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One Reporter's Opinion: The Thin Line Between Church and State George Putnam It is this reporter's opinion that we are again engaged in the struggle between church and state. Religious leaders are watching as Congress and the Senate move toward the most dramatic changes in our immigration policy since the 1980s. Many of the religious leaders don't like what they see.
The Congress passed a tough measure (H.R. 4437), part of which would force any individual (including church workers) to examine documentation before giving help to immigrants (illegals) or risk imprisonment.
Many church leaders responded by striking a defiant pose. One of them, the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, president of Interfaith Alliance, representing 70 faith traditions, asked, "Would the U.S. Congress have told the good Samaritan not to help a stranger in the ditch?" Story Continues Below
Most strident is the voice of Cardinal Roger Mahony in Los Angeles, who leads the largest Roman Catholic archdiocese in the U.S. (5 million Catholics). He created a stir when he ordered priests under his supervision to defy any federal legislation that required churches or other social organizations to press immigrants for legal papers before giving them help. The cardinal called on Catholics in his 288 parishes "to fast, pray, and push politicians for humane immigration reform," inferring that House measure 4437 falls short. As the Cardinal puts it, "'The war on terror' isn't going to be won through immigration restrictions."
The accusations fly. A coalition of religious leaders has said that the legislation the House approved reflects "hysterical anti-immigrant sentiment." But the supporters of 4437, including this reporter, believe it is these groups who are engaging in HYSTERIA of their own and are deliberately mischaracterizing the House bill.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner (Wisconsin Republican), the bill's sponsor, says, "Opposition to this is a real stretch based on misapprehension of our motivation." Says Sensenbrenner, "We wish all this energy would be exerted toward fighting alien smuggling."
The House measure expands "alien smuggling" to include those who help an immigrant remain in the U.S. when they know the person is in the country unlawfully. It imposes criminal penalties, ranging from prison time to fines, for those who provide such help.
Some religious leaders say it will make church officials into unwilling enforcers of policies with which they disagree. They refer to 4437 as a new federal crime of "UNLAWFUL PRESENCE," that it grants state and local law enforcement more authority to investigate, apprehend, arrest and detain the illegals (they call them immigrants).
The debate puts those who feel that the large influx of illegals is imperiling America's economic and national security against those who claim they are enriching society - certainly revitalizing church communities with new congregants.
Cardinal Mahony remains defiant. When asked if he would be willing to go to jail for his stance, Mahony said, "Yes, because helping people in need are actions that are part of God's mercy." The Cardinal used Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Lenten season to urge Catholics to make room for the "immigrants." He calls the current system "inhumane and inefficient."
But not all of his parishioners are in agreement. The survey of Catholic churchgoers shows a split right down the middle. Some Los Angeles parishioners criticize Mahony and other Catholic leaders for wading into a political issue.
Says Father Rick Ryscavage, professor of sociology, "Politics has forced itself on the church and the church has to respond, but the dividing line between church and state can be hard to pinpoint."
But the cardinal sticks to his guns, and adds fuel to the fire, when he exhorts Catholics to ignore (if passed) what he calls "an unjust and inhumane law proposed in Congress." He says that "the bill proposed by Sensenbrenner could make helping illegal immigrants a crime."
Cynthia Cota, a fourth-generation American of Latin descent, called this reporter and said she empathizes with the plight of the illegals but is researching their effects on the American way of life, including the nation's education system, health care and welfare. She concluded: "Why should we take care of all the world's problems? Do the leaders of other countries have no responsibilities?"
Ira Mehlman, spokesman for FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform), says: "Americans have a right to demand their government protect their security and interests by enforcing our immigration laws and to hold all institutions, including churches, accountable if they knowingly aid and abet people who are violating the law. ... The House bill 4437 will not prevent clergy from administering communion or feeding people who show up at a soup kitchen; rather, when religious workers cross the line and actively assist people in violating the law, they will be held accountable as will any other American."
There are those who wish that the cardinal and his supporters were as eager to resolve the Catholic Church's sex violations scandal as they are now recasting the illegal alien invasion as a moral imperative. After all, we're talking about THE LAW OF THE LAND.
Related Link:
http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=leg_analysis_hr4437
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