Churches speak out on Alabama immigration law
Alabama churches continue to line up against Alabama's draconian anti-immigration law.
AP reports:
Some church groups are speaking out against Alabama's new law against illegal immigration, which they say violates Christian principles.Leaders of the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church, the Lutheran Church and the Roman Catholic Church have all criticized the law as running counter to the Bible's teaching about loving others. Episcopal Bishop Henry N. Parsley of Birmingham calls its passage "a sad moment for our state."
The state's largest denomination, the Alabama Baptist Convention, hasn't taken a position publicly. But the latest edition of its widely read state newspaper, The Alabama Baptist, includes a front-page story that features Hispanic worries about the new law.
The Huffington Post has this story:
A new Alabama law that makes it a crime to offer rides to undocumented immigrants is the "meanest" immigration law in the country, according to a United Methodist bishop and respected theologian.Bishop William Willimon of the North Alabama Conference called the bill, which was recently signed into law by Gov. Robert Bentley, an embarrassment and motivated by "intimidation and meanness."
Willimon and the state's other United Methodist bishop, Paul Leeland, wrote an open letter to Bentley and lawmakers who pushed the law, and also plan a vigil on June 25 to pray for immigrants.
"There's a lot of frustration out there, disappointment, embarrassment," Willimon said. "We will come together and pray."
