Dear editor,
I read with sadness and dismay in the March 25 edition that the Ogle County Board has decided to make Ogle County a non-sanctuary county for immigration. I suppose because of how politicized the whole immigration issue has become in our country.
But as a pastor in the Lutheran Church, though now retired, I wonder how effective my preaching and teaching has been over the years. How would, for example, the members of the Ogle County Board respond to the story of the Good Samaritan. How about Matthew 25 where Jesus talks about the hungry, the sick, the in prisoned, the stranger, of whom Jesus said, "As you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me." Apparently this does not apply to undocumented asylum seekers in Ogle County. It is a red herring to suggest we only have enough resources for our own troubled people. How much love does a mother have? How many children can she love? Does a light become diminished if it is shared too often? Cannot there be resources for all who live here? Are we not called to provide for all in our care?
I suppose those who read this may seek to assuage their discomfort or their anger by declaring me to be too liberal, or too naive, or too out of touch. Fine. My faith and my understanding cause me to respond in this way. And the fact that my family were at one time immigrants. I am thankful that they were not booted out of where they landed on American soil.
My only consolation here is the faint hope that the Ogle County Board felt at least a little bit of shame in casting the vote as they did, rather than basking in self-righteous indignation.
-Ronald Larson, Mt. Morris
