Jesus And The Alamo

The Rev. Eric Folkerth is married to a Democratic Judge in Dallas County, Dennise Garcia. They took part in the march here Sunday, and he gives a truly Christian perspective on it at this web page, complete with pictures. Some highlights:

Today was Palm Sunday. ... It's widely believed by Biblical scholars that the Palm Sunday crowd that acclaimed Jesus with cries of "Hosanna" was not made up by the elites of that society, but by the marginalized. The elites wanted Jesus to make everyone shut up and go home. ...

I thought about that a lot today after church, as Dennise, Maria and I took part in the "MegaMarch" downtown... It can now be said with confidence that somewhere around 500,000 people flooded the streets of downtown Dallas today. That's not only the single largest protest in the history of Dallas, it's the single largest protest in the history of Texas. ...

And even as we left, we could see folks STILL streaming into the area around City Hall for the first time...the march was still going on....THREE HOURS after it started!!!

Everyone in the crowd wore a white shirt, to symbolize peace. And almost everyone of the huge crowd waved American flags. I have never seen so many people in one place, and never seen so many American flags in one place. ...

As we approached the stage at City Hall, we saw that there was a huge replica of the Statue of Liberty on the stage, and the song Neil Diamond's "America" was playing on the loud speaker. ...

The bill out of the House would have made it crime to give aid to an immigrant who was here illegally. That House bill specifically referenced churches and clergy, and said that they too would be subject to a arrest should they aid illegal immigrants. ...

Such legislation is anti-Christian. ... In fact, several times in the Gospels, the local folks get really ANGRY at Jesus precisely BECAUSE he tells them to help those who are from foreign lands!! ...

Imagine if this law had been in effect at the feeding of the five thousand. ... Just after Jesus gets done feeding these people, the authorities arrive:

"Um...I'm sorry Jesus...we're going to have to take you in....you've just given fish and bread to some illegal Samaritans. You have the right to remain silent...anything you say can be used against you...."

The part I liked best in his post is this story about his wife the Judge:

When Dennise was in Junior High in Irving, she had to take Texas History, as we all do in Texas public schools. And she came home one day and her Mom, "Ma, we're learning about the Alamo in school!"

To which her mother said, "Oh! You had relatives that fought at the Alamo."

So, the next day, Dennise returned to school and gleefully told her teacher, "I had relatives that fought at the Alamo!!!" To which the teacher asked her, "Which side?" Well, Dennise had never considered this. As an Irving girl her whole life, she'd never thought about "which side."

So, she went home to ask her mother, "Ma, which side?"

To which her mother told her, "Oh, Mija, the side that won."