Law, Morality, and Borders
By Off The Wall Michael Crass (05/14/06)
It's interesting to see so many hide behind the cloak of legality in the immigration debate. You don't see these legalists make as much of a big deal out of the other laws in the over 75,000 pages of the Federal Register.
They also confuse what is legal with what is moral. It is the belief that a law is a good law ,simply because it is a law, without any consideration of whether a law is, in fact, moral.
Dred Scott and thousands of other slaves defied the Fugitive Slave Act and ran away from southern plantation masters in the 1800s. Would anyone today dare to claim that a runaway slave was a criminal?
In the 1930s hundreds of Jews were rejected entrance in the name of immigration quotas, many of whom perished in Hitler's concentration camps. If any had defied immigration law and jumped ship, would anyone in their right mind call them criminals?
If we Americans really believe all are created equal, why don't we believe all have a right to pursue life, liberty, and happiness wherever they want? What's the difference between a Chinese emigrating to New York and someone moving to L.A from Chicago? Essentially there is no difference. Borders are nothing but arbitrary human constructs, needlessly obsessed about and fought over. Is a border a good border, simply because it is a border?
Thomas Paine was ahead of his time, but in light of today's ever shrinking world, I believe he had the right idea when he wrote, "The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion".
Michael Crass
"A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side."--Aristotle
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