Born Liberal, Raised Right: How to Rescue America from Moral Decline -- One Family at a Time.

 Rewarding Bad Behavior

 

“Crime does not pay.”

---The Shadow

 

 This land -- the United States of America -- is our home. We as the homeowner have the right to make rules about how everyone is to enter our home. We insist that our neighbors not sneak or barge in, but knock on the front door. If they enter without our permission, we will view them as trespassers. If they take what is not theirs, we will regard them as thieves. If they move into our guest room, we will evict them as squatters. We don’t ask much—just that neighbors knock and secure permission before entering our home.

 An illegal alien is someone who has defied American border laws and deceitfully entered this country. That type of entry is no different than someone who climbs in a window of a home with a room-for-rent and begins living there without permission of the owner. Just as there are legal ways of gaining permission to enter a home and rent a room, there are legal ways of entering this country. And just as those who sneak into a home are trespassers and squatters, so also are those who sneak into this country.

 As heads of our home, it is important that our children see we mean what we say. If rules are broken and we fail to bring consequences, the children learn that wrongdoing can be rewarded—that is, we teach them that crime does indeed pay. If it is the neighbors who have broken the rules by sneaking in a window, and we fail to hold them accountable, the neighbors will learn to disrespect us and our authority. In fact, if we tolerate their trespassing, and fail to evict them from the guest room, they will eventually come to think they have a right to be there. In time they will complain about the food and insist that we grant them the same rights as our children. The children will witness our lack of disciplinary action, and have one of two reactions. They will disrespect us for being wimpy in our leadership, or if the neighbors help them with their chores, they may despise us for wanting them gone. One thing is certain—in such a home social chaos will increase as disrespect for authority grows in the children and the uninvited guests.

 Insistence upon amnesty or citizenship for trespassers makes no sense at all. Why would we even think of granting “family” status to people who have already demonstrated a severe disrespect for our house rules when they violated them to enter our home in the first place? Do we reward bank robbers by allowing them to keep what they steal? If we advertise a room for rent, will we lease it to the prowler who continually breaks into our home and sleeps on our sofa? Will we not search for a tenant with more character than a proven trespasser?

 Even more bizarre is that some think we are obligated to provide education and healthcare to the children of those who trespassed. If someone commits a crime and breaks into my home, I am not responsible to feed or care for the children they bring with them while they commit the crime. The criminals are responsible for putting their children at risk—not me, the homeowner. Border trespassers put their families at risk by sneaking them into a country where they are not legally permitted to work. It is a foolish man who takes his children into a place where he cannot legally provide for them. It is a cruel man who brings his family with him when he commits a crime—he puts them at risk, and by example teaches them to disregard the law.

 In the U.S. we forbid deceitful entry, but then we reward the trespassers. We see that they put their children at risk, but instead of sending them packing with a good scolding for endangering their children, we reward them by educating, feeding, and caring for their children. By no means are we obligated to care for children put at risk by their parents, especially if it encourages further irresponsibility in the parents. How blind can we be?

 Let’s place this scenario in your neighborhood.

 If you find out that your neighbor’s children have been sneaking into your yard and camping in your fruit orchard, wouldn’t it be natural to appeal to him to get control of his children? If you discover that the children have not only been camping, but picking your fruit and taking it home to sell at their father’s fruit stand, wouldn’t it be within your rights to build a fence and buy a guard dog?

 What would you say if, after building the fence, your neighbor threatens you with a lawsuit for putting barbed wire on the fence, since his children might get injured climbing over it? Wouldn’t you consider it his responsibility to provide for his children and keep them out of your yard? If he cannot control his children, would it be unreasonable to expect him to build a fence himself?

 Yet, here is the government of Mexico with a victim mentality! Rather than apologize for not securing their own border and keeping better control of their citizens, the Mexican government strangely believes that it is the duty of the U.S. to care for their people. They are even threatening lawsuits if we try too hard to protect our borders.

 Rather than making threats against us, Mexican officials should warn their own people about the consequences they will face if they trespass into their northern neighbor’s yard. Apparently, they are coddling parents and neglect their own duty, because they desire for their citizens a life not to be found under their own leadership. They then demand that their U.S. neighbor provide that which they are failing to provide themselves. But obviously, we won’t see them warn their people—they crave the millions of dollars sent back home into Mexico each year.

 As long as America tolerates the commission of border crimes, and rewards the criminals by caring for them and their children, we should not expect to see our nation grow in moral fiber. Such leadership is bad parenting and bad government. May we wake up and do the right thing before it is too late!