Evangelicals Discuss Immigration at Heritage Event
Some evangelical Christian officials are touting “comprehensive immigration reform” like the U.S. Senate recently passed. Many are aggressively quoting the Bible to argue that mass legalization of unlawful immigrants is the Christian way to “welcome the stranger.”
President Obama recently met with a delegation of evangelical officials to discuss immigration policy. A tent has arisen on Capitol Hill to shelter evangelical prayers for immigration legislation. One prominent Hispanic evangelical has announced he will fast until legalization is approved.
At the same time, former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson notes in his analysis that “of the major religious groups white evangelicals are the most skeptical about immigration.”
A panel discussion scheduled for Friday at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. will feature evangelical thinkers addressing how evangelicals and their church leaders should approach immigration controversies.
What: Doing Good to the Stranger and the Citizen: Evangelicals Discuss Immigration Reform
Who: Mark Tooley, Institute on Religion and Democracy, Carol Swain, Vanderbilt Law School, Kelly Monroe Kullberg, Evangelicals for Biblical Immigration, James Hoffmeier, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Where: Heritage Foundation Lehrman Auditorium, 214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC
When: 1-2 p.m. Friday, Nov 15, 2013
IRD President Mark Tooley commented:
“Religious groups urging mass legalization before security often fail to take their opponents seriously. They seem unconcerned about how liberalized immigration policies will affect America’s unemployed, legal immigrants, law enforcement, or attempts at economic and political reforms south of America’s borders.
“Many evangelical officials are lobbying in close partnership with and funding by large corporations. Those firms benefit from additional low wages workers, as do many American consumers. But tens of millions of U.S. laborers or would-be laborers of all races are directly affected by low wages. Their concerns are not illegitimate.
“Divine commands for fairness and justice do not automatically equal liberalized immigration. Church officials addressing immigration should be mindful that the Bible and Christian teaching do not dictate specific policies for the U.S. in 2013.”
(Source: Christian Newswire)
