Obama Gains Evangelical Allies on Immigration
From The New York Times:
At a time when the prospects for immigration overhaul seem most dim, supporters have unleashed a secret weapon: a group of influential evangelical Christian leaders.
Normally on the opposite side of political issues backed by the Obama White House, these leaders are aligning with the president to support an overhaul that would include some path to legalization for illegal immigrants already here. They are preaching from pulpits, conducting conference calls with pastors and testifying in Washington — as they did last Wednesday.
When President Obama gave a major address pushing immigration overhaul this month, he was introduced by a prominent evangelical, the Rev. Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois. Three other evangelical pastors were in the audience, front and center.
Their presence was a testament, in part, to the work of politically active Hispanic evangelical pastors, who have forged friendships with non-Hispanic pastors in recent years while working in coalitions to oppose abortion and same-sex marriage. The Hispanics made a concerted effort to convince their brethren that immigration reform should be a moral and practical priority.
At a time when the prospects for immigration overhaul seem most dim, supporters have unleashed a secret weapon: a group of influential evangelical Christian leaders.
Normally on the opposite side of political issues backed by the Obama White House, these leaders are aligning with the president to support an overhaul that would include some path to legalization for illegal immigrants already here. They are preaching from pulpits, conducting conference calls with pastors and testifying in Washington — as they did last Wednesday.
When President Obama gave a major address pushing immigration overhaul this month, he was introduced by a prominent evangelical, the Rev. Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois. Three other evangelical pastors were in the audience, front and center.
Their presence was a testament, in part, to the work of politically active Hispanic evangelical pastors, who have forged friendships with non-Hispanic pastors in recent years while working in coalitions to oppose abortion and same-sex marriage. The Hispanics made a concerted effort to convince their brethren that immigration reform should be a moral and practical priority.
posted by Sid Cottingham | 6:00 AM
1 Comments:
The immigration issue/ support to help illegal immigrants has support in the United Methodist Church check out social principles and more specific information for the office of Faith and Society. (Although the South Georgia Christian Advocate/national publication the Recorder recently published a full page anti- article written by a pastor in Virginia.)
A broad range of evangelical pastors agree with the concept that helping them is both a moral and Christian responsibility. Check out articles from Jim Wallis and his Sojourners magazine. Also a magazine for evangelical journal called Leadership with ties to Billy Graham original media outlet Christianity Today.
Sorry I don't have article titles or links to send you Squire. But this controversial issue surely calls us to think about our opinions no matter what political affiliation.
Do you employ illegals knowingly? would you fire them if you found out they were? Hmmmm
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