to be treated when you were in Egypt.
Jewish scripture, for example, speaks repeatedly of the kindness due to the “stranger” and reminds us that the people of the Bible--the Hebrews--were once despised foreigners in an alien land, Egypt.
In the Hebrew Scriptures, many verses seem to advocate a wide-armed welcome for immigrants and foreigners.
Here are a couple of examples from Leviticus:
“When a stranger dwells among you in your land, do not taunt him. The stranger who dwells with you shall be like a native among you, and you shall love him like yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt—I am the Lord, your God” (19:33-34).
“If your brother becomes impoverished and his means falter in your proximity, you shall strengthen him—stranger or resident—so that he can live with you” (25:35).
Leviticus 19:33-34: And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Maybe the Bart Didden's of the world should read a few Jewish scriptures from Exodus.
Exodus 22:21: Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 23:9: Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Or maybe Mr. Didden should give a careful reading to Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 10:19: Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
I don't know if Bart Didden has ever did one of those read the entire Bible in a year programs, but if he had he would have learned that.
King David surrounded himself with immigrants, as did his son, Solomon. The prophets spoke out on behalf of aliens frequently.
The Bible says we must not allow the aliens among us to be abused: "Do no wrong and do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood . . . " (Jeremiah 22:3).
Would Someone Please Tell The Uniformed Racist Known As Bart "The Bigot" Didden That Jesus Christ Was An Illegal Immigrant.
The Bible Teaches Christians That Mary and Joseph took Jesus and fled to Egypt, and that Jesus was an illegal immigrant.
Yes Bart, it is true - Jesus of Nazareth was an immigrant.
When Jesus was a child, he and Mary and Joseph crossed the border to Egypt illegally. You see, they had a well-founded fear of political persecution from a Middle Eastern dictator named Herod.
Jesus Christ is clearly concerned about how the poor are treated. His teaching in Matthew 25:31–46 says that to mistreat the "stranger" is to mistreat Christ.
The writer of Hebrews tell us, "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels" (Hebrews 13:2).
And most compelling of all, when Jesus speaks to the disciples in Matthew 25 about the end times, when the Son of Man will return to judge the nations, he warns that some will receive blessings because they ministered to the strangers in their midst...
Then the King will say to those on His right hand, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me" (Matthew 25:34-36).
Harry Truman once said "Of course the Sermon on the Mount is the greatest of all things in the Bible, a way of life and maybe some day men will get to understand it as the real way of life."
Failure to render care and concern for these strangers in our midst is to fail in our most essential Christian duty. God is love, we are told, and every believer is equipped to share God’s love with those in need.
Surely, Bart Didden would not wish to be held accountable for misunderstanding his responsibility in this area.
Bart Didden's writing and statements not in keeping with my understanding of the Scriptures because his warped ideas would literally criminalize the Good Samaritan and probably even Jesus himself.
Most local observers agree that Port Chester is a very religious village.
By all measures of religiosity, Port Chester ranks high. Just look at the density. I don't think any other village in Westchester County has more Churches / square mile than Port Chester.
I would be willing to bet that at least 90% percent of the Port Chester's population would claim to believe in God.
Church attendance is high in the Port Chester.
With such a large number of Port Chester citizens holding religious beliefs, it is time that these beliefs are beginning to enter the debate over immigration to this village of Churches.
Is it Christian to believe that illegal aliens need to be found and deported?
Shouldn't a good Christian be welcoming and tolerant?
Most of the illegal aliens to Port Chester are of the Christian faith, doesn't that mean that they should be embraced?
What the Bart Didden fails to see is most immigrants, in fact, have enriched Port Chester, bringing brains and talent to the village.
Port Chester's wealth as a village is due, in some measure, to the contributions of immigrants from all over the globe.
It was the immigrants of Port Chester that helped build most of the churches of this village. And it it is the immigrants of Port Chester who are still organizing new churches in Port Chester.
As a Christian, Bart "The Bigot Didden should try and look at immigration this way. His brothers and sisters in Christ come in all colors, shapes, sizes and countries. His fellow Christ followers are in Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Russia — in every country on the planet, including Mexico.
Among illegal aliens Bart "The Bigot" Didden attacks
are his brothers and sisters in Christ.
The Bibles call to share the Gospel with unbelievers and worship a merciful and gracious God with believers doesn’t stop at our national borders.
The Bible says that God saves all kind of men, and all kinds of men are Bart "The Bigot" Didden's fellow inheritors of Christ’s bounty!
Would Jesus criticize public benefits such as health care for the children of illegal immigrants.
Should Bart "The Bigot" Didden welcome the stranger because his Savior was not welcomed in mainstream society?
Has Bart Didden ever thought that the teaching of 'no room at the inn' was about someone poor and marginalized and pushed off to a stable?
Someone should warn Bart Didden about “demonizing” illegal aliens.
Bart Didden must remember that they are fellow human beings.
The big fear for Bart "The Bigot" Didden should not be Hispanic Immigration to Port Chester, but the wrath of God angered by how poor immigrants are being treated.
So for those who profess, like Bart Didden, to love God and embrace Jesus and the Bible as their ethical sources, the choice seems obvious: either stop invoking them or, better yet, live up to the principles you claim.
This would entail seeing and treating so-called illegals as our brothers, sisters, neighbors, and members of our various churches –as people who are part of us–rather than a “them” to be excluded.
What Is really hypocritical about some of these unenlightened people like Bart Didden, who are obsessed with illegal immigration is the fact that many of them claim to be devout Christians.
Regardless of the situation, the Bible clearly states that "all are equal in dignity before God".
Also, from a Christian/religious perspective, the whole concept of a human being being "illegal" is absurd.
I wonder if Jesus treated people differently based on their immigration status?
Anyways, it amazing how hypocritical and unenlightened some of these people like Bart Didden can be.
Immigrants do not threaten our culture; generally, they enrich it.
People who choose this country at great risk are more likely to share its values than those who are simply born here.
Latino immigrants sign up for military service in greater proportions than native-born Americans.
My Son recently served with a young man from Panama who signed up, even before being granted citizenship, and served with great courage in combat in Iraq.
Is there's a more telling metric for love of country than the decision to put one's life on the line.
Then there is the matter of the English language.
Bart Diden once asked me, "Do you want your grandchildren to grow up speaking Spanglish?"
Sure, why not? We all grew up speaking "Franglish." Our language is a mix of French (Bart Didden's Ansestrial Home) and Anglo-Saxon that started with the Norman Conquest in 1066.
Living languages change. I can read the Latin of St. Augustine pretty much as well (or, in my case, as badly) as that of John Paul II, because Latin is a dead language.
Jesus grew up speaking "Hebrelonian," a mix of Hebrew and the Chaldean that the Jews picked up in Babylon. Didn't he turn out pretty well?
Such propaganda from Bart "The Bigot" Didden blinds the American people from seeing the image of God in undocumented immigrants.
We could go the way of Bart "The Bigot" Didden, or we (a nation of immigrants) could go the way of the God of Israel, "The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt...."
We must learn to look at the world through the lens of the Father of all children.
Again I will once again repeat for Bart Didden The Bible says God "defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing." (Deuteronomy 10:18).
Scripture says God loves all those who are in a vulnerable and helpless condition. So he commands the church to love the alien (Deuteronomy 10:19), to provide for them (Leviticus 19:10; Deuteronomy 14:29), to treat them as native-born (Leviticus 19:34), and to judge them without bias and discrimination (Deuteronomy 1:16; 24:17; 27:19). The Lord prohibits oppressing or mistreating the immigrant (Exodus 22:21; Leviticus 19:33).
Bart Didden should compare God’s teachings with his own feelings and attitudes and reflect for a moment on where he stands on this issue.
Is Bart Didden Going To Follow The Teachings Of Jesus "The Illegal Immigrant" Christ or reject his holy words of the Bible.
