Campaign demands Christians give 'dignity' to illegals

Campaign demands Christians give 'dignity' to illegals

But critics say Bible doesn't require citizenship benefits for everyone

WND.com
John Bennett

“Each person’s God-given dignity” requires amnesty for illegal aliens.

So says a new radio advertisement by an organization called Evangelical Immigration Table.

The pro-amnesty radio ad can be heard online, and will be airing in 13 key states.

The ad features Russell Moore, a Southern Baptist Convention official who has claimed “Jesus himself was a so-called ‘illegal immigrant.’”

But the ad’s message about theology and politics has generated intense criticism among Christian leaders who favor controlled, legal immigration.

Mark Tooley, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, warned WND, “Christians should be wary of utopian political demands.”

“Church elites are confusing the church’s vocation, which is mercy, with the state’s, which is order,” he said.

Tooley also pointed to a disturbing outcome of the pro-amnesty rationale. There is “the implication from some church elites that the U.S. should provide all the entitlements of citizenship to anyone who enters our borders.”

If current illegal aliens must be granted citizenship because of their “God-given dignity,” then later illegal aliens must also be granted citizenship for the same reason. The EIT ads did not state or imply that there was any limitation on the role of “God-given dignity” in creating an entitlement to citizenship.

Therefore, evidently, every illegal alien should be placed on a path to citizenship, and there would effectively be no meaningful border and no national sovereignty. This vision of Christian ethics on immigration is firmly rejected by some Christian leaders.
Father Dominique Peridans opposes the notion that Christian charity justifies amnesty, writing:

“If well-ordered charity begins at home, then the church ought to extend compassionate understanding to American citizens as they struggle with what amounts, in many ways, to an ‘invasion.’”

Peridans explains that the Bible possibly doesn’t contain any moral or theological insights pertinent to a 21st century discussion of immigration laws in modern nation-states.

Likewise, Tooley said, “[N]either scripture nor Christian tradition specifically describe what U.S. immigration law should be.”
The controversial ad states, in part, “I’m asking you to join a growing movement of Christians who are appealing to our political leaders for immigration solutions that respect each person’s God-given dignity … protect family unity” and “ensure fairness to taxpayers.”

The ad doesn’t say how amnesty would result in “fairness to taxpayers.” A comprehensive study by the Heritage Foundation, reported on by WND, puts the price tag for amnesty at $6.3 trillion, driven by the low education level of many illegal aliens and their tendency toward high rates of welfare dependence.

The ad concludes with a call for a “path toward citizenship.”

EIT is an amalgam of left-wing evangelical groups and figures, joined by some moderate and conservative evangelical elites. EIT’s ads feature Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
In that role, Moore’s duties are to speak about the ethical duties of the Southern Baptist church. However, Tooley said Moore’s views are not representative.

“Sadly, some church elites are claiming to speak politically for their flocks on immigration when they have no mandate from their constituency.”

In the past, Moore has claimed, “[O]ur Lord Jesus himself was a so-called ‘illegal immigrant.’”

While Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt to save their infant son, Jesus, from a state policy that infants be murdered, the circumstances of Mary and Joseph – according to many – are vastly different from current illegal aliens.

In his book, “The Immigration Crisis: Immigrants, Aliens, and the Bible,” Trinity Evangelical Divinity School professor James K. Hoffmeier wrote, “[I]t is evident that for a period of a few years Jesus and his family were refuges, aliens in Egypt.”

Peridans has criticized the Catholic church’s support of amnesty, which he said “is designed primarily to benefit immigrants, especially illegal immigrants, more than it is designed to benefit the current national population.”

Heads of EIT include noted left-wing Obama spiritual adviser Jim Wallis. Others include the president of Esperanza, an organization that invests in “homeownership and rental projects for low-income individuals” and is “committed to raising awareness and identifying resources that strengthen the Hispanic community.”

Another head of EIT is David Beckmann, president of an organization named Bread for the World.

The “Pray for Reform” ads will appear in the following states: Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Pray for Reform billboards will appear in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.

Yeah, really christian-like to reward law breakers. How about instead, they pray for the millions of displaced citizens who are jobless because an illegal is taking that job, or because they now have to speak spanish in order to get a job? How about praying for the citizens who have to decide between paying for life saving medicines or food?

To reward law breakers is ridiculous. We don't reward bank robbers or anyone else who has commited a crime! Take care of our citizens and let the illegals pay the consequences of their actions.

The elitists self appointed rulers have decided to carve up our country and give it away to whomever they please. Billionaires, big organized religious institutions, the news media, even pseudo patriots like Sean Hannity and the FOX News network have formed an alliance of left and right to shove amnesty down our throat; look at what many who call themselves "conservatives" are doing to push through this UNAMERICAN nation destroying amnesty bill. I have fought for conservatism since Barry Goldwater in 1964. Get away from me you fraudulent "conservatives." The silence from most tea party groups is deafening. Silence is consent, inaction is passive assistance. If amnesty becomes law, the USA will start a slow and IRREVERSABLE death spiral, and many in the tea party movement will bare responsibility for it along with the hardcore Marxists on the left. Patriots, we only have ourselves, our only hope is to fight harder, to give it our all. Whatever you have done before, double it. If amnesty happens, nothing else conservatives attempt to do will matter.

The Evangelical Immigration Table Exposed As Another Soros Front

05WednesdayJun 2013

http://theird.files.wordpress.com/20...pg?w=529&h=351(Photo credit: Lexpress.fr)

By Marjorie Jeffrey (@MarjorieJeffrey)

Politics makes for strange bedfellows goes the old saying. The marriage between a group of Evangelical Christian organizers and George Soros has birthed a new organization called the Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT).

EIT reportedly does not legally exist and is an arm of the George Soros fundedNational Immigration Forum, which as a “neutral third-party institution” facilitated EIT’s $250,000 radio ad campaign urging Evangelicals to back mass legalization of illegal immigrants.

So if the EIT is just a front, then what exactly is the National Immigration Forum? NIF received over three million dollars from Soros’ Open Society Institute (OSI) in 2009-2010 alone, as well as one million dollars from the left-wing Ford Foundation. Furthermore, Sojourners is also a recipient of Soros’ money, and their President and CEO, Jim Wallis, is prominent within EIT.

All roads seem to lead to Soros, as a cursory glance into the funding of many religious organizations that have publicly advocated for the recent amnesty legislation find their way back to the Hungarian-American’s bountiful leftist check book. Take, for example, the so-called Nuns on the Bus.

This situation of course does not mean that a believer cannot personally advocate for legalizing illegal immigrants without having been bought by George Soros. But the facts point towards a concerted public relations campaign on the part of the progressive religious left funded heavily by one individual who is himself a leftist and an atheist.

The Evangelical Immigration Table is composed of a surprisingly large list of notables from evangelical organizations, presidents of universities, and officials of denominations, and including organizations such as World Relief, Bread for the World, and the National Association of Evangelicals. Very likely most of them were unaware how their endorsement would be exploited to back specific legislation, much less realize that the political venture was the fruit of Soros philanthropy.

Since their public launch in January of this year, timed to overlap with the launch of President Obama’s second term, EIT organized events on religious college campuses, primarily focusing on their “I Was A Stranger” campaign (which, if you haven’t seen it, is a truly masterful piece of emotional blackmail).

When EIT broke onto the public scene at the beginning of the year, they described themselves as a “grassroots organization.” American evangelicalism is a highly fractious movement, and it is highly suspect for any group to claim to represent it as a whole. Most polling suggests that Evangelicals still tend to be more supportive of stricter regulations on immigration than other religious groups. Jim Wallis has recently suggested there has been a “sea change”among the average Evangelical in favor of legalizing illegal immigrants. And yet Evangelicals poll significantly higher in favor of better border security over or at least before creating a “path to citizenship” than does the typical voter. Evangelical elites are defying members of their flock who generally oppose amnesty.

So what led these elites to break ranks with their congregations in favor of amnesty? Various reasons might be offered: some may truly believe that the Gospel calls for more open borders. Some are already part of the institutional Religious Left, such as Jim Wallis. Some may agree with Samuel Rodriguez, President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, that Hispanics “have a more complete vision of the gospel.” The revelation of EIT’s funding source as George Soros ads another puzzle piece to the mix.

What are Soros, the open borders lobby, and the progressive left really trying to accomplish? The Left sees a prime opportunity to exploit Evangelical leaders by crafting a media campaign designed to convince the GOP leadership that one of their main constituencies, Bible Belt Christians, favors comprehensive reform.

Some may argue legitimately that some Evangelical elites genuinely see passing amnesty as their Christian duty. Mega funding by leftist philanthropies and high level, publicized political partnerships are added inducements.

But there remains the nauseating fact that some Evangelicals are peddling a new sort of liberation theology to American Christians, aided by a man who has actively supported and financed organizations that directly go against Evangelical beliefs about marriage, abortion, euthanasia and embryonic stem cell research.
As Mark Tooley has previously pointed out, the average Evangelical is at a disadvantage when faced with such an overwhelming number of notables pushing a politically revised version of the Gospel: “Catholic teaching typically explains a hierarchy of public issues, prioritizing marriage and sanctity of life, for example, which are intrinsic to Christian faith, over important but less theologically binding issues of prudential judgment, such as federal entitlement programs or immigration. Evangelicals lack this clear tradition because, in part, they lack much of a tradition overall, being mostly a modern American movement that emerged out of several Protestant traditions.”
This lack of tradition and lack of accountability for some leaders sets up a situation where many Evangelicals might be prone to political manipulation. If that is the purpose of the Evangelical Immigration Table, then it is a sad betrayal of a flock by its shepherds.

http://juicyecumenism.com/2013/06/05...r-soros-front/

Catholic Push to Overhaul Immigration Goes to Pews