I love Kinky Friedman. He has an extremely sharp mind, a cutting sense of humor and the moral compass of King Solomon. He ran for the office of the governor of the State of Texas. I wish he had won. Texans would not be building more nuclear plants, taxing people who make biodiesel, drilling for oil on Padre Island National Seashore or burning coal to generate power. Sorry, that was a bit of a rant and a whole lot of angst about alternative energy in Texas.
The following is an excerpt from Kinky Friedman’s article, The Four Questions : An epistle to Texas Christians in Texas Monthly (May 2008). You may also read the article on the Texas Monthly website.
Who would Jesus deport?
Now, I’m not picking on Christians; I’m appealing to Christians. As a Jew, I appreciate Christians enormously, even if y’all did steal the idea of one God from us. Without Christians the world would be a much colder place (not to mention that there would be no one to buy retail).
Most Texas Christians, I believe, would support the concepts of securing our borders and of going after the large corporate employers who persist in profiting from trafficking in illegals. The problem is what we do with the millions of illegals who are already living here (half of whom, by the way, happen to be named Jesus). Do we round these people up in the manner of Fidel Castro, who busily arrested librarians for 49 years? Do we behave toward these poor, desperate, hardworking, in-between people as if we’re Burmese generals? Do we try to implement Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison’s doomed amendment to the doomed immigration bill—that is, deport all of them, send them back to their countries of origin, have them certified, and let them return at a later time? This from a government that couldn’t even evacuate New Orleans? Or shall we instead listen to that still, small voice within, the voice of God, the voice of our conscience, the virtual spoken word of Jesus: “For whatsoever you have done unto these, you have done unto me.”
My viewpoint on deportation is in sync with Mr. Friedman. I wanted to share a point of view on deporting people who live, work and contribute to the economy and the community that is Texas. Kinky is just so much more eloquent than I am.
For the record, Texas was part of Spain and then Mexico. White settlers were given land grants because they promised to become Catholic, marry a native woman and abide by the laws of the land. Instead, Texans broke their word and took the land from Mexico. With this in mind, it is just hard for me to hear, “Send them back to Mexico.” This WAS Mexico.
Have a blessed Sunday and a better week.
Eileen aka CyberCelt
