The weaponization of empathy is a plague. The Left has taken a good trait -- the ability to understand the feelings of another -- and turned it into a toxic, destructive hallmark of virtue-signaling, demanding the proverbial self-immolation of Western values, laws, and culture.
It is especially nefarious when cloaked in religion. I am Catholic, although I am, in a word, dissatisfied with the current state of the Catholic Church.
In the past week, the Catholic Church and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) haven't exactly covered themselves in glory when talking about Donald Trump's illegal immigration agenda. They rebuked J.D. Vance for calling out the billions of dollars given to the Church to help 'resettle' immigrants.
I get why Luther nailed his 99 Theses to the door of a German church.
Unlike abortion and gay marriage, two things the Catechism of the Catholic Church explicitly prohibits, immigration is an issue that is not written in stone. Quite the contrary: it says nations are only obligated to take in immigrants to the extent they are able and requires those immigrants to obey the laws and customs of their new nation.
That is not happening here. We are $36 trillion in debt, and we have known criminals (including Venezuelan gang members) who are breaking our laws. In fact, all illegal aliens are criminals because they have broken American immigration laws. Anyone arguing otherwise is a) dishonest, b) stupid, or c) a partisan hack. I'll let them decide which applies to them.
But the Left won't stop.
Jesuits. I tell you.
This is rich coming from a guy who doesn't love his Catholic neighbors if they happen to prefer the Latin Mass or actually adhere to Catholic teaching.
Something about motes and eyes, Martin.
The parable of the Good Samaritan does not require anyone -- Christian or otherwise -- to undermine their national laws, harm their communities, and sacrifice their safety for the benefit of another. There is NO Catholic teaching that requires inflicting actual injury on yourself or others, for any reason. And there is no teaching that says failing to do so is a sin.
In fact, the unfettered immigration Martin advocates for is the exact opposite of 'loving thy neighbor. Loving one's neighbor requires opposition to the crime, human trafficking, drug dealing, cartel influence, and death that comes with illegal immigration.
Jocelyn Nunagray was 12-years-old. Laken Riley was 22. Ivory Smith was seven. Rachel Morin was 37 and her children ranged in age from eight to 18. All of those women were killed by illegal aliens. Several other women and girls have been raped or sexually assaulted.
Tens of thousands of children have been trafficked and are missing thanks to open borders. We can only imagine the horrors they're experiencing, wherever they are.
I can't name every American killed by the fentanyl and other drugs run across the border, but in 2023 there were 110,037 drug overdose deaths in America. Over ten years, 334,000 people died from drug overdoses. A not insignificant portion of them because of drugs brought across the border.
In New York City, Debra Kawam was a homeless woman who died after being set on fire by an illegal immigrant. Video of the attack is the stuff of nightmares. In what world should we love the man who burned her alive more than her? Not any world I care to live in.
Denver cut police and fire services to redirect money to illegal aliens. Hourly government employees faced layoffs, and services at the Denver DMV and parks department were also cut back to -- once again -- pay for illegal alien services.
Back in September, I reported a laundry list of crimes and problems caused by illegal immigration including 200 homicides, 500 robberies, 1,000 sexual offenses, and 3,500 assaults in New York City alone.
Despite the glut of evidence that illegal immigration is a net harm to our neighborhoods and our neighbors, Martin dares to lecture us on 'loving thy neighbor', no matter the financial or human cost. This is not Catholic.
It certainly helps ease his conscience that his preferred charities get billions of dollars of our money to do it, I'm sure. And Martin is largely insulated from the dangers and disasters open borders bring to communities, so he has no idea what it's like for families living at the mercy of Venezuelan gangs running their apartment complex.
His dearth of understanding for the law is outstripped only by his misunderstanding of theology.
He is, however, a hypocrite. How dare he try to weaponize empathy for people who break our laws with alacrity, while not showing one ounce of empathy towards the countless victims of open borders and unfettered illegal immigration.
There was a time when the Catholic Church would have aligned itself in defense of the latter, the innocent Americans who are victims of a carless, negligent government. But those days are gone, replaced by a moralizing grift that is a stain on the Church.
So forgive me if I don't believe Martin has any moral authority here.
