Why Show Mercy to Immigrants?

 

What happens when you ask a president who says he has Christian values to govern using Christian values? You are witnessing it every day. Trump and his followers promote the idea that their actions are CHRISTIAN, advancing BIBLICAL standards for godly living. I say they have forgotten or choose to ignore Romans 3:7-8, "For if the truth of God has INCREASED through my LIE to His glory, why am I also STILL judged as a sinner? And why not say, "Let us do evil that good may come?" - as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just."

In other words, you can't do horrible things even if it is for the good of the church, kingdom, or Christian body.

Taking President Trump at his word, that he stands with Christians, particularly Evangelicals, Rev. Budde issued a simple request. The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of the Diocese of Washington, made a direct appeal to Trump during a post-Inauguration prayer service (January 2025) he attended, asking him to show mercy to members of the LGBTQ+ community and migrants who are in the country illegally.

Referencing Trump’s belief that he was saved by God from assassination (July 13, 2024, at 5:11 PM CDT), Budde preached, “You have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.”
Trump and his supporters did not hold kindly to being asked to show mercy towards people who may be fearful of his administration's future actions regarding immigration. Who becomes upset about being asked to be kind? Who needs to be asked to be kind in the first place? Both answers to the questions: Donald Trump and his supporters.

Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Dallas, a prominent Trump supporter, was at the service and posted on X that Budde “insulted rather than encouraged our great president” and “there was palpable disgust in the audience with her words.” What was the reverend asking Trump to have mercy on? The way he will go about HANDLING immigrants. Why the disgust at the notion of being kind?

The executive orders signed on the first day of President Trump’s second term radically expand the legal authorities used to enforce immigration law against immigrants already in the U.S., while calling for an equally radical expansion of the infrastructure that would be needed to accomplish the "mass deportations" the president has promised. Furthermore, they signal efforts to immiserate unauthorized immigrants living in the United States, depriving them of the ability to work legally and punishing them for being unable to “register” with the U.S. government—something they have no way of doing.

While addressing the ongoing immigration problem, the Trump administration is not acting with MERCY, stripping a people of their DIGNITY and HUMANITY, forgetting many immigrants are fleeing their country riddled with poverty, war, and violence. Many immigrants flee poverty and violence from countries in Central America, including El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. These countries are among the most impoverished and violent in the world.
Wanting immigrants to enter the United States legally is the desire of the majority of Americans.

Very few people are in favor of people out and out breaking the law. What many people are taking exception to is the WAY the illegal immigrants are being treated. Donald Trump painted an apocalyptic picture of a country being "occupied" by hordes of criminal foreigners in his campaign speech. Trump has super-charged concerns by claiming an "invasion" is underway by migrants he says will rape and murder Americans. Donald Trump vowed to “rescue” the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado, from the rapists, “blood thirsty criminals,” and “most violent people on earth” he insists are ruining the “fabric” of the country and its culture: immigrants. The former president has escalated his xenophobic and racist rhetoric against migrants and minority groups he says are genetically predisposed to commit crime. This type of rhetoric leads to fear and violence.

          America proclaims to be a Christian nation. If it truly is, it would choose to be guided by the                 Christian Bible adhering to its principles; all NOT some of them. There are several passages                 guiding the Christian in how they are to treat foreigners. 

Love foreigners

• Leviticus 19:33-34: Treat foreigners as you would your own people, and love them as you love yourself
• Deuteronomy 10:18-19: God loves foreigners and provides for them with food and clothing 
• Matthew 25:35: Jesus says that welcoming strangers is a way to show that you are his follower 

Provide for foreigners

• Deuteronomy 14:28-29: Store tithes so that foreigners and Levites can eat 
• Isaiah 58:10: Feed the hungry and satisfy those in need

Show mercy to foreigners

Zechariah 7:9: Show kindness and mercy to foreigners, orphans, and widows
Deuteronomy 24:17-18: Do not deprive foreigners or orphans of justice
Deuteronomy 27:19: Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from foreigners, orphans, or widows

 

DNA Biblical Before Scientific

Have you noticed it is harder and harder for people committing crimes such as murder to get away with it? Forensics have proven no matter how careful you are and how well planned a crime is, DNA is always left behind. A hair here, a partial fingerprint there, and if you sweat at the scene of the crime, that's DNA in which may lead to your apprehension. DNA analysis has become the go to in solving and catching criminals. The biological material used to determine a DNA profile include blood, semen, saliva, urine, feces, hair, teeth, bone, tissue, and cells. Which means wherever you go, you leave a piece of yourself behind in some way. As Clint Eastwood would say, "Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?”

In the beginning of using DNA to catch a criminal, the DNA left at the crime scene was the specific make-up of the criminal. NO TWO PEOPLE HAVE THE EXACT SAME DNA except twins. Identical twins, also called monozygotic (MZ) twins, share 100% of their genes, while fraternal twins, also called dizygotic (DZ) twins, share about 50% of their genes. Identical twins form when a single fertilized egg splits into two babies with the same DNA. 

The recovered DNA was an identifying source of the PERSON who was at the scene of the crime potentially being the one who committed the crime. But they had to match the DNA sample to the individual. Investigators had to have a SAMPLE already collected that would MATCH the sample they had collected from a crime. 

Police search available data banks to see if they have a DNA match. DNA databases are used to help identify the perpetrator. Crime scene evidence can also be linked to other crime scenes through the use of DNA databases.  For example, assume that a man was convicted of sexual assault.  At the time of his conviction, he was required to provide a sample of his DNA, and the resulting DNA profile was entered into a DNA database.  The federal government also collects DNA samples from persons convicted of offenses in certain categories, including crimes of violence or terrorism. 

The Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) Analysis Program is responsible for performing mtDNA analysis of forensic evidence containing SMALL or DEGRADED quantities of DNA on items of evidence submitted from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.  Mitochondrial DNA is a powerful tool available for investigating cases of kidnapping, missing persons, and skeletal remains where nuclear DNA is not present. Any sample left and collected at the scene of a crime can be used. The use of animal, plant, and microbial DNA to provide leads that may link DNA found on or near human perpetrators or victims to the actual perpetrator of the crime is also used.

The use of genealogical DNA samples does not need the actual perpetrator of the crime, but a relative sharing some of the criminal's DNA makeup. They find a relative with some of the criminal's DNA markers and TRACE the family member through his family tree narrowing down the criminal.

Police can't access the databases of direct-to-consumer DNA testing giants such as AncestryDNA and 23andMe without getting a court order from a judge first. Most turn instead to GEDmatch or FamilyTreeDNA — the two genealogy sites that don't require a warrant to access the data. Thierry Bernard, the CEO of GEDmatch’s parent company Qiagen, said in January 2023, about 70% of the GEDmatch database’s 1.8 million profiles are viewable to police. 

All of this ability to find criminals through DNA and Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is an exciting breakthrough for scientists and forensic investigators to solve crimes, but it is nothing new to those who read and study the Bible. Within the pages of the Bible, it tells you the power of BLOOD.

 "...the voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground" appears in Genesis 4:10-11. This was said by God to Cain when he killed his brother Able and tried to pretend, he didn't know what had happened to his brother.

Numbers 35:33 says, "So you shall not pollute and defile the land in which you live; for [the shedding of innocent] blood pollutes and defiles the land..."

Hebrews 4:13: "And no creature is HIDDEN from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account..."

"But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an ACCOUNTING from every ANIMAL. And from each MAN, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. Genesis 9:4-5.

Throughout the Bible the importance of BLOOD is clear and any blood shed, human or animal, the blood tells a story that must be accounted for to God.  Blood SPEAKS and anything the lifeblood touches also speaks such as skin. spit, and hair.

Criminals may have been able to get away with murders and other violent crimes from police, but NEVER from God. Humans have developed scientific methods enabling them to see and hear what the biologicals sample have to say pertaining to who the sample belongs to. But God was the originator of being able to understand ALL biological samples of man. God SOLVED all of the CRIMES and said he will have an accounting of why the blood was spilled.

Many Christians prefer to ONLY rely on the Bible and turn their nose up at science. There is no need to DISMISS science to prove faith in the Bible and God because science usually gives the Bible more proof of its intended meanings. One of my Seminary professors said, science is always catching up to the Bible.

So, if you are thinking of committing a crime, remember, innocent blood cries out. Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?”

 

Murder is American History

 

  What is LIFE like for Black people post slavery in America?

    It is a life in America, a country in which they are native born members, still having to check a box proclaiming they are AFRICAN AMERICAN. 

    It is a life in America, a country their ancestors made into a rich super power in the world by their FREE labor, where history erases their PROFOUND contributions of toil, torture, and death.

    It is a life in America, a country in which they have had to continually fight for the right to have rights, where no one gets the continual injustices perpetrated against a SKIN COLOR.

    It is a life in America, a country comprised of immigrants, where lynching remained an unpunishable crime until 2022. MURDER IS A PART OF AMERICA'S PAST HISTORY AND IT'S PRESENT HISTORY.

    If you Google Emmet Till, Wikipedia will be the first thing to pop up and the first paragraph will say:

"Emmett Louis Till (July 25, 1941 – August 28, 1955) was an African American boy who was abducted, tortured, and LYNCHED in Mississippi in 1955 at the age of 14, after being accused of offending a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in her family's grocery store. The brutality of his murder and the acquittal of his killers drew attention to the long history of violent persecution of African Americans in the United States. Till posthumously became an icon of the Civil Rights Movement."

    

    The story of Till has been told for years and recently captured in the film (2022) directed by Chinonye, Chukwu and written by Michael Reilly, Keith Beauchamp, and Chukwu, and produced by Beauchamp, Reilly, and Whoopi Goldberg. It has grossed $11 million against a production budget of $20 million. It was not a blockbuster movie, but that was not the intent. 

    If you went to the movie and sat until the end, you would have seen the death of Emmet Till inspired the Antilynching Bill. The Emmett Till Antilynching Act is a landmark United States federal law which makes lynching a federal hate crime. The Act was not law until 2022! 

    Lynchings were violent public acts that white people used to terrorize and control Black people in the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly in the South. Lynchings typically evoke images of Black men and women hanging from trees, but they involved other extreme brutality, such as torture, mutilation, decapitation, and desecration. Some victims were burned alive.

    A typical lynching involved a criminal accusation, an arrest, and the assembly of a mob, followed by seizure, physical torment, and murder of the victim. Lynchings were often public spectacles attended by the white community in celebration of white supremacy.

    The highest number of lynchings during that time period occurred in Mississippi, with 581 recorded. Georgia was second with 531, and Texas was third with 493.Black people were the primary victims of lynching: 3,446, or about 72 percent of the people lynched, were Black. But they weren't the only victims of lynching. Some white people were lynched for helping Black people or for being anti-lynching. 

    1619 is the year used as the date slavery began in America. 1619 is the date it was approved and sanctioned to torture, terrorize, and MURDER Black people in America. The history of MURDER is what govenors like Ron DeSantis are trying to erase from American History. He fails to realize these horrors have been woven in the DNA of the victims and will not go gently into the night. 

    The lynching of Michael Donald in Mobile, Alabama, on March 21, 1981, was one of the last reported lynchings in the United States. Several Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members beat and killed Michael Donald, a 19-year-old African-American, and hung his body from a tree. It has only been 42 years since the LAST LYNCHING in America!!

     In 2021, there were 18 Ku Klux Klan groups in the United States. The term 'hate groups' includes groups which have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people. Their activities can include criminal acts, rallies, speeches, meetings, leafleting, or publishing (Published by Statista Research Department, Jun 2, 2023). In 2021, there were 733 active hate groups in the United States, down from 1,020 in 2018. The term 'hate groups' includes groups which have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people. Their activities can include criminal acts, rallies, speeches, meetings, leafleting, or publishing. 

    The Emmett Till Antilynching Act amends the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and prior hate crime laws to define lynching as any conspired bias-motivated offense which results in death or serious bodily injury. It was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on February 28, 2022, and U.S. Senate on March 7, 2022, and signed into law on March 29, 2022, by President Joe Biden.

    Today, the subject and memory of Emmet Till will be recounted by the news media on a continual loop. The younger generation will largely ignore this pivotal piece of history. Many of the older generation will grumble people should leave old stuff alone and quit talking about it. There will be the group of people happily proclaiming how much America (people) have changed and we no longer live in a time where racism and it's cruelty were almost entertainment and a group activity. And there will be people enraged for too many reasons for me to account or understand. Many Americans will have even  MORE hatred for the Democratic president, Joe Biden, for his attention to the Black Community.

Today President Biden will designate a national monument at three sites in honor of Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley — both of whom served as catalysts for the civil rights movement. Biden is expected to sign a proclamation on Tuesday, July 25, which will be the 82nd anniversary of Till's birth.

The new monument will be established across three locations in Illinois and Mississippi in an effort to protect places that tell Till's story, as well as reflect the activism of his mother, who was instrumental in keeping the story of Till's murder alive.

    For people on both sides of this history of MURDER, there are strong feelings. Some want to FORGET and some who want to REMEMBER. Today is another day where the heart, mind, and spirit of the people who make up America will bee seen. Today will show what life in America is like for a Black person post slavery in America.

When Will We Learn Childhood Is Key?

Research is in and what happens to children as they grow and develop has a major influence on the adult they will become. Safety, security, and guidance matters to the developing human. We must put an end to exposing our children to "come what may" without ensuring an opportunity for healing. 

We have dealt with killings in various forms in our society throughout time. We were once fascinated by serial killers and are now shocked by mass shooters. But, where did these killers in our society originate?

Many serial killers are survivors of early CHILDHOOD trauma of some kind – physical or sexual abuse, FAMILY dysfunction, and emotionally distant or absent PARENTS. TRAUMA is the single recurring theme in the biographies of most KILLERS. The number one trait of a killer or psychopath is a lack of empathy. Other traits are a tendency to lie, a need for thrills. Psychopaths become bored very quickly – and have a tendency towards narcissism. But the lack of empathy is the biggest thing for killers.

One common explanation is that psychopaths experience some kind of trauma in early CHILDHOOD – perhaps as early as their infant state – and as a consequence suppress their emotional response. They never learn the appropriate responses to trauma, and never develop other emotions, which is why they find it difficult to empathize with others. Science Daily “Psychology may help explain why male and female serial killers differ” March 20, 2019,

Now we are facing an onslaught of mass shooters and research regarding the reasons for these mass shooting is still being evaluated and researched but data is being compiled. Two professors, Jillian Peterson, an associate professor of criminology at Hamline University, and James Densley, a professor of criminal justice at Metro State University, discovered there’s a consistent pathway leading to mass shooters. Early CHILDHOOD trauma seems to be the foundation, whether violence in the home, sexual assault, parental suicides, or extreme bullying. Then you see the build toward hopelessness, despair, isolation, self-loathing, and oftentimes rejection from peers that turns into an identifiable crisis point where they’re acting differently. Sometimes mass shooters have previous suicide attempts. Their self-hate can turn into hate of a grouping of people resulting in mass shooting.

Suicidality was found to be a strong predictor of perpetration of mass shootings. Of all mass shooters in the The Violence Project database, 30% were suicidal prior to the shooting. An additional 39% were suicidal during the shooting. Those numbers were significantly higher for YOUNGER shooters, with K-12 students who engaged in mass shootings found to be suicidal in 92% of instances and college/university students who engaged in mass shooting suicidal 100% of the time.

In terms of past trauma, 31% of persons who perpetrated mass shootings were found to have experiences of severe CHILDHOOD trauma, and over 80% were in crisis.

Trauma was a common element of the backgrounds of those committing mass shooting, both in the database and the qualitative studies. Nearly half of individuals who engaged in mass shootings (48%) leaked their plans in advance to others, including family members, friends, and colleagues, as well as strangers and law enforcement officers. Legacy tokens, such as manifestos, were left behind by 23.4% of those who committed mass shootings. About 70% of individuals who perpetrated mass shooting knew at least some of their victims.

A new Department of Justice-funded study of all mass shootings — killings of four or more people in a public place — since 1966 found that the shooters typically have an experience with CHILDHOOD trauma, a personal crisis or specific grievance, and a “script” or examples that validate their feelings or provide a roadmap. And then there’s the fourth thing: access to a firearm.

Another pattern of mass shooters is becoming evident and in time I am sure will also be linked to CHILDHOOD trauma. Based on case documents, media reports, and interviews with mental health and law enforcement experts, found that in at least 22 mass shootings since 2011—more than a third of the public attacks over the past eight years—the perpetrators had a history of domestic violence, which specifically targeted WOMEN, or had stalked and harassed women. These cases included the large-scale massacres at an Orlando nightclub in 2016 and a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, in 2017. In total, they account for 175 victims killed and 158 others injured. Two of the shooters bore the hallmarks of so-called “incels”—a subculture of virulent misogynists who self-identify as “involuntarily celibate” and voiced their rage and revenge fantasies against women online. A man who recently planned to carry out a mass shooting in Utah and another who opened fire outside a courthouse in Dallas also appeared to be influenced by incel ideas.

Among the 22 cases analyzed, 86% has a history of domestic violence, 32% had a history of stalking and harassment, and 50% specifically targeted women. The trail of violent misogyny and abusive behavior in many shooters’ cases dovetails with a key finding from research published by the FBI in 2018: Not only do most shooters give off multiple behavioral warning signs that are observable to people around them, a majority do so starting months and even years before their attacks. The shooters in Tallahassee, Chicago, Orlando, Sutherland Springs, and elsewhere BRUTALIZED women long before their gun rampages. Mother Jones, “Armed and Misogynist: How Toxic Masculinity Fuels Mass Shootings”, Mark Follman.

A Harvard University study showed convicted physically abusive men were found to, when compared to the average American man, commit more crimes as well as:

• Have lower levels of education and IQ; be less clear-thinking
• Be more neurotic, anxious, nervous and defensive
• Be less agreeable, optimistic, content and more irritable
• Be less extraverted, conscientious and open
• Be less self-confident
• Be more excitable, moody, hasty and self-centered
• Be more authoritarian

Men who commit domestic violence may be found among a larger pool of men with poor problem-solving skills, but in addition they appear to have borderline-antisocial personality traits, certain types of hostility, and histories of abuse as CHILDREN that may predispose them to become violent with their female companions. Here are some of the reasons a person is abusive:

1. They have a disorder: A small number of the population is anti-social personality disorder (sociopath or psychopath) and sadistic. These disorders gain pleasure from seeing others in pain and even more pleasure when they are the ones inflicting the agony. For them, abuse is a means to an end. They abuse others to gain personal pleasure.
2. They were abused: Some abusers act out their dysfunctional behavior on others because it was done to them. In a subconscious effort to resolve their own abuse, they do the same to another person. This type of abusive behavior is identical, meaning it matches almost exactly to their childhood experience.
3. They were abused, part two: Just like in the previous explanation, they abuse because it was done to them. However, in this case the victim is the opposite. For instance, a boy who is sexually abused by a man might grow up to sexually abuse girls as evidence that they are not homosexual. The reverse can be true as well.
4. They watched something: With the advances in technology comes additional exposure at a young age to glorified abuse. Some movies, songs, TV shows, and videos minimize abuse by making fun of it or making it seem normal. A typical example is verbally attacking on another person by name calling or belittling.
5. They have anger issues: Uncontrolled and unmanaged rage frequently produces abusive behavior. The source of this anger varies but it is usually tied to a traumatic event. Unresolved trauma sparks anger when triggered by a person, circumstance, or place. Because this anger comes out of nowhere, it that much harder to control and manifests abusively.
6. They grew up with an addict: An addict blames others for the reason they engage in their destructive behavior. While the victims are often forced to remain silent and acceptant of their behavior. The end result is a lot of pent-up anger and abusive behavior. As an adult, the victim subconsciously seeks out others to blame for their actions.
7. They have control issues: Some people like to be in charge. In an effort to gain or remain in control of others, they utilize inefficient means of dominance such as bullying or intimidation. While forced control can be quickly executed, it does not have lasting qualities. True leadership is void of abusive techniques.
8. They don’t understand boundaries: Abusive people tend to lack the understanding of where they end and another person begins. They see their spouse/child/friend as an extension of themselves and therefore that person is not entitled to have any boundaries. The lack of distance means a person is subject to whatever the abuser decides.
9. They are afraid: People who do and say things out of fear tend to use their emotions as justification for why another person needs to do what is demanded. It is as if the fear is so important or powerful that nothing else matters except what is needed to subdue it.

10.         10. They lack empathy: It is far easier to abuse others when there is no empathy for how the victim            might feel. Some types of head trauma, personality disorders, and environmental traumas can               cause a person to lack the ability to express empathy.

11. They have a personality disorder: Just because a person has a personality disorder does not mean that they will be abusive. However, the lack of an accurate perception of reality greatly contributes to abusive behavior. If a person is unable to see their behavior as abusive, then they will keep doing it.
12. They are exhausted: When a person reaches the end of rope, it is not uncommon for them to lash out at whoever is conveniently close. Think of it as a mental breakdown where all the things stuffed inside come pouring out usually in a destructive rather than constructive manner.
13. They are defensive: Defense mechanisms such as denial, projection, regression, and suppression are utilized when a person is backed into a corner. Instead of taking space, they come out swinging and retaliate in an abusive manner.

An abusive person may have some or all of these qualities depending on the circumstances. Remember, this is not about justifying their behavior; rather it is about helping victims to understand why a person might be abusive. We must begin to take note of the way and enviroment in which our future adults are being raised. CHILDHOOD MATTERS.