Thread: SBC's decision 'amnesty' by another name

Chad Groening - OneNewsNow

SBC's decision 'amnesty' by another name

An immigration reform organization says Southern Baptists, like any other religious denomination, have an obligation to respect the laws of the land when it comes to who has the right to live in the U.S.

At its annual convention in Phoenix, the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution advocating a path to legal status for people are in the U.S. illegally. It also called on Southern Baptists to reject bigotry and to minister to all people, regardless of immigration status.
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BC spokesman Paul Jimenez said the main reason for the resolution was the desire to spread the gospel to immigrants. Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), reacts to the SBC's resolution.
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"Nobody is asking the Southern Baptists or any other church to enforce laws or to treat people without proper respect," he offers, "but they also have to respect the fact that the United States is a sovereign nation -- and it is the government of the United States that determines immigration laws based on the needs of the country, not based on the desire of a particular church seeking religious converts."

The resolution only passed by a broad margin after language was added saying it should not be construed as an endorsement of "amnesty." Mehlman says it is a question of semantics.

"The bottom line is that we're talking about taking millions of people who violated our laws, and in the end granting them legal status," says the FAIR media director. "I think most Americans would consider that to be amnesty. Other people might prefer to use euphemisms, but the American people understand what it is."

Mehlman says observing the laws of nations has been a principle going back to the time of both the New and Old Testaments.

Source: http://onenewsnow.com/Church/Default.aspx?id=1372366