Posted on 04/25/2013 6:41:33 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
It happened by chance. Jay Crenshaw didnt plan on changing his views on illegal immigration. His experience with an illegal immigrant changed him. It happened when a Colombian friend was arrested for driving without a license. That friend was a white-collar professional whod lived in Florida for years. He was an active member of Crenshaws Orlando church and was supporting his mother and brother. He also happened to be living in the country illegally.
Deportation loomed. Crenshaw, an attorney and self-described conservative Evangelical Christian, found himself knee-deep in a friends personal crisis, not a national-policy debate. Torn between the rule of law and compassion, he chose the latter. He accompanied his friend to court, where the matter was taken care of without getting immigration authorities involved.
Stories like Crenshaws are happening all across America, as more Evangelicals come in contact with the human dimension of illegal immigration.
It happened to John Hornburg, a real-estate developer and self-described conservative who is a member of the Mariners Church in Irvine, Calif. What he thought he knew about illegal immigration didnt square with what he experienced volunteering as an English teacher at a local church center.
As I learned their stories, he told the Wall Street Journal recently, I started to look at these folks through a prism of humanity and my heart just opened up. Many members of the Mariners congregation live in upscale Newport Beach, where per capita incomes hover around $80,000. But nearby sits Santa Ana, where the church runs volunteer programs; per capita incomes there are below $17,000.
Stephen Hueber, a 30-year-old white Evangelical who attends Mariners, told the Wall Street Journal that his experience teaching English in Santa Ana put a whole new face on the immigration issue.
It isnt just happening to church members, this intersection of faith and public policy. Its happening to church leaders, too. Consider Richard Land, who heads up the powerful Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Evangelical denomination in the U.S. Land is no stranger to a good public-policy debate, and no one confuses him with some of his more socially liberal Christian peers.
Latino Evangelicals Evangélicos are one of the fastest-growing segments of Americas Evangelical churches. Two-thirds of the 52-plus million Latinos in America call themselves Catholics, but at current rates of defection, that number will soon decline to one-half. Many will join the ranks of Evangelical Protestants.
Land, it turns out, saw this coming years ago, and challenged fellow Evangelical leaders to pay attention to what was about to happen in American pews.
If you left Washington, D.C., and drove all the way to L.A., and you took the southern route, there wouldnt be one town youd pass that doesnt have a Baptist church with an iglesia bautista attached to it, he told Time magazine, which dedicated a cover story to the subject.
Land shared a statistic with Times reporters: Nearly 40 percent of Latino Southern Baptists are illegal immigrants. And Land, like more and more religious leaders, doesnt think the answer to illegal immigration is a one-way ticket back home. They came here to work, were evangelistic, we shared the gospel with them, they became Baptist, Land explained.
Which is why Land recently added his name to a coalition called the Evangelical Immigration Table, which includes some of the most influential Evangelical pastors in America, representing two dozen Evangelical denominations. Over 20 heads of Christian colleges and seminaries have also joined the group, which has as its goal an overhaul of immigration that takes into account border security, human dignity, family unity, and fairness to taxpayers. Included is a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally.
The coalition began a national campaign to encourage congregations to participate in a 40-day Bible challenge, a daily reading of a passage related to immigrants or aliens. Included in the campaign is an emphasis on prayer.
Set aside some time each day to pray as well, asking God to help you to see immigrants as he does, and also praying for elected officials, who have the responsibility of crafting public policies that dramatically impact the lives of immigrants, suggests the website.
One passage is from Matthew 25:
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.
It isnt just Evangelicals who find in the Bible a call to welcome strangers. For Jews, the notion of hospitality as an imperative from God grows out of the story about Abraham, the first Jew, in Genesis 18.
Looking up, he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them and, bowing to the ground, he said: My lords, if it please you, do not go on past your servant. Let a little water be brought; bathe your feet and recline under the tree. And let me fetch a morsel of bread that you may refresh yourselves before you continue on.
Abraham didnt ask for papers, or proof of citizenship, from the three men; he ran to meet them, and ran because he didnt want to miss an opportunity to serve them. Abraham is rewarded for his hospitality; the strangers turn out to be messengers from God, who deliver to him and Sarah the child theyve always wanted. His offspring, he is promised, will also be rewarded.
But Abraham had no thought of reward when he ran to greet those strangers. He acted out of instinct. It was his nature to be generous especially to those he did not know. Indeed, many rabbis regard hospitality as the most sacred of callings.
Not everyone, however, is thrilled that religious leaders are using the Bible as a resource in this hot political debate. Representative Lamar Smith of Texas, a Republican opposed to legalization, warned pro-legalization believers that they should be cautious about using scripture.
The Bible contains numerous passages that do not necessarily support amnesty and instead support the rule of law, he told the Wall Street Journal. The Scriptures clearly indicate that God charges civil authorities with preserving order, protecting citizens and punishing wrongdoers.
One thing is certain: The Evangelical coalition has a way to go with its campaign to change the hearts and minds of congregants. A recent Brookings Institution poll indicated that white Evangelical Protestants were the least likely of all the religious groups surveyed to support a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants; 56 percent were in favor of such an approach. Support was much stronger among Hispanic Catholics (74 percent), black Protestants (71 percent), and American Jews (67 percent).
But the pastor of First Baptist Orlando, the Reverend David Uth, knows the direction his church is heading in. In recent years, the historically white church has become home to immigrants speaking 32 different languages, with simultaneous translation of Sunday services into Spanish and Portuguese.
The stories out there in the pews are stories of people from all over the world who have made friends and who have become close with people here, Mr. Uth told the Wall Street Journal. I think thats why theres movement in this church, theres momentum, theres an openness to try to do something to address their needs.
The changing demography had a profound impact on at least one member of Uths congregation, Stewart Hall. A member of First Baptist for over 30 years, the 70-year-old began to change his views when he changed seats in his church. Something stirred him to sit in the pews near the back, where immigrants chose to gather each Sunday.
Like most human beings, people who regularly attend religious services are creatures of habit; even a seat change can be a big deal. It was a very big deal for Hall.
Take me back 10 years ago, and I had this really hard outer shell about illegal immigration, Mr. Hall told the Wall Street Journal. Line em up and shoot em, and by that I really meant pack them up and get them out of here.
The simple act of changing his seat worked miracles on his heart. My walk with Christ has softened my view, he added.
Senator Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican leading the push for an immigration overhaul, welcomes the Evangelical activism. Faith-based leaders help remind us that we are dealing with real human beings here with God-given dignity, he said.
Does all this activism mean that being a good Christian or Jew means being in favor of a path to citizenship? Of course not. And will moving forward on a path to citizenship ensure conservatives political victories in the future? Certainly not.
But one thing is certain: If we who believe in free enterprise, the free exercise of religion, and limited government dont get to know the large and growing Latino population in our country, they will never get to know us.
And the La Razas of this world and the big government crowd will own their hearts and minds permanently.
Lee Habeeb is vice president of content at Salem Radio Network. Mike Leven is the president and chief operating officer of the Las Vegas Sands and a member of the Job Creators Alliance.
Wondeful. If this is the state of the conservative character today, we are doomed. You have Portman against gay marriage until he finds out his son is gay and then he's for it. You have this dope against illegal immigration until his friend faces deportation and then he's for it. Its weak-minded and emotion-driven and ultimately leads to national suicide. So what is this "Evangelical" saying? There are a lot of people in Latin America -- hundreds of millions of them -- who would like to live in a First World country. If he met all of them and they were nice people, would he let them all in? Does he support giving them public assistance. Is the American taxpayer supposed to support the whole freakin world as its "Christian mission"?? This moron sounds like a Huckabee type. A bleeding heart Christian Socialist.
So-called “Christians” are going to miss the rule-of-law when it’s gone.
Richard Land is a mush-headed ecumenist who abandoned the theology of his Southern Baptist forefathers (he is far from alone). He doesn’t speak for this Baptist!
If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.
Libs love this quote, and repeat it all the time. For a conservative, the opposite should be true. For a Christian, replace "country" with "God" or "The Church" and you see that many so-called evangelicals have sold out their faith to support a friend or relative.
But one thing is certain: If we who believe in free enterprise, the free exercise of religion, and limited government dont get to know the large and growing Latino population in our country, they will never get to know us.
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This sentence means nothing.
The job of an immigrant is to become an american.
The job of an illegal immigrant is to go back to their home country.
Why can’t we focus on closing the border? That’s the government’s constitutional duty. There’s no reason to tie immigration reform the the border closing.
Immigration reform is a red herring. Once we gain control over our borders, we can deal with the problems within them.
Jay Crenshaw’s really good friend and fellow church member did not obey the laws of the USA for years and years. Evidently I do not know what it means to repent. Couldn’t possibly be this friend.
What would you call quoting the bible to justify his greed? One of the authors of the pile of dung is a Mr. Leven who is CEO of the casino operator LV Sands. He wants his unlimited supply of cheap labor to staff his casino.
>40-day Bible challenge, a daily reading of a passage related to immigrants or aliens
The ignorance here is overwhelming. Immigrants have nothing in common with illegals coming here to either milk the welfare teat, blow up infidels or work under the table. Reading the Bible does not make someone immune from ignorance and stupidity. Putting a Christian facade on the the stupidity of allowing criminals to destroy America may help sell it to the majority of uninformed, but it doesn’t change the fact that they broke a law that is in place for a good reason.
Encouraging and enabling someone to break the law is not compassion. It's a sin.
DISGUSTING! Abraham didn't return to his tent and find 3 men stealing his food and raping his wife! There is no comparison whatsoever to illegal border crossers and visa violators.
P.S. The guy who wrote this is Sheldon Adelson's casino president. I think it is past time to do an undercover investigation of just how may illegals Adelson employs.
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