On Tue, Apr 27, 2010 at 12:38 PM, Judah McAuley <[email protected]> wrote:
> Yes, Scott, it is stealing. And I would steal to feed my kids if that > is the only option I had. Would you? I would. And I would also expect to be held accountable for those actions should I get caught. > >>> But if they are otherwise law abiding, working hard, trying to make it in a >>> tough world, then I don't see how they are really doing all that much >>> damage to the social compact. >> >> Should someone who killed a pedophile not even be arrested because >> they did not do much damage to the 'social compact' (You could even >> argue that they did some good) > > Of course they should be arrested. People who enforce laws are > supposed to enforce laws. That has nothing to do with the morality of > the situation, however. If someone sexually abused my daughter and I > felt that the only way to keep her safe was to eliminate the person > who was the threat, I would feel morally justified in doing so. It > would still be illegal and I would still expect to be arrested if > caught. Once again, legaility != morality. I agree, but again, if I was caught I would expect to be held accountable for my actions. > > You seem to think I was trying to say that sneaking into the country > to try and feed your kids should be legal. I said no such thing. I > said that I have empathy for the people who do so and I can understand > doing so myself. It is still breaking the law. But that doesn't make > it morally reprehensible, in my view. > >> Using your example above, of a 'law abiding' illegal immigrant (which >> is an oxymoron), would you be OK with them being arrested for tax >> evasion? If they work here, and do not pay taxes, nor report that >> income, it is a crime. The mere fact that someone is here illegally >> makes it impossible for them to be 'law abiding'. They will not pay >> taxes. They will not report income to the IRS. They break the law >> every minute they are here. That is not someone I would call 'law >> abiding'. > > Law abiding illegal immigrant is by no means an oxymoron. Tell me, > Scott, have you ever exceeded the speed limit in your life? I'm > willing to bet you broken a law at some point in your life. Yet, by > and large, you are a law abiding citizen. You take care of your > family, you work hard, you are intelligent and contribute and I think > that your community is better for having you around. The biggest difference there is that the mere fact that I live in this country is not illegal. The same cannot be said for an illegal immigrant. Every minute an illegal immigrant stays in this country, regardless of why or how, thy are breaking the law. And I would expect they would be held accountable for that if they were caught - just like I would expect you and I to be in the above stated examples. > > I guess that my fundamental belief here is that illegal immigrants are > not necessarily bad people. Some of them are, but their immigration > status is not what determines that for me. And for the people that are > good, productive members of society, I want to find a way to make it > legal for them to be here and encourage their good behavior while > removing those that aren't good members of society. You seem to > disagree. I never said anything about them being 'good people' or 'bad people'm I said the mere fact they are in this country illegally makes it imposible, in my mind, to be law abiding. Have I broken the law before? Yes I have. Have I been held accountable for those actions when I was caught? Yes I have. I am only asking for illegal immigrants to do the same. -- Scott Stroz --------------- You can make things happen, you can watch things happen or you can wonder what the f*&k happened. - Cpt. Phil Harris http://xkcd.com/386 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:316758 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
