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About Opinions

There was once a time when it was said everyone was entitled to give their opinion. After all, everyone has an opinion… how they form their opinion is another matter; nevertheless we all do have, and are entitled to an opinion. An opinion is simply what you personally believe as being either fact or fiction, although it not necessarily backed up with any proof or supporting information. One's opinion can be related to anything from who you think is the best baseball player to whether you feel that it is too hot or too cold... all of these issues could be considered a matter of opinion. So why is it that in our modern day society people are so sensitive concerning one opinion vs. another? After all as I said previously, we're all entitled to our opinion (at least we used to be). Some people are very passionate concerning what they believe, so taking human nature into account, it can be expected that some people may become upset if their belief or opinion is challenged; some will even fight to the death (sometimes literally!) In contrast to this, other people will back away from a challenge, preferring to "keep the peace" and they do not stand up for anything, even if the majority of people side with them. Why is it that there is increasingly a concerted effort to suppress one particular groups opinion over another's? The answer can either be that one group simply doesn't like competition, they don't like losing debates, or perhaps another reason is that they have no supporting evidence to back up their opinion. Therefore they suppress anything that contradicts their opinion; after all, one way to ultimately lose a debate, is to base your position on false information, while another way to lose a debate is to base your position on little or no information. The most popular way these days however is to simply ignore, suppress, or demonize all other opinions that are contrary to yours. People are going so far as to even physically attack people who disagree with themselves.

Constitutional Freedoms

Within the Constitution of the United States, which in the United States of America is considered to be "The Supreme Law of the Land," we have the Bill of Rights which lists in detail the rights that citizens of the United States possess. The rights enumerated in that document are "Universal" meaning that they are valid in All States for All Citizens. While the constitution talks about Freedom of Speech, there are some limitations. We won’t get into all that in this lesson, but I encourage all readers to dig into what some of the limitations are. The constitution says nothing about our opinion concerning issues but how we express those opinions warrants some control. One thing that many people don't seem to understand is that the rights enumerated in the constitution are directed towards American "Citizens" not necessarily anyone who happens to be standing on American soil! For example, if a terrorist comes into the U.S. and commits an act of terrorism, he or she does so acting as an enemy of the United States and what we stand for. Their actions fall under the rules of war which do not in many cases offer the protection a citizen of the U.S.A. would have under the constitution. Therefore, people who come into this country legally or illegally have limited protection but not to the full extent of a citizen of the U.S.

First let's take a look at a few definitions pertaining to this subject:

What is a citizen? According to {Dictionary.com} it is defined as follows:

Citizen
1. a native or naturalized member of a state or nation who owes allegiance to its government and is entitled to its protection (distinguished from Alien).
2. an inhabitant of a city or town, especially one entitled to its privileges or franchises.
3. an inhabitant, or denizen:

Most people reading this fall into the category of the first definition, we have either been born in the U.S.A. or have gone through the process of Naturalization as did my wife, she was born in Germany and became an American citizen when she was around twelve years old. Notice that there is a distinction made between Citizen and Alien; see the brackets at the end of the first definition.

What is an Alien? Once again, according to {Dictionary.com}

Alien
1. Often Disparaging and Offensive. a resident of one country who was born in or owes allegiance to another country and has not acquired citizenship by naturalization in the country of residence (distinguished from Citizen). See also resident Alien, illegal alien.
2. a foreigner.
3. a person who has been estranged or excluded.

The obvious difference between a citizen and an alien is the subject of one's "Allegiance" or Loyalty. We can see this in the reply Jesus gave when asked about paying taxes...

Matthew 22: 17-21 (NKJV)
¹⁷ Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" ¹⁸ But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show Me the tax money." So they brought Him a denarius. ²⁰ And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" ²¹ They said to Him, "Caesar's." And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

People in the past have used these passages to argue whether or not we should be paying taxes. This was the challenge the Pharisees brought to Jesus; however Jesus never said that we should not pay taxes which would have delighted his enemies, and would have expedited the removal of what the Pharisee's considered to be a problem, being Jesus himself. Instead, Jesus pretty much made it clear that we should pay lawful taxes; but He in is wisdom, turned their trap into a lesson on Allegiance and Loyalty. So how does all of this fit into a study on opinions, loyalty, and alliance? How does this all bring relevance to the Bible concerning our everyday lives? Contrary to many people’s opinion, the Bible does talk about taxes as was just illustrated; it also talks about borders, boundaries, and citizenship.

Just about every day we hear something about “illegal Aliens,” what exactly are these people classified as such?

Illegal alien
Noun
Often Disparaging and Offensive.
1. a foreigner who has entered or resides in a country unlawfully or without the country's authorization.
2. a foreigner who enters the U.S. without an entry or immigrant visa, especially a person who crosses the border by avoiding inspection or who overstays the period of time allowed as a visitor, tourist, or businessperson.

Illegal
Adjective
1. forbidden by law or statute.
2. contrary to or forbidden by official rules, regulations, etc.: The referee ruled that it was an illegal forward pass.

Now that we have a few actual definitions under our belt so to speak, let’s consider a few topics that many people these days seem to have some misunderstanding about. We hear a lot about “Open Borders” nowadays, this is something that is popular in Europe, or should I say it was popular in Europe in recent times. Europeans have been taught, and now here in the U.S.A. our own children and grand children are being taught that if we eliminate borders, we will all become one big happy “Global” family! However it didn’t take long as so-called “refugees” poured into Europe, especially those from predominately Muslim countries, for these “aliens” to start making demands concerning the laws and customs of the countries that accepted them! They started demanding that the laws and customs of their new country of residence conform to the laws of the country they were supposedly fleeing from! Needless to say this did not go over very well with the residents of the host countries. I come from a family of emigrants, my wife is an emigrant! So I have absolutely no problem with people who want to keep the traditions or customs they grew up with; as a matter of fact I enjoy many of the customs I have learned of through the years, but when people emigrate to another country they have no right whatsoever to insist the host country conform to their customs, or their language. Language is the main reason people in the United States have a problem with Spanish speaking emigrants; they don’t have a problem with people retaining their language or customs, but have a big problem with these people rather than assimilating into our culture and learning our language, they insist that we (American Citizens) learn Spanish in order to communicate with them! My wife spoke German when she came to this country; my parents spoke a mixture of European languages sometime referred to as “Slovak” which enabled them to interface with Russian people and also Polish and Czechoslovakian people. There were no American government documents in these languages, everything in the U.S.A. at the time was written and spoken in English! In order for people to succeed in this country they had to Integrate into our society.

Let us talk a bit about Borders. I will not go into detail as to everywhere there are references to borders in the bible but will point out that time after time we read about the cities of the bible being surrounded by walls… why do you suppose that is? The obvious reason is to keep enemies out; most people don’t have a problem with that concept. However without borders or walls how does one filter out the enemies from others who would do you no harm? On a more personal level, do you lock your doors at night? Do you have a fence around your property? Do you lock your car? Most of us would answer yes to these questions but a sizable numbers would still say we still should have open borders thus allowing anyone and everyone to come into our country! So my question is why do you lock your home, car and other personal belongings? The obvious answer is you don’t want just anyone messing with or possibly walking off with your stuff! You don’t know who the stranger walking up the street is, or what their intensions are… they could be among the nicest people on the planet; but on the other hand they could be there to steal from you, or perhaps even kill you! So why do so many people feel we should not have borders and let anyone come into our countries without knowing who they are and their intent? Many people feel this way strictly because of the opinion they have which has in many cases been manipulated through the educational system, the media, and in many cases through self- imposed ignorance. There has as a result been a decline in what is referred to as “Common Sense” due to the steady stream of propaganda coming mostly from the political left and their minions. The following passage is often cited by liberals as being supportive of open borders. Perhaps you can see why they don’t use the Holman translation at the bottom.

Exodus 22:21 (NKJV)
²¹ "You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Exodus 22:21 (HCSB)
²¹ “You must not exploit a foreign resident or oppress him, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

No matter how it is rendered this passage does not condone open borders, it simply states people should not be taken advantage of because they are foreigners or aliens by definition. The question I ask is, “Are Illegal Immigrants being exploited for their votes in political elections or perhaps as a source of cheap labor?”As for the argument concerning equal rights for foreigner or national, let us consider the following.

Acts 22:25-29 (NKJV)
²⁵ And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?" ²⁶ When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander, saying, "Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman." ²⁷ Then the commander came and said to him, "Tell me, are you a Roman?" He said, "Yes." ²⁸ The commander answered, "With a large sum I obtained this citizenship." And Paul said, "But I was born a citizen." ²⁹ Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

This passage blows away any notion that the bible teaches all are equal as far as rights of a citizen as opposed to an alien. When Paul made it known that he was a Roman citizen everything changed as far as the way he was treated! You see, Roman citizens had specific rights that others (especially Jews) did not. It also teaches us that there are different ways of becoming a citizen; the commander went through a process to become a citizen of Rome, he paid a large sum of money, while Paul was born a Roman citizen. I trust this helps you to see this subject from a different perspective than what you get from the daily barrage of news and propaganda. I personally welcome people who come to this country legally. My cousin is married to a man from Mexico and I consider him as much family as all my other relatives. I also welcome refugees from tyranny; however this does not exempt them from being vetted and assimilating into our society. When I worked for a defense contractor years ago which required a security clearance, I was thoroughly investigated by the F.B.I. and possibly other government agencies. I was born an American citizen but still they had to check me out to make sure of my Allegiance to this country. They had no reason to doubt my allegiance but they still had to make sure… it was a matter of national Security. So the next time you give your opinion concerning open borders please consider that. Vetting people coming into our country is not only Common Sense, it is the Law.

God Bless America and May our borders remain open to all who desire to become American Citizens through the proper procedures. May we all continue to express our opinion while allowing others to do the same.