Thread: Churches urge Arpaio to cease efforts

Churches urge Arpaio to cease efforts
6 commentsby JJ Hensley - Apr. 13, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
While some Valley religious community leaders have taken a strong stand against Sheriff Joe Arpaio's immigration-enforcement efforts, others are trying to frame the debate in more pious terms.

On Friday, a group of eight church leaders from a variety of faiths released a letter urging Arpaio to reconsider the morality of his crime-suppression operations, which in the past month have brought hundreds of posse members and deputies into areas with a high concentration of Hispanic residents. The efforts resulted in the arrests of more than 150, including 73 suspected of being in the country illegally.

"We call on the sheriff to cease this excessive, wasteful and divisive campaign," reads the letter, signed by a coalition of Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Church of Christ, and Jewish leaders.
On Saturday afternoon, the dialogue was more subdued when more than 80 evangelical leaders and church members gathered at the Roosevelt Community Church for a presentation on immigration policy and the Bible put on by Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

Many of the issues playing out in Arizona and other border states with high immigrant populations were the same concerns that faced Jews and early Christians in the Bible, said Daniel Carroll, an author and seminary professor.


The timing of the event wasn't intended to reflect on Arpaio's recent raids, said Ian Danley, a coordinator with Neighborhood Ministries.

"We don't want to tell pastors what to think about immigration but to give them tools on how to think about immigration," he said.

In the past few weeks, church leaders have referenced the Scripture when denouncing Arpaio's tactics, but Arpaio defends his actions.

"I think it would be immoral for this sheriff not to follow the law and enforce the law," he said.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... hurch.html

Sounds to me the sheriff is going into places where there's crime.
What's the problem?

The problem is, these churches are losing money.
Follow the money

As a Cristian I am outraged at these churchs. They need to follow the law.

Wow, read the sentence below carefully, and then think for a moment about how non-sensical it is:

..urging Arpaio to reconsider the morality of his crime-suppression operations...

'Morality of crime-suppression operations'...? OK, I see what point they are trying to make - although, I certainly don't agree with it.

Why do any 'crime-suppression' activities at all? After all, for every person that is nabbed doing something outside of the law, I can show you a criminal that protests enforcement of the law that was used to catch/arrest them. The problem is, our system can't be designed around token laws made 'for show', vs. real/practical laws that govern everyones lives - there can be no difference. Going down that path will quickly lead to anarchy.

Originally Posted by LuvMyCountry

As a Cristian I am outraged at these churchs. They need to follow the law.

Absolutely!