The greatest nation in the world should not have much to fear from a family, especially children, fleeing violence. More importantly, children fleeing violence ought to have nothing to fear from the greatest country in the world.
Interpretation
Nations have a responsibility to protect vulnerable populations, particularly children fleeing violence.
This quote emphasizes the moral obligation of a prosperous nation to provide refuge and safety to those fleeing violent circumstances, particularly children. It highlights the contradiction of a powerful nation feeling threatened by innocent families and underscores the need for compassion and responsibility in the face of humanitarian crises.
In practice
In a speech about immigration reform, one could use this quote to advocate for protecting refugee children.
'Freedom' means a lot to conservatives, but they have such a narrow sense of what it means. They think a lot about freedom from - freedom from government, freedom from regulation - and precious little about freedom to. Freedom to is absolutely something that has to be safeguarded by good government, just as it could be impaired by bad government.
We need to intentionally invest in health, in home ownership, in entrepreneurship, in access to democracy, in economic empowerment. If we don't do these things, we shouldn't be surprised that racial inequality persists because inequalities compound.
My understanding of my faith is that - through a Christian framework - part of what we are called to do is to lay down our own self-interests, after the model of divinity that comes into this world in the form of Christ and lays down his life. And in order to do that, you have to care about something or someone more than yourself.
Physically robust infrastructure is not enough if it fails to foster a healthy community; ultimately, all infrastructure is social.
So much of politics is about people's relationships with themselves. You do better if you make people feel secure in who they are.
Experiences with friends or family members coming out have helped millions of Americans to see past stereotypes and better understand what being gay is - and is not.
For me the Holocaust was not only a Jewish tragedy, but also a human tragedy. After the war, when I saw that the Jews were talking only about the tragedy of six million Jews, I sent letters to Jewish organizations asking them to talk also about the millions of others who were persecuted with us together - many of them only because they helped Jews.
If we believe that a person seeking refuge is to be pitied, feared, despised, and looked down upon, we are doing ourselves a disservice.
Homeboy Industries has chosen to stand with the 'demonized' so that the demonizing will stop; it stands with the 'disposable' so that the day will come when we stop throwing people away.
When any person suffers for someone in greater need, that person is a human.
The destiny of world civilization depends upon providing a decent standard of living for all mankind.
I will never tire of repeating this: what the poor need the most is not pity but love. They need to feel respect for their human dignity, which is neither less nor different from the dignity of any other human being.
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