Posted on 07/09/2010 7:20:27 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Over 220 pastors in state of Texas have drafted and signed a statement expressing their support behind what they believe to be the best balance between justice and compassion in regards to border security and immigration issues.
“In the course of our history as a nation, challenges and crisis moments have arisen that required principled leadership and the laying aside of partisan politics,” the pastors state in the preamble of their Declaration on Border Security and Immigration Reform. “Such is the need before us in our day regarding the escalating illegal immigration crisis and the security of our national borders.“
According to the pastors, it is “clear and evident” that the “crisis” regarding the state of the nation’s border security and immigration system “must be addressed rapidly, justly and humanely with equal regard to both rule of law and God-given value of every individual.”
“Holy Scriptures demand that justice and compassion be balanced with neither improperly dominant over the other in our hearts and our laws,” the pastors say.
Though the immigration issue had faded into the background for many after Congress failed to overhaul the immigration system in 2007, it was revived with the signing of Arizona's contentious new law, which instructs police to demand proof of a questionable person's legal status.
More than 20 states are discussing efforts similar to Arizona's. An Associated Press-GfK poll last month, meanwhile, found that 85 percent of people now rank immigration as an important issue.
"[T]he majority of people ... demand secure borders, credible enforcement of our current immigration laws by our federal government, reforming the broken immigration system, and humanely addressing those who have entered the country illegally," argue signers of the pastors' declaration.
That given, the ministers are calling upon elected state and national leaders to stop their political bickering, engage in genuine dialogue, cooperate with one another, and pledge to resolve the crisis by taking the three steps detailed in their declaration.
The pastors aim to see:
1) The national borders first secured, 2) The immigration system then reformed, and 3) A just process to legal status for specified illegal immigrants then implemented.
“We the undersigned pastors declare our commitment to using our voice and influence in every way possible to support these principles,” the pastors conclude in their declaration. “We will also publicly hold accountable those who choose to remain silent, who are divisive for purely political purposes, or who act in opposition to these principles.”
Signers of the declaration so far include over 220 pastors in Texas and around 50 pastors from other states in the nation. Some of the most notable names include megachurch pastors Robert Koke of Shoreline Christian Church in Austin, Steve Riggle of Grace Community Church in Houston, and Kirbyjon Caldwell of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston.
Sorry but if these parasites want to tear up our country they can start paying their fair share.
Folks,
Before we make any judgment regarding the intent of these Pastor, prudence dictates that we at least READ their entire declaration.
The declaration in it’s entirety can be found in this link:
http://immigrationdeclaration.org/Pastors_Declaration.html
RE: Sorry but if these parasites want to tear up our country they can start paying their fair share.
Before we judge these people, let’s READ THEIR DECLARATION FIRST :
SEE HERE :
http://immigrationdeclaration.org/Pastors_Declaration.html
LLS
RE: How about 220 less churches in Texas.
Only if they are PROVEN to be harming this country with their teachings. Have they ?
RE: This is pure trash. Plain and simple
Well, which part of the Declaration is trash ? Let’s discuss it.
I can’t make head or tail of it unless you tell us which ones of the 3 steps they propose you disagree with.
I think you mean George Whitefield, I don’t know who Charles Whitfield is either.
I am going to paste their 3 steps into this thread to see which one you disagree with. Here it is in their entirety :
Step One – Secure our National Borders First
It is the first business of our government to protect the safety and welfare of citizens against “enemies foreign and domestic.” The well established fact that drug cartels, gang members, other criminal elements and now Middle Eastern operatives linked to Islamic terrorism are freely moving across our southern border has created an urgent national security crisis.
ACTION NEEDED:
o All borders, with specific priority to the southern border of the United States, must be secured as soon as possible using whatever means necessary to stop all entry from points other than regulated crossing stations.
o Fences, adequately armed U.S. military presence, electronic surveillance, increased Border Patrol forces, full enforcement of all existing immigration laws and policy changes protecting citizens as well as law enforcement from persecution, prosecution or lawsuits when acting to protect life and property are examples of first steps that need to be implemented.
Step Two – Reform the Immigration System
· The process of entering the country legally is fraught with red tape, fraud, delays, unacceptable costs, unrealistically low quotas and inhumane treatment for many if not most people who desire to emigrate to the U.S. temporarily for education or work, or permanently as citizens. This system needs to be reformed so people legitimately seeking temporary or permanent residency in this country are treated with dignity and respect.
ACTION NEEDED:
o Government agencies charged with assessing and processing immigration requests are severely understaffed and inadequately funded to handle the backlog of immigration applications. Current staffing at American embassies charged with assessing and processing immigration applications should be better trained, better screened and/or replaced as necessary with uniform standards provided for greater accountability.
o Congress needs to reform immigration laws to address significant backlogs under quotas for highly skilled immigrants; to establish meaningful quotas for semi and low-skilled workers as well as enact a temporary worker program so that where there are proven shortages of U. S. workers, there is a mechanism by which workers can enter legally while maintaining their family ties to their home countries. Congress also needs to modernize the verification process by which employers determine who is authorized to work in the U. S.
Step Three – Implement a just process to legal status for specified illegal immigrants
· While illegal immigrants have violated immigration laws to enter the country or overstayed their lawfully permitted time, there needs to be a process of providing those who qualify, are involved in lawful commerce and wish to remain here a means of doing so either as guest workers or eventually as citizens, with the proviso that they be required to display proficiency in the English language and critical facts about our American history, the basis of our constitutional republic and the duties of citizenship within a reasonable period of time to qualify for either status.
ACTION NEEDED:
o Execute a fixed period of open registration for those here illegally, and provide a temporary work visa which contains requirement of adequate civil penalties yet does not require them to return to their country of origin and provides protection of legal status. Once that registration period has passed, any violation of immigration laws should result in immediate deportation.
o Any person found to have committed crimes against property or person while here, or with a felony criminal record in his or her home country, should be denied legal status of any kind and deported.
o Effectively enforce laws which prohibit non-citizens from receiving entitlement to non-emergency government services unless specifically adopted by legislative process at the state or federal level.
Which ones of the above do you disagree with and how do you propose to modify/change it ?
Thanks much for the link to the text of the pastors’ declaration, Seek.
There must be a lot of trolls on the site this evening, doing their best to make FR seem bigoted and hateful.
For those who have to move their lips when they read, in plain English the declaration says what most of us have said all along:
Seal the borders. Fix the system, including a requirement to learn English. Kick out the criminals.
Simple enough now?
RE: Step 2 and 3 are AMNESTY
How can STEP 2 be AMNESTY ?
STEP 2 is asking for something very REASONABLE, which is for the government to adequately staff immigration to handle the backlog of LEGAL immigration applications.
You said you are concerned with LEGAL immigrants. Well, this request right there attempts to deal with this problem.
Legal immigrants wait MANY YEARS before their papers are fully processed because the immigration department is understaffed.
STEP 2 is a VERY REASONABLE principle in my view.
In fact, if it were up to me, I’d close down every single useless Federal Department ( I’ll start with the Dept. of Education ) and move those staff to the immigration department to increase the immigration staff.
IMMIGRATION is the Federal Government’s job. Education is a State and local issue and should stay there.
So I disagree with you. STEP 2 is not a demand for amnesty.
I went through 25 pages of a Google search and couldn’t find one reference to a Charles Whitfield in that era.
RE: Evangelicals overwhelmingly voted of Obama.
Sorry, you are WRONG on this count.
SEE HERE :
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/11/the_evangelical.html
Obama didn’t win a majority of evangelicals in any state.
No surprise there. But there was some question about whether Obama’s support with evangelicals would draw one out of three evangelical voters (as Clinton did in 1992) or one out of four (as Kerry did in 2004). The answer is closer to the latter: Exit polls say 26 percent of American voters called themselves evangelical or born-again Christians, and of these, 74 percent voted for McCain, with 25 percent voting for Obama. (Another measure put the percentage of evangelicals at 23 percent, with 73 percent voting for McCain, 26 percent for Obama.)
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