Winston-Salem Journal LTE MO 03/26/12

Sins of their parents

I empathize with these young people who are brought here illegally by their parents and their plight. However, unfortunately, children sometimes must bear the sins of their parents and forefathers. Many examples could be cited, but that's another subject.

It is a difficult situation for these people as well as for our government and its laws on becoming an American citizen. When those laws are broken, there's a price to pay. They are not treated as American citizens because they are not American citizens.

The children who come here with their parents and the ones born after they are here should also be illegal rather than automatically becoming American citizens. Perhaps that would deter or discourage them from illegal immigration.

What about the parents of these young people? Are they legal now? As harsh as it may seem, perhaps whole families should be deported and required to apply for legal status. Everyone is entitled to seek a better life, but it must be done legally. Something drastic must be done since our borders and everything else have failed.

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VELMAR FAISON

Winston-Salem

Immigration thoughts

The writer of the letter "On Alberto" (March 21) is against the children of illegal immigrants staying in America because, he says, they would be benefitting from their parents' crime. He uses the analogy: Suppose a man robs a bank and gives the money to his child. Should the child get to keep it? He answers no.

But if his analogy plays out, then what he advocates is not only that the child mustn't benefit from the crime by keeping the money, he must also be punished, just as the children of illegal immigration must be punished by being made to leave the country. According to the letter writer's logic, the child must go to prison with his father.

I don't think that would be fair to the thief's child, nor is deportation fair to the children of illegal immigrants.

Contrary to what the writer claims, some illegal acts have , historically, benefitted us. Almost 60 years ago, Rosa Parks refused to sit in the back of the bus — which she was legally required to do — and spurred the Civil Rights Movement. The walls of segregation came tumbling down, and, yes, the children of conscientious objectors certainly benefitted from it. Our whole country benefitted from it.

And for all those repeating that worn, clichéd, meaningless question, "What part of 'illegal' do you not understand?" I understand that if we pass the DREAM Act, we won't have to worry about their being illegal. Problem solved.

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JAMES T. FULLER

Winston-Salem

God the rock

Many Americans, from the president to the pauper, have opinions like the wind that drift around with no stability or source of authority.

What authority did our Founders use to claim a higher law above all sovereigns and nations? They declared "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" as their authority, which their law book — Blackstone's Commentary on the Laws of England — acknowledged as the Bible's Holy Scriptures to be the highest universal authority.

Is there evil? Then there must be good, which necessitates a moral law to differentiate between the two, so that we know right from wrong. If there is a moral law, then there must be a moral lawgiver — God, our Creator. But, if there is no lawgiver, there is no moral law and therefore no right or wrong or evil.

Our nation's opinions drift in the wind over the definition of marriage. What is wrong with our Creator's definition, which meets the physical design to reproduce the next generation? All the endearing attributes are there as well. The eyes of the woman look deep into the man, communicating I will bear and raise our children; I will go wherever you go and be by your side, faithful to you, until death do us part . The man as well, looks in love, steadfast, with the resolve of steel, to provide and protect his family and be faithful to his wife until death does them part.

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E.A. TIMM

Walnut Cove