Well, Lehi received that revelation when he was likely somewhere in Central America.  If they're headed to the U.S., they're headed in the wrong direction.  They should be going south.

I just finished reading "A Line in the Sand: Confronting the Threat at the Southwest Border" It's prepared by the House Committee on Homeland Security.  I absolutely don't believe that the "hand of the Lord" is guiding drug trafficking, human smuggling, violent criminals, sexual predators, and international terrorists to cross the border from Mexico. Seriously, do people who quote that scripture even know what they're saying?

A good point, Roper.   I hope you are right.   Since illegal immigration and amnesty have become such hot issues especially in the last few years, I find LDS who seem to grasp at anything to support their personal convictions that we should allow Central and South Americans free access to our country.   They relate sob stories about how more families will be split up, how they need to come here to learn and accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ, how life below the border is so much tougher;  all of which may be  true stories.   And it seems to me the illegal huggers feel more righteous for supporting illegal immigration as they do.   And they usually deny the claims about the cost of illegal immigration to Americans, the destruction of our economy, culture and industry.   Nearly all have served missions in Latin America and some seem to have developed a great love for those people.   And they won't even consider the idea that illegal immigration has for years been fomented by people in our government and elsewhere for the purpose of lowering the American standard of living and altering our form of government.  
 




This is clearly one subject on which there is no unity in the Church.    

Fregramis wrote:

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On another topic, I'm so weary of the condescending accusations of racism by the opposition. When they use that card it is proof positive they have lost the argument.  

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Yep.  It's the same tactic used by the homosexual agenda.  When you can't win by rational consideration, you change to emotional appeal--you accuse your opponents of *gasp* hate.  I'm utterly amazed at how many intelligent people buy into that tripe.  Same for the racism accusation.

Edit to add:  A few years ago, on this forum I believe, I was on the other side of the immigration argument.  After having lived in Texas a few more years, I've seen the seamy side illegal immigration. Not only does it hurt America, but it hurts the immigrants who come here illegally.  When they become victims of crime or exploitation, they won't report it for fear of deportation. They live in perpetual poverty because they can't have jobs where proof of citizenship is required. It's getting harder for them to find places to live as more landlords require proof of citizenship.  I've become convinced that illegal immigration hurts everyone much more than it helps anyone.

And for those RMs who become passionate about immigration for the people they served and grew to love, reading Elder Nelson's address from Oct 2006 conference might help them to remember why they went in the first place:  The choice to come unto Christ is not a matter of physical location; it is a matter of individual commitment. People can be "brought to the knowledge of the Lord" without leaving their homelands. True, in the early days of the Church, conversion often meant emigration as well. But now the gathering takes place in each nation. The Lord has decreed the establishment of Zion in each realm where He has given His Saints their birth and nationality. Scripture foretells that the people "shall be gathered home to the lands of their inheritance, and shall be established in all their lands of promise." "Every nation is the gathering place for its own people." The place of gathering for Brazilian Saints is in Brazil; the place of gathering for Nigerian Saints is in Nigeria; the place of gathering for Korean Saints is in Korea; and so forth. Zion is "the pure in heart." Zion is wherever righteous Saints are. Publications, communications, and congregations are now such that nearly all members have access to the doctrines, keys, ordinances, and blessings of the gospel, regardless of their location.

-- Edited by Roper on Friday 4th of June 2010 08:10:19 PM

On the subject of Israel, 40 years ago I worked in Israel and had a room and took most of my meals on a large kibbutz.   Without going into details, I'll simply say that I was aware of Palestinian attacks against Israel in which women and children were clearly the intended targets, not the Israeli military.   I also noted that generally speaking, the Israeli military forces were a lot more merciful toward captured terrorists than I would have been.   For the most part a new genereation is running much of the show in Israel now and attitudes of Israeli's generally may be different.   If the news reports coming out of that area now are as accurate now as they were when I was there, (and I think they are more pro-Palestinian biased now) then Israel is being made to look like the bad guy more that it deserves.           

Got this interesting e-mail the other day.

_______________________________________________________________


Words from a LEGAL Mexican immigrant

This was written by a Mexican who is now a naturalized US Citizen, and I think it's a great explanation of the illegal immigration issue.

Here is the quote:

"If you had tickets to a sports event, concert, Disneyland, or for an airline flight, and when you got to your assigned seat you found someone else was in that seat, what would you do? You would call for a person in charge of ticket checking and have the person in your seat removed. You would properly be asked to show your ticket, and you would gladly and proudly do so, for you have bought and paid for that seat. The person in your seat would also be asked for a ticket, which they would not be able to produce. They would be called "gate crashers" and they would properly be removed.

Now in this huge stadium called the USA we have had millions of gate crashers. We have been asking security to check for tickets and remove the gate crashers. We have been asking security to have better controls in checking at the door. We have asked security to lock the back doors. Security has failed us. They are still looking the other way. They are afraid to ask to see the tickets. Many people say there is unlimited seating, and whether there is or not, no one should be allowed in for free while the rest of us pay full price!

In "section AZ", of "Stadium USA", we have had enough of the failures of Security. We have decided to do our own ticket checking, and properly remove those who do not have tickets. Now it seems very strange to me that so many people in the other 49 "sections", and even many in our own "section" do not want tickets checked, or even to be asked to show their ticket! Even the head of Security is chastising us, while not doing his own job which he has sworn to do.

My own ticket has been bought and paid for, so I am proudly going to show it when asked to do so. I have a right to my seat, and I want the gate crashers to be asked to show their tickets too. The only reason that I can imagine anyone objecting to being asked for their ticket is that they are in favor of gate crashing, and all of the illegal activities that go with it, such as drug smuggling, gang wars, murder, human smuggling for profit, and many more illegal and inhumane acts that we are trying to prevent with our new legislation. Is that what I am hearing from all of the protestors such as Phoenix Mayor Gordon, US Rep. Grijalva, even President Obama? If you are not in favor of showing tickets, (proof of citizenship, passport, green card, or other legal document) when asked, as I would do proudly, then you must be condoning those illegal activities."


Written by a US Citizen, Globe, Arizona.

This makes perfect sense to me. What do you think?

Since Obama has never shown his ticket I guess he feels obligated to not ask others to show theirs.