On fences

A Vatican cardinal has weighed in on the fence the US is proposing to build between the US and Mexican border, calling it “inhuman,” and comparing it to the Berlin Wall. The Catholic Church is in deep trouble if its spokesmen are unable to recognize the difference between a fence imprisoning people in a gulag-like nation, and a fence meant to keep illegals from entering another nation entirely (and often, as in Israel’s case, with the most deadly purposes). Indeed, as Michelle Malkin reminds us, the fence may help keep some of that same violent raff-and-scaff out of our own country.

I continue to support legal immigration, believing that it keeps our nation strong and vibrant. I am completely opposed to illegal immigration, and have no problem with the government building a fence to help quash that problem. Indeed, without America as its safety valve, the Mexican government might finally be forced to look inward and clean its own house.

I have to say that I’m especially disappointed that this kind of silly talk came from a Vatican official. As readers know, even though I’m a secular Jew, I believe that the West’s salvation likes in the traditional Judeo-Christian religions, and I was very impressed by the Pope’s willingness to challenge the prevailing orthodoxies about Islam’s uniformly peaceful intentions.

UPDATE:  Because the cardinal analogized the American fence, aimed at keeping criminals out, to the Berlin Wall, aimed at keeping innocent citizens in, it’s worthwhile to point to Michelle Malkin’s second post about the societal effects of the criminals who creep over the border right now.