Arizona's new immigration law shows us why Washington has dithered so long on this problem. Just about any direction you go on this issue, you inflame political opposition, and if there's one thing Washington doesn't like, it's inflamed political opposition.

You have to credit the courage of the Arizona governor and legislature. You can only wait so long for the federal government to do its job. The influx of illegal immigrants in Arizona has led to spikes in the rate of violent crime; a rancher has been murdered; and a sherriff's deputy was wounded by a sniper along the border. Many Arizonans and others are happy to see at least some steps being taken to redress the immigration mess in their state.

I'd like to think that our immigration problem along the southern border is a witness to the great attraction foreign people have for America as a land of opportunity and liberty. Most of the allure, however, seems to be related to drugs. What isn't - jobs in the farm, construction, and landscaping industries - is being abetted by unscrupulous employers trying to save a buck. We don't seem to have an immigration problem from Canada, Europe, or any place else. But a thriving market for drugs coupled with employers eager to bypass all kinds of federal regulations make the American Southwest a place of high appeal for millions of illegals from south of the border.

Scripture has a fair amount to say about how nations should relate to the "strangers and sojourners" in their midst. We might be surprised to discover some meaningful guidelines here. While the Old Testament Law was pointed at Israel in the first instance, it remains a standard to guide nations in achieving a just, peaceable, and orderly society. I rather suppose, however, that the only thing that would rile folks more than the Arizona law would be any law crafted on the basis of plain Biblical teaching.

The immigration problem is part and parcel of a larger problem facing our society: We are beginning to discover that pragmatism, radical individualism, raw materialism, and political expediency don't work very well - either in tandem or alone - as bases for a worldview. But, having repudiated God and His Law, we must - as Paul Johnson explained in Modern Times - find something else on which to pin our hopes for a peaceable and prosperous nation, even if we haven't yet found the way to make it work.

The only problem, as Solomon observed, is that whatever way we choose on the basis of it seeming to be wise in our own eyes, is going to end us up in chaos, confusion, division, and death (Prov. 14.12). Don't look for the immigration problem to go away any time soon - or the problem of drugs, law-scorning employers, or politicians who'd rather duck than do their duty. Political solutions are not the great need of our nation; revival is.

T. M. Moore