Evangelical Christian groups spar over immigration reform

[ensho]

http://blog.buzzflash.com/contributors/2118


If you think that the debate over health care reform has taken some decidedly nasty, and often unexpected, turns, just wait until the issue of immigration returns to the spotlight on Capitol Hill. Imagine rowdier Town Hall meetings and a slew of anti-immigrant tea parties. As Al Jolson, one of the early 20th century's stars of vaudeville, might have put it, "you ain't seen nothing yet!"

While the national debate over immigration may be a ways off, an assortment of evangelical Christian organizations are already at odds over the issue.

In early October, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) -- which has over 40 member organizations and is made up of nearly 30 million U.S. evangelicals -- passed a resolution endorsing "comprehensive" immigration reform. "The Bible does not offer a blueprint for modern legislation, but it can serve as a moral compass and shape the attitudes of those who believe in God," the NEA resolution stated.

-snip-

Mark Tooley, the president of the conservative think tank The Institute on Religion & Democracy, was having none of what the NAE was proposing. Although dismayed, he apparently wasn't all that surprised by the NAE's action.

In a column for The American Spectator, in which he expressed several criticisms aimed at the NAE, Tooley labeled the organization's resolution as "a … pro–liberalized immigration stance" and maintained that it "is creating ripples among its conservative membership."

-snip-

Tooley later told OneNewsNews -- the news service of Rev. Donald Wildmon's American Family Association, that "The NAE has in the recent past become outspoken on environmentalism and global warming, and then condemn the U.S. for what it calls 'torture' in its interrogation of terror detainees. And next, plans to adopt a petition regarding nuclear disarmament."

Earlier this month, the Christian Post reported that "America's Voice, which supports humane comprehensive immigration reform, blasted leaders of NumbersUSA for encouraging its evangelical members to 'hammer' their denominations with complaints against the NAE's new immigration resolution":

In a Nov. 2 article in the Congressional Quarterly, Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, said that 'about a third of our members are evangelicals' and 'they immediately started hammering their denominations' after being informed of NAE's stance."

Mark Krikorian, the executive director of another anti-immigration organization, The Center for Immigration Studies, said that "for religious organizations to get involved in this issue is really not appropriate."

At the Capitol Hill press conference Samuel Rodriguez, the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) -- which serves 15 million Hispanic Christians -- spoke in support of the NAE resolution. Rodriguez, who has been an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage, was far more sensitive and sensible regarding immigration: "On behalf of our 25,434 churches, we commend and applaud today's resolution by our sister organization, the NAE. This is, without a doubt, a tipping point. We can no longer state that immigration reform stands as a Latino, immigrant or partisan issue. Today's resolution conveys a collective message on behalf of the Evangelical community that at the end of the day immigration reform is a matter of justice firmly grounded on biblical truth."
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interesting

[juno jones]

1. No, no, let me guess

The ones who are getting money by converting hispanics and hispanic immagrants are up against ones who don't....and the money thing is winning out...

With those guys it's all about the cash.