Immigration Reform Evangelists

The National Association of Evangelicals has come out in favor of Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

Here's the text of the resolution passed by their Board of Directors.

According to their Press release, the NAE represents "40 denominations, scores of evangelical organizations and millions of American evangelicals."

They make a number of recommendations; including "There should be a clear and workable system for legally admitting an adequate number of immigrants to meet both workforce and family reunification needs", and "There must be a sound, equitable process for currently undocumented immigrants who wish to assume the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship to earn legal status."

From the Associated Press story on the release:

The group has taken stands in recent years that have run counter to Christian right views.

It endorsed an anti-torture statement in 2007 that renounced torture and "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of detainees." Other evangelical leaders have either resisted that view or remained silent on the issue.

I was just thinking, we're always chiding moderate Muslims for not reining in their radicals...

From the release: "The NAE further calls on its members, elected officials and all Americans to participate in the immigration reform debate in a spirit of civility and respect, both for immigrants and for those with whom we may disagree on policy prescriptions."