Thought it seems like the whole world is up in arms about Arizona's new immigration law, remember that it is the liberals and the otherwise dimwitted that get most of the media attention.However, sadly among those enraged about the law are the usual crowd of liberal religionists, unthinking people who would rather support the counter-productive but trendy "cause" of illegal aliens than the rights of law-abiding American citizens -- including the millions over the years who have aspired to and legally secured American citizenship.
Says Mark Tooley of The Institute on Religion & Democracy, "Several liberal Protestant and evangelical officials spoke out harshly, not only against the new Arizona immigration law, but sharply condemning the alleged 'hateful' motive of those who support that law."
Agreed. To arrogantly assume that those supporting the law are "innately bigoted" is outrageous as well as unkind.
And as is the pattern with liberals, Tooley points out that bashing the new law may impress their peers but it doesn't help deal with with the issues illegal immigration involves: severe economic strain, increased lawlessness, and the creation of a permanent underclass. Loose talk about amnesty and open borders may sound nice in Hollywood or Georgetown, but it just doesn't solve the desperate conditions in the Southwest.
"But what if the open borders and amnesty that the religious left typically advocates in fact do not 'renew the dignity and human rights of everyone' and instead only create more social disruption whose chief victims are ultimately low income native born and immigrants who lack the economic privileges of most religious left elites...In typical fashion, the religious left does not ponder unintended consequences and instead assumes that good intentions and political correctness are sufficient."
"Arizona’s new crack down on illegal immigration may or may not have faults, but will it make lawful Arizonans less safe? Security and effective law enforcement are not typical strong emphases for [Jim]Wallis or the religious left generally. Instead, they often prefer name calling and charges of bigotry."
"Contrary to their claims, the Almighty has not directly revealed His preferences for U.S. immigration policy. But traditional Christian and Jewish moral teachings about human nature and statecraft offer better guidance than the slapdash pseudo-thinking of the Arizona law’s seething religious critics."
